What's New @ iMentor

iMentor is proud to be a supporting organization at the third annual National Mentoring Summit, convened by MENTOR: the National Mentoring Partnership, in Washington, D.C. this January 24 and 25. As part of National Mentoring Month, iMentor will be joining more than 650 leading youth development organizations and civic, corporate, government, and philanthropic leaders who will come together at the Summit to share best practices, examine new research, exchange ideas, and discuss innovative developments in the field of youth mentoring.

iMentor’s own CEO Mike O’Brien and Managing Director of iMentor Interactive Adrienne Kupper will each be presenting on panels at the two-day event to share what makes iMentor’s college success program as successful as it is in New York City—and explain how we’re leveraging that results-driven model to help youth in 12 other states receive the mentorship they need to get into and graduate from college through our partnerships with 15 nonprofit organizations this year.

Hosted by the Corporation for National and Community Service, the U.S. Department of Justice’s Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, the Harvard School of Public Health, United Way Worldwide, and nearly 20 partner organizations, this important event provides mentoring organizations from across the country with the opportunity to convene, collaborate, learn from each other’s successes, and leverage new, innovative approaches to enhance mentoring opportunities for more of America’s young people.

We look forward to collaborating with corporate, government, nonprofit, and philanthropic leaders in the effort to further national mentoring outcomes at the 2013 National Mentoring Summit!

The Academy for Software Engineering (AFSE), located just off Union Square in New York City, opened its doors for the first time this past September to a group of 126 9^th graders. Offering an innovative curriculum of standard Regents-prep courses paired with computer science classes, the school aims to prepare students with the core competencies for not just college—but also future careers in New York City’s growing technology and entrepreneurial community. Through the school’s new partnership with iMentor, every one of these freshmen has been matched with an iMentor volunteer—many of whom hail from careers in software engineering themselves—in a four-year mentoring partnership to help them build these crucial skills.

Interim Acting Principal Seung Yu, says that in just a few short months, iMentor’s College Ready mentoring program has already been woven into the fabric of the school.

“The type of coordination that iMentor has—it’s seamless. Our program coordinator, Primo Lasana, comes in to implement the program, and our kids see him as a staff member,” said Yu.

“We thought iMentor would be a tremendous asset for us because, for kids in an urban environment, the more adult, professional role models they have the more they know that they have a number of support networks,” he added.  

In addition to learning computer programming as a fundamental part of their studies, AFSE students attend a weekly iMentor class in which they e-mail their mentors to discuss their progress toward academic and personal goals. They also meet their mentors once a month at an iMentor event, which takes place in the school’s cafeteria. Both in person and through e-mail, pairs work on iMentor’s college success curriculum to help students develop skills for college and their careers.

Michael Halloran, a new mentor who works in the technology and data division at Morgan Stanley, was excited to meet his mentee, Eliezer, for the first time – and was very pleased to hear about his interests in the field of technology when they had the chance to sit down together.  

“Eliezer told me he wants to learn programming language and develop more technical skills, and I have a lot to share with him in those areas,” said Halloran, who heard about the opportunity to volunteer through Morgan Stanley’s corporate partnership with iMentor.

“When I heard about what the program was during a team meeting at Morgan Stanley, it immediately seemed like something I wanted to sign up for and do,” Halloran added. 

Mentors and mentees at AFSE also have access to special tech-geared learning opportunities through iMentor. Mentors were recently invited to Google’s offices in New York City for a discussion on the growing importance of computer science skills in America’s changing marketplace, and mentees took a field trip to Facebook’s offices to hear a panel of Facebook employees discuss their roles within the company. In fact, one mentee said the trip gave him new ideas about potential professional development opportunities.

“We learned about the internships Facebook offers and what kind of work the interns do,” said freshman Diante Singleton. “They aren’t regular old internships—the interns actually get to work on projects that last three months. After hearing about it, I would love to intern there.”

We’re excited to see the new iMentor class at the Academy for Software Engineering flourish throughout the year as they continue to develop and work toward their college aspirations and career goals! We know that the support of their mentors will be especially helpful as they learn more about careers in software engineering.

Dr. Frank Scifo, a well-known local physician in Bridgeport, Connecticut, is a veteran to Wi-mentor, an iMentor Interactive partner program. Dr. Scifo has been a mentor with the program for three years, and was recently inspired to renew his commitment to the program after a remarkable year with his mentee throughout the 2011-2012 school year.

