HUB
THE NETWORK IS FOR YOU!
Imagine a community of your peers: a network of like-minded professionals committed to providing quality mentoring relationships to young people across New York State and scaling solutions. This community can be your community!
When you engage with MENTOR New York and our services, you have access to MENTOR New York’s Network.
Network members attend professional development and training sessions and utilize MENTOR New York’s consultation support services to increase capacity and implement strategic plans. Network convenings invite members to build relationships with other mentoring and youth development practitioners across the state to collectively contribute, partner, and support the NY Mentoring Movement as a whole.
VALUE OF THE NETWORK
The Network is your opportunity to leverage all that MENTOR New York has to offer in ways that will best support you, your organization, and the greater Mentoring Movement.
The more you put into the Network, the more you gain!
In addition to being a Network of mentoring professionals committed to high-quality outcomes for young people, the Network can be a...
COMMUNITY OF
CONTRIBUTION
INCUBATOR FOR INNOVATION
SPACE TO SCALE SOLUTIONS
WHO IS A NETWORK MEMBER?
Network members are professionals serving young people across the New York State through mentoring. These youth development and mentoring practitioners are invested in furthering their professional development, enhancing the practices of their organization, and amplifying the Mentoring Movement for the benefit of all young people.
Does this sound like you? Join us in the Network today!
NETWORK ENGAGEMENT OPPORTUNITIES
Our virtual and in-person trainings, workshops, panel discussions, and Annual Mentoring Matters Conference provides professional development to strengthen mentoring practices, share new resources, and help the field put research into practice. Below are upcoming learning opportunities.
TRAINING: Design and Manage a Quality Mentoring Program Using the Elements of Effective Practice
Thursday, February 16 | 12:30 - 2:30 PM
This valuable training session provides the foundational understanding of best practices needed to design, implement, and evaluate effective mentoring programs. MENTOR’s Elements of Effective Practice for Mentoring™ details research-based standards for creating and sustaining quality youth mentoring programs, including benchmarks and enhancements to help improve your mentoring program in six main areas: (1) recruitment, (2) screening, (3) training, (4) matching, (5) monitoring & support, and (6) closure.
TRAINING: Mentoring Practices to Create Safe and Resilient Spaces
Thursday, February 23, 2023 | 10 - 11:15 AM
Programs, young people, and the adults who care for them are talking, wondering, and worrying about their safety and how to navigate their emotions and trauma in healthy and productive ways. This is particularly heightened as we continue to manage crisis, anger, and loss entering this next phase of the pandemic. Hosted by Erica Friedman Coburn, this participatory workshop will touch on how to use effective relationship-driven mentoring practices to elevate youth voice in times of crisis and provide tools and considerations for developing programmatic crisis response action plans.
Community events invite Members and Partners of the Network to engage in a community of practice by facilitating networking opportunities and intimate conversations around timely trends in the mentoring field to elevate shared needs and goals. Check back for upcoming networking and community events.
CONVENING:
2023 Virtual Mentoring Matters Conference
Friday, March 31, 2022
Celebrate and center community at the 20th Annual Mentoring Matters Conference! New York’s premiere convening for mentoring and youth development practitioners, the 2023 conference will cover best and innovative practices in the field, address emerging challenges, and explore how to increase capacity, authentically amplify youth voice, and truly show up for young people!
Members and Partners can elect to participate in leadership development or action-oriented groups to explicitly improve a practice or collectively problem-solve to advance the mentoring movement across New York State. Check back for upcoming events.
ORGANIZATIONAL CHANGE MAKERS FELLOWSHIPI
How do we take innovative ideas and make them a reality within our organizations? That's the challenge posed to participants of MENTOR New York's Organizational Change Makers Fellowship, a free professional development opportunity that helps organizations to use a continuous improvement (CI) approach to enhance practices and build capacity. A key part of the fellowship includes developing an action plan to implement change ideas in practice. Want to develop your skills and turn up the impact of your organization? Apply to become a 2023 Change Maker!
2022 CHANGE MAKERS
ALEXXIS BRIVIESCA
Alexxis is a Senior Program
Manager, LGBTQ+ Programming with Big Brothers Big Sisters of NYC. Her priorities align
with the necessity to provide the LGBTQ+ community a proactively affirming environment
through advocacy, policy initiatives, competency training, and peer support.
KELSIE QUA
Kelsie is the Program Coordinator for Capital Region Sponsor-A-Scholar. In her current role, she helps promising high schoolers succeed as first-generation college students by leading afterschool sessions, coordinating a community mentoring program, and distributing college stipends. Kelsie enjoys empowering students to achieve their goals through the “coach approach,” which stresses active listening and self-advocacy.
KYRA HOLIDAY
Kyra is the Program Manager of Connections Mentoring in the New York City area. She has been working in Social Services for six years, with experience in JJI, foster care and adoption, and mentoring. Kyra is a huge Philadelphia Phillies fan, and she enjoys reading, playing the guitar, and binge-watching Netflix – when she's not making mentor matches.
ZOË AUERBACH
DEMISHIA OWENS
Demishia has worked with youth and families for over 16 years. She joined EAC Network in 2005 as a Senior Case Manager for EAC’s Alternatives for Youth Program, before being promoted to Deputy Director and then Program Director. She currently provides effective interventions for alleged PINS youth associated with detention, and support services for at-risk and foster care youth.
MICHELLE JERVIS-WHITE
As a Licensed Clinical Social Worker, Michelle has worked in substance abuse, aging, and mental health. She has been practicing in New York City for over 20 years and founded the nonprofit Girls Mentor Girls in 2019. She is currently a school social for NYC Department of Education, and started her mental health private practice five years ago.
TARUNA SADHOO
Taruna currently serves as the Director of Experiential Education at Queens College. She is responsible for the management and expansion of several key service-learning, civic engagement, and high-impact internship programs, including the CUNY Service Corps, CUNY Recovery Corps, and Google Computer Science Summer Institute.
DANIEL GONZALEZ
Dan is a Programs Associate at Minds Matter of New York City. Minds Matter connects driven and determined students from low-income families with the people, preparation, and possibilities to succeed in college, create their future, and change the world. Dan strives to lift other first-gens and low-income students as they navigate college and their careers.
MARIA SANTANA
Maria is a Dominican and Haitian Brooklyn native. She studied Adolescent Psychology and Legal Studies at The City College of New York. Maria has dedicated nearly a decade of her career to youth development work that inspires young people to reach their full potential. She hopes to continue challenging systems and intuitions to strive for social change and equity.
SIMONE RAGLAND
Simone Ragland is a Licensed Social Worker, administrator, educator, and proud Buffalonian. She has over 20 years of experience providing support services to individuals and families by facilitating parent education classes, family support for individuals with developmental disabilities, and recovery
treatment and in-home intensive therapy for children and families.
CHELSEA GIOFFRE
Zoë is the CHIME & Young Leaders Program Manager at ESYO. She has enjoyed a varied and full career as a violinist/violist, teacher, and arts administrator. She is the founding executive director of Harmony Project Hudson, a tuition-free music program aimed at helping young people in Hudson, NY realize their fullest potential through the powerful connections forged in the study of music.