What's New @ iMentor

When is the deadline for class registration? How do I make sure my financial aid is in place? How do I sign up for campus housing? The answers to these important questions, and many more, will now be at the fingertips of college-bound students, thanks to an innovative text message alert program for students with iMentor, a leading New York City-based youth mentoring organization.

Our CEO, Mike O'Brien, announced this pilot campaign this week at the Clinton Global Initiative (CGI) America meeting as a CGI Commitment to Action. This project is an innovative cross-sector partnership with colleges, college success organizations and foundations, to further iMentor’s mission to help students in low-income communities successfully transition to and complete college.  Funded with grants provided to iMentor by the Citi Foundation and The Heckscher Foundation for Children, the program’s goal is to significantly decrease the college graduation gap for students from the bottom-income quartile; only 12% of whom reach graduation. 

“We are very excited to launch the text message campaign for college-bound students,” said iMentor CEO Mike O’Brien.  “Research shows that anywhere from 10%-40% of low income and first-generation college students change their plans over the summer due to logistical, financial or personal issues.  This program is a simple, cost effective way to offer meaningful, individualized support to students as they make this transition. We’re grateful that the Citi Foundation and The Heckscher Foundation for Children are funding this project as well as the expansion of our work with college students.”

The text message campaign will kick off this summer for 600 college-bound students in the iMentor program in New York City.  These students will receive a series of text messages for 10 weeks about important college-related tasks and deadlines, specific to each student’s college.  As a part of the campaign, each student’s mentor will also receive text messages about their mentee’s matriculation requirements and suggestions on how to support them in the process. 

“Academic preparation is only one aspect of ensuring students get to and through college – for many, the additional responsibility of managing their registration, scheduling, and financial obligations is daunting,” said  Pamela Flaherty, President and CEO of the Citi Foundation.  “We are pleased to support iMentor’s innovative efforts to use technology to provide another way that mentors, including many Citi employees, can directly support the academic ambitions of these students.”  

“The Heckscher Foundation is committed to finding innovative strategies for leveling the playing field for qualified youth in college readiness and retention. iMentor has developed some exciting tools for doing just that, and we are pleased to help support it in this effort,”  said Peter Sloane, CEO and Chairman, The Heckscher Foundation for Children.

The campaign was inspired by a study by two Harvard University-researchers, Benjamin Castelman and Lindsay Page, who concluded that college enrollment rates were four to seven percentage points higher for students in low-income communities who received personalized text messaging about college tasks compared to those who did not receive text messages.

iMentor is working in partnership with researchers Benjamin Castleman and Lindsay Page, and a variety of college success-oriented non-profit organizations to develop matriculation guides for colleges across New York state.  Text messages for the campaign will be written to reflect the information and the deadlines outlined in the guides. 

The campaign will officially begin on June 24, when the first set of text messages to students and mentors will be sent.  The campaign will conclude on September 2^nd, at which time the messaging and college enrollment data for all students will be reviewed by iMentor and its partners to improve and expand the program in the future.

iMentor’s work in New York City wouldn’t be possible without the commitment of the teachers at our partner high schools. Today, on National Teacher Appreciation Day, we want to thank two teachers at Lower East Side Preparatory High School (LESP), Min Zhao and Marta Ralston, who have spent years supporting the mentoring relationships between students at their school and iMentor volunteers.

Jana Chandler, iMentor’s director of school partnerships, says, “Min and Marta have shown incredible commitment to supporting our mentee-mentor pairs at LESP. Their enthusiasm for our program has allowed LESP pairs to build strong and lasting relationships that have been invaluable to mentee and mentor alike.”

iMentor first met Min the first year of our partnership with LESP, in 2003, when iMentor was still a new program at a handful of schools across the city. She even worked with our CEO, Mike O’Brien, early in his career, when he was a program coordinator at the school. Marta Ralston joined Min as a vital part of the iMentor family in 2010.

Strong partnerships with schools, and particularly with teachers, are an essential part of the iMentor program. At LESP, a transfer high school serving students ages 17-21 that is popular in the Chinese community, students in the advanced levels of the English as a Second Language program are matched with a mentor, and they attend an iMentor class session once a week. In these classes, iMentor staff, with support from Min and Marta, instruct the students on the iMentor college-readiness curriculum and help students craft emails to their mentors. Both teachers read and grade every students’ email prior to class each week--hundreds of emails--which has been instrumental in furthering mentees’ writing abilities.

