National Mentoring Summit Showcases Power of Relationships

WASHINGTON, DC--(Marketwired - January 26, 2017) - On February 1, over 1,000 youth mentoring professionals, advocates, researchers, philanthropic investors and government and civic leaders will gather for the seventh annual National Mentoring Summit. The signature three-day event for the youth mentoring field is convened by MENTOR: The National Mentoring Partnership (MENTOR) and supported by a diverse group of public, private and nonprofit stakeholders, including the Summit's Lead Sponsors Bank of America, EY, and LinkedIn, Gold Sponsors Citi Foundation, Deloitte, and 3M and Presenting Partners Corporation for National and Community Service, Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, and America's Promise Alliance. Media Partners American Graduate/Corporation for Public Broadcasting and EqualEd/Christian Science Monitor are also being recognized for their commitment to advancing the mentoring movement.

The Summit is the culminating event to National Mentoring Month, declared each January by the President and both houses of Congress. Many states and cities follow suit with declarations of their own which are amplified through MENTOR's affiliate network. During January, many high profile individuals lent their voice to the movement through MENTOR's In Real Life campaign, including Isaiah Thomas, Dexter Fowler, Trent Shelton, Laila Ali, Tobias Harris, Aaron Gordon, and Blake Griffin (Griffin video to be released on January 30). Many others showed their support for mentoring via social media, with the campaign hashtag #MentorIRL being tweeted over 10,000 times in January and with MENTOR's affiliate network amplifying, reaching a potential 32 million people.

Three powerful general sessions and more than 85 individual workshops will explore this year's theme of "Building Relationships, Advancing the Movement" and dive into timely issues affecting young people in our country and how relationships are central to their ability to thrive. WNBA Legend Swin Cash is a featured speaker in the Summit's opening session as she represents the NBA Family's commitment to mentoring and speaks about her dedication to 'motivate, educate, and elevate' kids.

Other general sessions will feature Gary, Indiana Mayor Karen Freeman-Wilson, Roanoke Chief of Police Tim Jones, Boston Police Department Deputy Superintendent Joseph Harris, and Bank of America Charitable Foundation President Kerry Sullivan, among many others.

• Advancing Educational Equity and Opportunity through Relationships
• Strengthening Community and Police Relations through Mentoring

For the third year running, Summit attendees will advocate for mentoring during Capitol Hill Day. Hundreds of advocates will meet with members of Congress to share stories of the impact quality youth mentoring has on their communities and advocate for policies that advance mentoring as a systemic solution.

"It is awe inspiring to see how many individuals come together each year at the Summit with a collective purpose of ensuring all young people are connected to the opportunities they need to strive and succeed in school, home, and work. As we explore how relationships are central to providing opportunity for young people, we must not lose sight of the fact that relationships are what propel all of us forward. They are the glue holding such a diverse web of participants from so many different sectors together in support of mentoring. As we move forward, these relationships will be the bridges that build the mentoring movement and ensure we are delivering on our promise to prioritize America's youth," said MENTOR CEO David Shapiro.

A special dinner on Wednesday, February 1^st will be held at the Library of Congress to honor 2017's Excellence in Mentoring award recipients, mentoring champions who have demonstrated a long-standing commitment to quality youth mentoring through individual volunteerism, fundraising and advocacy. This year's honorees are:

• Barbara Gage, President & Chairperson, The Carlson Family Foundation. Barbara's work with the Mentoring Partnership of Minnesota was influential in creating an online best practices assessment for mentoring programs which resulted in a quality assurance process that is now being used as part of the foundation for the development of MENTOR's national Quality Mentoring System (QMS). "I am so deeply honored to receive this award. It's been my pleasure to work on behalf of the Carlson Family Foundation and with our friends at the Mentoring Partnership of Minnesota and MENTOR to promote and expand high-quality mentoring practices. Together, we are working to enhance and strengthen the field to facilitate positive, mentoring experiences. Our founder left us a credo that reads, in part, 'whomever you serve, serve with caring; whenever you dream, dream with your all.' We strongly believe that caring adult mentors help young people recognize and celebrate their gifts and pursue their dreams."
• 
  Julie Magallanes Guevara, Director of Strategic Partnerships & Special Events, Catholic Big Brothers Big Sisters. Julie served in the administration of Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Ramón Villaraigosa in a variety of key posts, has been both in staff and volunteer leadership roles for Catholic Big Brothers Big Sisters in Los Angeles and has worked to assist Big Brothers Big Sisters of America in its outreach to the Hispanic/Latino community. "'What comes from the heart enters the heart': this is an old Talmudic saying that I live by and hope that the work that I do for youth reflects. At Catholic Big Brothers Big Sisters of Los Angeles this is embodied in our staff and leadership every day and is reflected in the work we do -- connecting youth with caring adults. A very successful man, who grew up in an under-resourced community from a family of nine, once told me 'don't tell a child they can be someone someday, let them know they are someone and will accomplish great things one day!' That man was my father."
• 
  Brandon L. McGee Jr., Ascend Mentoring, Board President. A Connecticut State Representative, Brandon is also a co-founder and mentor with D.I.E.S.E.L. Leadership Academy and advocates for funding for mentoring at the state and national levels. "Mentoring young people is an incredibly rewarding experience. I've had many mentors throughout my life, and I owe them a great deal. I hope that through my involvement as president of the board of directors for Ascend Mentoring and president of the BSL Educational Foundation, Inc. I can pay it forward and provide young people the same support that I received. Mentorship is a great compliment to my work in the legislature. As a state representative, I try to expand the opportunities available to the next generation through legislation. However it's not enough for opportunity to simply exist -- young people need mentors to awaken them to their own potential."
• 
  Samuel Powel, Creative Technical Consultant, Google. Sam's work with Spark Los Angeles, a middle school apprenticeship organization has made the program an integral part of Google's corporate culture. "Mentoring is one the best ways we have to give back and give a hand to young people as they navigate becoming adults. The growth we've seen in students over Spark's year long program is inspiring. I couldn't be happier to work with Spark and help continue to build this movement."

The 2017 National Mentoring Summit is made possible by the generous support of:

• Lead Sponsors: Bank of America, EY, LinkedIn
• Gold Sponsors: Citi Foundation, Deloitte, 3M
• Silver Sponsor: Mustang Leadership Partners
• Bronze Sponsor: First Niagara Foundation
• Founding Fellows Sponsor: AT&T
• Fellows Supporter: State Street Corporation

About MENTOR
MENTOR: The National Mentoring Partnership, a nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization, is the unifying champion for quality youth mentoring in the United States. MENTOR's mission is to close the "mentoring gap" and ensure our nation's young people have the support they need through quality mentoring relationships to succeed at home, school, and ultimately, work. To achieve this, MENTOR collaborates with its network of affiliate Mentoring Partnerships and works to drive the investment of time and money into high impact mentoring programs and advance quality mentoring through the development and delivery of standards, cutting-edge research and state-of-the-art tools. Connect with MENTOR on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.