Past and Present Leaders Reflect on iMentor’s Progress

iMentor’s past and present Executive Directors reflected on our progress at the 10^th Anniversary Gala.  Richard Buery, Founding Executive Director, recalled the rewards and challenges of transforming iMentor from an idea into a high-impact program during the early years.  Founding Board Member Matt Klein discussed iMentor’s unique role in the social sector. President Caroline Kim Oh, who came onboard as iMentor’s first Program Director in 2000, reflected on growth and change during her 10 years with the organization.  Caroline said: “Every day, I am humbled and honored to be a part of our growing community.”  

Chief Executive Officer, Mike O’Brien, offered an inspiring vision of the multiple ways to tell iMentor’s story.   In his speech, he highlighted our growth and innovative contributions to the mentoring field.  He also focused on the inspiring ways that iMentor has transformed thousands of individual lives.

Some say that iMentor’s story is a growth story—how we started with 49 students in a single classroom in the Bronx. If we held a reunion and invited every mentor-mentee pair we have served over the past 10 years, we would fill every single seat in Madison Square Garden.  But really, the stories are much smaller, much more personal and interesting.  At its core, the work we do is about is creating relationships that simply would not have existed without the program.  These are the stories that are in the process of being written, of ambition and great promise.                                                 

Mike O’Brien, CEO

Read These Leaders’ Reflections in the Gala Journal