MISSION AND VISION
OUR VISION
We believe all youth have agency and power at home, school, community and in the workplace.
OUR MISSION
We fuel the quality and quantity of equitable and inclusive developmental relationships for Minnesota's young people by building and elevating the capacity of programs, systems and policies.
WHAT WE DO
MENTOR Minnesota supports and collaborates with more than 200 mentor programs that serve approximately 130,000 youth of all ages (primarily 8-18) in mentoring relationships across Minnesota.
1. Assess quality and support continuous improvement efforts.
2. Identify, collect and synthesize research and best practices.
3. Share tools, knowledge, and best practices from mentoring and youth development practitioners and researchers.
4. Develop and enhance capacity within mentoring programs, systems and infrastructures.
5. Provide policy platform/advocacy alignment with all youth development community partners.
6. Enlist broader community and funding support for mentoring programs.
WHY WE DO WHAT WE DO
Mentoring works! Young people who have mentors have a better chance of succeeding and are more likely to make positive choices. Yet, in Minnesota, there are an estimated 250,000 young people who need and could benefit from an adult mentor.
OUR GUIDING PRINCIPLES
We are leaders through service: We are eager to activate our skills, our talents, our network and our time and resources to empower others.
We are transparent and responsive: We value candor and authenticity, we listen, and we always honor our commitments.
We are community-led: We believe that anything created without community is not for community.
We work smart and value data: We are resourceful stewards of the resources to which we are entrusted and leverage evidence-based practices to further our work.
We hold that equity and inclusion are the foundation of healthy and vibrant communities: We are fiercely anti-racist and passionately pro-LGBTQ. We are proactive and will not be silent in the face of injustice.
PILLARS OF WORK
Engaging local leadership
Convene, connect and support the field to enhance mentoring
Elevating Quality
Support capacity building and quality of programs by activating, leveraging and disseminating evidence based research to promote best practices in mentoring
Influencing systems
Advocate for and foster shared youth power across a range of environments (school, work, community, etc)
Expanding the movement
Scale the impact of mentoring by leveraging positive outcomes and the transformative impact of mentoring relationships