Every child who needs a mentor should have a mentor.
 




A New Year's Update
In January, VMP was pleased to announce staff updates featuring some familiar faces. 
Vanessa Reyes, former VISTA leader, is continuing her work at VMP as VISTA Supervisor. Vanessa believes in the power of mentoring and is passionate about service. She looks forward to engaging VISTA volunteers who are committed to their mission to bring individuals and communities out of poverty as well as building partnerships with mentoring organizations serving youth across Virginia. 

Betsy Bilharz, who joined VMP in 2012 as the office's Data & Development VISTA and served for the past two years as VMP's Operations Manager, has transitioned to a new role as Assistant Director of Program Services. Betsy is looking forward to connecting with mentoring program staff and mentors in a new way to provide support through training, technical assistance, and the Quality Based Membership process. 


 
Upcoming Trainings:








Let VMP trainers prepare you for an effective mentoring relationship. 

Looking to schedule an on-site training for your program? Click here to fill out a request. 



Virginia Advocates to Better Protect Youth  
On January 26th, VMP's and staff from mentoring programs from across Virginia visited representatives on Capital Hill to advocate for legislation promoting child safety and investments in mentoring.
If you weren't able to join us, lend your voice! The Child Protection Improvements Act (CPIA) would ensure nonprofit youth-serving organizations have access to national FBI fingerprint checks in order to make informed decisions about potential volunteers, staff and mentors. Contact your senators and representatives to show your support of protective measures for youth. 


Link to Learning:
 
Research indicates that social capital, or connection to others, provides a strong predictor of well-being. What factors influence the development of social capital? Check out this article from Robert Putnam on why mentors matter in addressing gaps in the distribution of social capital in society.
 
Please join VMP in celebrating the mentoring movement across the state of Virginia. 
VMP will be hosting the 14th Annual Mentoring Awards Luncheon & Conference on March 17th at the 
Jefferson Hotel 

Keynote Speaker: Dr. Betty Neal Crutcher, Ph.D., MPH
Presidential Spouse, University of Richmond
Executive Mentor, Cross Cultural Mentoring

The following award winners will be recognized:

Outstanding Mentoring Program Award: 

Outstanding Mentor Awards:
William B. Alston, II -Henrico HEROES
Cassie Price - AMP! Metro Richmond

The awards ceremony will be held from
11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. in the Grand Ballroom, followed by conference workshops 1:15 to 5 p.m. 

Afternoon workshops, facilitated by Virginia Center for Inclusive Communities, will continue the conversation about cross-cultural mentoring. 
 
Registration will close on March 10th, so sign up today!


If you are interested in learning more about event sponsorship, please contact our Director of Advancement Corey Humphrey.



 National Mentoring Month

In case you missed it, January was recognized by President Obama as National Mentoring Month, a time to raise awareness about the benefits of mentoring and recruit new mentors.
Congratulations to our mentoring program partners and volunteers on another successful National Mentoring Month!  

Many of our program partners were featured in media stories, planned special events, and shared their inspiring mentoring stories. VMP celebrated with a flurry of trainings, advocacy efforts on Capitol Hill, and media spotlights, including an NBC12 Viewpoint segment with Kym Grinnage and a Richmond Times-Dispatch Op Ed by longtime Dominion mentor Les Carter. 

To cap off National Mentoring Month, VMP's staff attended MENTOR's National Mentoring Summit, hosted in Washington D.C. Staff advocated on the Hill for legislation supporting mentoring, exchanged ideas with members of other state mentoring partnerships, and attended workshops to learn more about latest research of best program practices across the country. 

Miss the event? Plenary sessions and select workshops are available online. Click here to learn more.  
  
 



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Virginia Mentoring Partnership
2500 W. Broad St, Third Floor
Richmond, VA 23220
804-828-1536





Virginia Mentoring Partnership is a 501 (c) 3 organization that is supported by grants, corporate donations, individual donations and in-kind services.  For more information or to support our organization please visit us at