In 2011, Dr. Scifo was matched with Gerald, a student at Wi-mentor’s newest partner school, Central High School, in Bridgeport. Wi-mentor partnered with iMentor in 2007 to implement a mentoring program to help underserved high school students prepare for and succeed in college and beyond. iMentor provides Wi-mentor with curricula, technology tools, and consulting so they can implement their own effective mentoring program in the iMentor model in Coastal Fairfield County.

Students at Central participate in the Wi-mentor program as part of their Medical Careers class. Central’s Medical Careers teacher, Cathy Chimini, thought an in-person and online mentoring program would be an innovative way to link her students with professionals working in the medical field, which her students also aspire to work in. Dr. Scifo, who works at Saint Vincent’s Medical Center, had volunteered in the Wi-mentor program before, but was excited about the new opportunity to mentor a student who shared an interest in the medical field.

Dr. Scifo and Gerald hit it off instantly. Gerald, a senior, had his mind set on becoming a nurse, just like his mother. Meeting and working with Dr. Scifo only made Gerald’s desire to join the healthcare arena that much more great, as Gerald was able to hear first-hand accounts of Dr. Scifo’s experiences in medicine and ask questions about the field. And Dr. Scifo’s experience with Gerald was just as rewarding. Through in-depth weekly emails, the pair discussed everything from school to their personal lives, and Dr. Scifo suggested different paths Gerald could take in the nursing profession and encouraged him to stay motivated through his college application process. Over the course of the year together, the pair developed a mutual respect for each other and also had a lot of fun.

Dr. Scifo, the host of a local radio show, Health Talk, about news in healthcare, invited Gerald to be a guest on his show. Gerald was very nervous at first, but Dr. Scifo helped put those nerves at ease and by the end of the show, Gerald was a natural. The pair talked about their relationship, their experiences, and the Wi-mentor program. The show was a great public speaking opportunity for Gerald, and the pair also had a chance to share information about Wi-mentor with the community.

As a result of their hard work together, in June, Gerald and Dr. Scifo won the Wi-mentor Match of the Year award at the End of Year Banquet. Gerald has since moved onto Northeastern University in Boston and is doing very well in his freshman year of college. Due to the positive year with Gerald, Dr. Scifo signed up to be matched with another student this year at Central and is continuing to impact the lives of youth in Coastal Fairfield County.

After a few hesitant moments looking across the crowded school cafeteria, a broad smile broke across one student’s face as she recognized her mentor walking through the door. Up until now, they had only exchanged a few emails, and both were a bit nervous to meet in person for the first time. This is the experience that newly-matched students and mentors at iMentor partner schools across four New York City boroughs are having.

At Manhattan Bridges High School, Stevi Petrelli, a financial analyst at Goldman Sachs, said that talking over e-mail with her mentee Andreina in the days leading up to the first iMentor event made her even more eager to meet the teen, who is a freshman at the school.

“I feel like I already know a lot about her so it’s exciting to put all the details and background to a face,” she said.       

Xavier Segura, an account director at AppNexus and mentor to Ojay Virgo, a junior at the High School for Service Learning at Erasmus, said that he is looking forward to working with Ojay to define the smaller steps he needs to take in order to achieve his larger goals, one of which includes becoming a doctor.

“I was fortunate to have a lot of role models who could help me get to where I wanted to be,” said Xavier. “I hope that I can help Ojay with tactical ways to get to his big aspirations—and what that means on a day to day basis for him.”  

Latisha, also a junior at the High School for Service Learning at Erasmus, and her mentor Aura Posner, a senior manager of Global Finance Training at Morgan Stanley, discussed Latisha’s academic interests and what they might translate to in college.

“Latisha has interests in music and writing, so we’ll be doing research on schools with strong performing arts or English programs,” said Aura. Latisha, who was unsure about whether to apply to college before being matched with Aura, now knows it’s the right path for her.

“I was really excited to meet my mentor Aura,” she said. “I want her to help me learn more about the outside world, and my options.”

Mentees also had the opportunity to ask their new mentors about their lives and careers. Michael, a freshman at Manhattan Bridges High School, wanted to know how his mentor Andrew Barbaccia decided to become an engineer, and how he got into undergraduate and graduate programs. Mentors, in turn, got the chance to ask their mentees how classes are going and suggest a few positive study habits that worked for them in high school.

We warmly welcome the 4,800 participants who have recently joined our program and are just starting the multi-year relationships that will allow them to work together toward outlining and achieving these goals. iMentor is proud to be hosting more than 170 mentor-mentee events across four boroughs in New York City this school year.