Mentoring in the Multi-Service Environment – Program and Relationship Building: the YouthBuild Example

Session 2: 2:30-4:30 (2 hour workshop)

Increasingly, youth mentoring programs are being asked to deliver mentoring within the context of other educational, vocational, and developmental services for children, adolescents, and families. But questions arise: How does the mentoring component keep from getting lost in the shuffle? How can the work of the mentors support other programming? How does being part of a larger youth-serving organization impact program sustainability? And how do we tease out the impact of the mentoring piece when we evaluate the overall agency?

These questions and others will be explored in this session, which features a case study of the YouthBuild USA National Mentoring Alliance, a recent national initiative to integrate youth mentoring services into the already robust YouthBuild program model. YouthBuild is a national organization that helps high school dropouts and other young adults get their diploma, build leadership skills, and receive job training and professional development in the construction, green energy, and other fields. The session will focus on effective practices and critical factors to consider when involving volunteer mentors in multi-service environments, using YouthBuild’s approach as an example.

Workshop presenter Michael Garringer (National Mentoring Center at Education Northwest) works on the team that is helping YouthBuild develop a mentoring model that fit the organization’s needs. The session will review key considerations and advice for other practitioners, while also providing participants opportunities to share their experience and insights. 

Intended Workshop Audience: Program Staff

Presented by Michael Garringer, Advisor at the National Mentoring Center

Michael Garringer is an information services professional with extensive experience in developing and disseminating collections of education-related materials. He has worked at the Education Northwest for 13 years in various information services roles. As Resource Advisor with the National Mentoring Center he provides mentoring programs nationwide with information, consultation, and resources to assist in the development, improvement, and evaluation of their program practices. Michael is the author, co-author, or editor of numerous publications and guidebooks, including Foundations of Successful Youth Mentoring, ABCs of School-Based Mentoring, and Peer Mentoring: An Introductory Guide. He recently developed the YouthBuild Mentoring Operations Manual, a guidebook governing the mentoring model used in YouthBuild sites around the United States. He currently serves as the administrator for the Mentoring Forums, a practitioner discussion forum with over 1,500 members.  He also has extensive experience in Web site development, graphic design, desktop publishing, and providing online reference services. Michael holds a B.A. in English from the University of Oregon.