The Inaugural 'A' Team

Last week Friends for Youth gathered the inaugural members of the Recruitment Advisory and Action Team, or 'A' Team for a groundbreaking session. This was a noteworthy meeting because its results will direct Friends for Youth to new avenues to explore in its 2011 recruitment efforts.

The A Team was formed specifically to recruit more mentors for youth-in-need. It is an ongoing and sometimes challenging task to recruit volunteers, and as Friends for Youth grows it needs new ideas for mentor recruitment. The A Team brainstormed new recruitment tactics and resources with an activity called Asset Mapping. Using this tool, brainstorming turned competitive and yielded a lively and productive session of critical thinking from all participants.

Members of the A Team have diverse backgrounds, but all are concerned community members who have long been champions of mentoring and Friends for Youth. The founding members are: Stacy Brown-Philpot, Lisa Chow, Kristin Hanley, Mike Havern, Mike Orazi, Paulette Savage, and Donna Vaillincourt.