| Feb. 23 State House event caps off National Mentoring Month |
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Among the speakers were mentor Ryan Robertson (left) and his mentee Demetrius McLester who met through Boston Scholars. Demetrius noted that Ryan has inspired him to pursue a college degree and career.
While a January snowstorm caused the annual Youth Mentoring Day at the State House to be rescheduled to Monday, Feb. 23, the change certainly didn't hurt attendance! Groups of mentors and mentees traveled from various corners of the state to attend the event, and were among more than 150 attendees in total to fill Nurse's Hall and the surrounding hallways to celebrate mentoring and recognize legislators and other youth mentoring advocates who lent their support last year. The event was organized by MMP's AmeriCorps Ambassadors in partnership with the Massachusetts Service Alliance. Featured speakers included Suffolk County Sheriff/MMP board member Andrea Cabral.
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| Youth Mentoring Forum brings together leaders from all sectors |
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 State Street's George Russell opens the program.
More than 150 foundation, corporate, and other sector leaders attended the third annual Youth Mentoring Forum at State Street Corporation on Jan. 22.
Attendees filled the room to get timely information on the state of mentoring in Massachusetts, take part in recognizing 15 mentoring programs as inaugural members of MMP's Quality-Based Membership, and hear from a variety of speakers and panelists, including George Russell, Executive Vice President & Director of Community Affairs, State Street; Regina Pisa, Chairman and Managing Partner, Goodwin Procter LLP; Eric Heller, Director, Research and Evaluation, Donohue Institute/UMass Boston; Renee Spencer, Assistant Professor, Boston University School of Social Work; and Javier Serrano, who is both a mentee and mentor through Partners for Youth with Disabilities.
The panel presentation featured moderator Jarrett Barrios, president of the Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts Foundation, and Roger Brown, president of Berklee College of Music; Mary Walachy, executive director of the Irene E. and George A. Davis Foundation in Springfield; and Dr. Wilfredo Laboy, Lawrence Superintendent of Schools.
"This event always provides me with great insight on the challenges facing the youth mentoring field in Massachusetts, plus successful strategies being implemented to address them. This information is invaluable for helping to guide strategic investments in the community," said Blake Jordan, Executive Director, Highland Street Foundation.
 L to R: Highland Street Foundation's Blake Jordan with mentor/mentee Javier Serrano and Regina Snowden, founder & executive director of Partners for Youth with Disabilities.
Special thanks to State Street Corporation for hosting the 2009 Forum. |
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 MMP applauds new Red Sox Mentoring Challenge mentors
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More than 100 people comprised of mentors, mentees, and program representatives attended the Red Sox Mentoring Challenge recognition event at Fenway Park on Jan. 24.
The annual gathering celebrates new matches made in 2008, as well as the overall success of the campaign.
Since the campaign launched in 2006, more than 1,200 adults statewide have expressed an interest in becoming a mentor.
Special guests ar this year's event included NESN's Tom Caron, Red Sox Public Affairs VP Susan Goodenow, and Red Sox mascot Wally!
 L to R: At Fenway are NESN's Tom Caron with MMP CEO David Shapiro, Worcester mentee Justin Marshall, and his Northboro mentor Patrick Stephan. Justin and Stephan met through Big Brother Big Sister Central MA/Metrowest.
Save the Date: May 7 is Champions of Mentoring Breakfast at Fenway. |
| See how Lawrence programs collaborated on National Mentoring Month... |
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MMP, with help from program partners, successfully placed the above PSA in numerous papers during inauguration week, including the Boston Globe, Boston Herald, Boston Metro, Bay State Banner, The Standard-Times (New Bedford), and The Herald News (Fall River). |
| Ways to support
mentoring throughout the year |
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With more than 3,000 kids waiting for mentors statewide, Mass Mentoring continues to look for ways to close the gap.
Interested in helping? Here are three ways:
1) Advocate for youth mentoring with government officials. The state budget has always included money for youth mentoring in Massachusetts, and these dollars account for a sizeable percentage of mentoring program revenue. However, the mentoring line item has recently been cut and MMP is working with other leaders to help get it restored. Learn more by clicking here .
2) Bring us into your workplace to talk to employees about mentoring. We can customize an approach to mentoring that works for almost any organization, and introduce you to local programs.
3) Underwrite media buys for any of our statewide volunteer recruitment campaigns, including our well-established, award-winning Red Sox Mentoring Challenge, or our about-to-be launched Mentors of Color initiative.
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See what else is happening at Mass Mentoring Partnership...
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