Wi-mentor Celebrates Another Successful Year

Wi-mentor, one of iMi's star members in Bridgeport, CT, celebrated the completion of its third year in admirable style earlier this month.  The end of year event followed a Midnight Masquerade theme, creating a fun and classy mood to celebrate the hard work of their students, mentors, staff, and other supporters.

In 2007, Wi-mentor first launched as a collaboration between United Way of Fairfield County and Bridgeport Public Schools.  Starting the program from the ground up, they followed iMentor's NYC program model closely, incorporating weekly emails and regular in-person events into the mentoring relationships.  Starting with 100 pairs in the first year, Wi-mentor matched Bridgeport high school students with mentors from local businesses.  Although they faced some of the most common challenges of new mentoring programs, including student engagement and finding sufficient time in the school week for students to email their mentors, Wi-mentor's dedicated and incredibly creative staff ensured positive experiences for both mentees and volunteer mentors.

After one year of programming under their belts, Wi-mentor has since been unstoppable with growth and inspirational stories of impact.  Continuing to follow iMentor NYC's model, Wi-mentor now has over 150 pairs, with mentees from high schools in Bridgeport and Stratford, CT.  Mentors and mentees focus on topics related to academics, college attendance and career goals, exchanging thousands of emails in one year.  So when the students, mentors, school staff, and United Way came together to acknowledge the success of the program on June 11, 2010, they certainly had a lot to celebrate.

Great work, Wi-mentor!  iMi is looking forward to another year working with you, hearing the great stories and learning of the many successes of your mentees and mentors!

Learn more about iMi's partnership with Wi-mentor