Additionally, Min and Marta have chaperoned dozens of iMentor events over the years, where mentee-mentor pairs meet in person to work toward curriculum goals and build strong mentoring relationships. These have included trips to the iMentor office, museums, and even CitiField to see a Mets game. In all, we estimate that these two dedicated teachers have supported more than 790 students in our program, graded 18,170 emails, and attended 56 events.

Anna Lemler, an iMentor program coordinator at LESP, says, “Min and Marta care deeply for their students and believe strongly in the power of mentoring. Their passion and dedication have been a wonderful inspiration to me, and to all the program coordinators who have worked with them.”

iMentor thanks Min, Marta--and the teachers at all of our partner schools--for being role models to their students and to all of us.

iMentor is proud to host its annual Spring Benefit on Wednesday, June 12 at the Bowery Hotel in New York City, and we hope to see you there! Our community of mentors, supporters, and partners will gather in the expansive indoor/outdoor terrace of the Bowery Hotel to celebrate the accomplishments of our mentor community over the past year.

Guests will enjoy signature drinks, hors d’oeuvres, and entertainment. They will also have the opportunity to bid on exclusive auction items such as tickets to a live taping of Bravo TV’s Watch What Happens Live and local sports games as well as designer clothing and accessories. Proceeds from the evening will support iMentor’s ongoing efforts to build mentoring relationships that empower students in low-income communities to graduate high school, succeed in college, and achieve their ambitions.

Last year’s Spring Benefit brought together 400 friends of iMentor at the Bowery Hotel for a fabulous evening in celebration of mentoring. We heard from our mentor community about the most rewarding aspects of working with the youth in our program, and guests enjoyed cocktails and conversation. You can view photos of last year’s event here.

Join us for this year’s event by purchasing a ticket or signing up to be a part of iMentor’s Spring Benefit Leadership group. Contact Stacey Gorman for more information. If you cannot attend, please consider making a tax-deductible contribution to iMentor today.

Ask any of the successful professionals who make up iMentor’s Women’s Committee why they joined this special leadership group, and you’ll hear the same response: I want to surround myself with women who are motivated to support one another.

Committee member Toni McLaurin explains it this way: “It's empowering to be around a group of women who have succeeded themselves and who also recognize the importance of sharing that with other people. It’s still hard to find high-powered women in some career fields,” Toni says. “And it's important for us to come together.”

As an associate professor of orthopaedic surgery at the New York University Hospital for Joint Diseases, Toni knows something about professional trailblazing. As a black woman in a male-dominated field—and medical specialty—Toni never had a mentor and dedicates her free time to mentoring college and medical students in the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons. She wanted to get involved with iMentor because she recognizes that young women, particularly first-generation college students, need female role models as they explore college and careers. Without mentors, she fears young women may ask themselves, “What makes me think I can do it if others haven’t done it before?”

iMentor’s Women’s Committee is comprised of caring, visionary women like Toni who are committed to helping the next generation of women succeed in college and their careers. Through special events and learning opportunities, the Women’s Committee works to identify and address unique challenges faced by the young women iMentor supports.

May 15, the Women’s Committee will host recent high school graduates and their mentors at its second panel event at Sarabeth’s. Committee members, their guests, and mentor-mentee pairs will engage in an enriching discussion about how to best market yourself in college and to employers.

Committee member Anne Rollett, of Amerro Asset Management, believes events like these allow women to give each other constructive advice. “For a teenage girl who is facing challenges, it’s nice to have a female role model to tell her: you are in control of your own life.”

As a mentor in the iMentor program, Anne is already helping her mentee, Yvette, work through challenges in the college applications process. When Yvette didn’t get into her top-choice college, Anne was there to keep Yvette positive through the process by telling her about a similar experience she had when she was applying to school. “She found it comforting to know that things worked out better for me in the long-run because I didn’t get into my top choice school,” Anne said. “I told her to have a good cry today, and tomorrow, you keep going.” Yvette’s been accepted to three colleges, and she can count on Anne’s support to keep going as she thinks through her college decision.

Toni and Anne are two dynamic professionals who make up a diverse committee of women supporting our mentees, mentors, and one another. At the event in May, we’re looking forward to expanding the network of women getting involved—and to the unique opportunity our mentees have to learn from such an inspiring group.

To get involved in iMentor’s Women’s Committee, email Stacey Gorman.