Mentors

Mentoring is a key support for students. Year Up carefully matches each student to a mentor who is a working professional in preparation for the students’ transition into their corporate internships. Mentors benefit by becoming a positive role model for a young adult entering the professional world, providing them with advice, and introducing mentees to new experiences. Year Up provides an orientation, continual support and organizes events that mentors and mentees can attend together. Year Up uses the iMentor Interactive online system to match and monitor the mentor/mentee relationships. Mentors are matched to mentees of their same gender. Year Up asks that mentors meet with the mentee at least once a month over a ten month period, and communicate weekly via phone, text, or email. Mentors benefit by becoming a positive role model for a young adult entering the professional world, providing them with advice, and introducing mentees to new experiences.

We ask that our mentors be 24 years old or above, have a B.A., working experience and some familiarity with entry level positions. We ask that our mentors have the ability and desire to work with young adults (ages 18-24) from diverse, urban backgrounds. We also ask that our mentors have a positive attitude, good listening skills, a willingness to share your knowledge and experiences, patience, understanding, a sense of humor, willingness to help make connections and build networks and communication with your mentee as much as possible.