Friends for Youth at the Golden State Warriors this Sunday

This Sunday the Golden State Warriors play the Utah Jazz, and some of our Friends for Youth mentoring Friendships are going to be there!

Bay Area Mentoring was given 50 tickets by the Warriors so that Friendships from mentoring programs around the bay could come to the game in celebration of National Mentoring Month. The group will be given an exclusive tour of the arena, the chance to watch the pre-game shootaround courtside and will be featured on the jumbotron at half-time!

7 and 1/2 Ideas to Recruit and Encourage Mentors During National Mentoring Month

National Mentoring Month is the premier opportunity for any company, organization, or community group to help recruit mentors for Friends for Youth and celebrate mentoring. Please join us in the celebration and recruitment efforts! There are a myriad of ideas for how to engage and mobilize your company, organization, or group. Here are seven and a half of those ideas courtesy of Friends for Youth:

1. Invite Friends for Youth to your workplace or other gathering for a presentation. We are available to present to any interested group! Also, if you are already a Friends for Youth mentor or supporter, you can act as guest speaker. Many people are looking to fulfill New Year’s resolutions around this time, but need a little prodding--this is a great place to start.

2. Visit http://www.nationalmentoringmonth.org/g/nmm/powell-nation-of-graduates-30.mp4 to view the 2011 PSA for National Mentoring Month featuring General Colin Powell and then email the link to 10 local friends, coworkers, or relatives. Include Friends for Youth’s website www.friendsforyouth.org in your email.

3. Highlight Thank Your Mentor Day (January 25th). Acknowledge people who currently mentor and provide an opportunity in person or online for all to publicly discuss who mentored them in their lives.

4. Organize a group viewing of a mentoring-themed movie. Just about any recent Disney film will do including Up or Finding Nemo, or try Akeelah and the Bee or Duma, or pick a more serious film like The King's Speech.

5. Raise awareness at your place of work about paid company volunteer time. Many companies allow a given number of paid hours off to participate in certain volunteer activities or will provide matching grants based on your volunteer hours to the nonprofit where you are volunteering.

6. Put up National Mentoring Month posters in your offices.

7. Promote National Mentoring Month through your company's internal website. If you have a volunteering section to your intranet, highlight mentoring with Friends for Youth during January.

7 1/2. Contact Friends for Youth Recruitment Coordinator during National Mentoring Month at 650-482-2867 or jonathan@friendsforyouth.org for more ideas or assistance.

My Mentoring Story

Board Member Stacy's Story:

“Have perspective. Personal relationships matter. Keep a sense of humor”. My mentor shared these three short statements with me a few years ago when I asked for advice on how to be successful in my first job leading a large operations team. Today, it sums up my leadership style.

For me, it all goes back to 5th grade. Anyone who knows me knows that my passion is mentoring middle school aged girls. This is because that was one of the most significant periods of change I experienced in my life. When I started 5th grade, I was sent off to a middle school that was not my neighborhood school. This meant that I had to make new friends and couldn’t carry my friendships from elementary school with me. This also meant that I was isolated from the friends in my neighborhood because they were going to the local school and having different experiences than my own. Being isolated and “the only one” that was bused to school was lonely at first and I was mad at my mom for forcing me into this situation. Over the years, I made new friends and received opportunities and experiences that others around me did not. Looking back, I am thankful for the hard choice that my mother made and grateful for her foresight in pushing me into new experiences so that I may have access to better opportunities.

And I haven’t looked back. My “dream job” is always one where I find myself faced with a big challenge and a high enough likelihood of failure that I have butterflies in my stomach almost all the time but if I am successful then the result is huge impact on the business. The mentors in my life have pushed me into these situations when I was sometimes afraid to go on my own. They have also helped me learn from my mistakes, pick myself up, and keep moving ahead. I remember Allan Cotrone who gave me my first performance review at the end of my first internship. I was 18 years old and my job was to refile a set of folders moving them from one filing cabinet to another. As a shy introvert, I completed my assignment diligently by myself and I did what I thought was an impeccable job. Expecting a glowing review, I was disappointed to learn that I did not meet expectations because I didn't work with the team, meet other people, and use all the resources available to me. Flying solo was ok but team work and collaboration was better. That was my first career lesson. I listened and I learned. I returned to the same company the next summer where I ended with a great review....and a lot of new friends too!

My life and career has taken a variety of twists and turns but at every intersection I’ve found a guiding hand to help make what turned out to be the right decisions. Surround yourself with people who will push the boundaries of what is possible and you will do the impossible.

Happy National Mentoring Month!

Happy New Year and Happy National Mentoring Month! I am very excited to be starting the new year in celebration of a cause I feel deeply about. I wish every young person who would like to have a mentor could be connected to a positive and stable role model and experience a safe and effective mentoring relationship. And, I wish that every youth mentoring program had a waiting list of qualified and approved mentors, instead of a waiting list of mentees!

January 2011 is the tenth annual National Mentoring Month, a time each year when our nation spotlights the importance of mentors and the need for every child to have a caring adult in his or her life. Activities include a concentrated burst of national and local media activity - look out for those PSAs featuring General Colin Powell on your radio and TV - combined with White House and Congressional involvement and extensive community outreach to institutionalize the nation's commitment to long-term mentoring. National Mentoring Month efforts are spearheaded by the Harvard Mentor Project of the Harvard School of Public Health, MENTOR, and the Corporation for National and Community Service. Friends for Youth's Mentoring Institute, through Bay Area Mentoring, serves as lead local partner and the designated agency in the San Francisco Bay Area responsible for coordinating local campaign activities. We have 30 different mentoring agencies in 10 counties collaborating to ensure that the 6,400 children and youth served each year have supportive and transformative mentoring experiences.

President Barack Obama issued a proclamation designating January 2011 as National Mentoring Month. He stated, "Across our Nation, mentors steer our youth through challenging times and support their journey into adulthood. During National Mentoring Month, we honor these important individuals who unlock the potential and nurture the talent of our country, and we encourage more Americans to reach out and mentor young people in their community."

We hope you'll join the over 50,000 individuals across the country who responded to last year's National Mentoring Month campaign and get involved with a mentoring program like Friends for Youth. Mentors are needed now more than ever to motivate, inspire, and listen to young people lacking positive, stable adult role models. By showing up consistently, you can build a relationship that can last a lifetime and have tremendous impact on a young person. Help them get there - become a mentor today!