"It's easier to change individuals formed into a group than to change any one of them separately."
Kurt Lewin, the founding father of social psychology,
Kurt Lewin, the founding father of social psychology,
Benefits for Youth:
Benefits for Mentors:
The Benefits of Going Virtual:
The Benefits of Group Work:
The Benefits of Multi-generational Teamwork.
The Bottom Line: We created the kinds of bonds between youth and mentors that served as a launch pad for strong one-on-one relationships long after the pilot ended -- indeed for years to come.
- Increased life skills and self-confidence.
- Experience in learning how to interact confidently with adults
- Greater sense of agency -- the ability to take the steps needed to succeed in a project
- The opportunity to find their own authentic voice
Benefits for Mentors:
- A new set of interpersonal skills in working with youth.
- Expanded ways to represent their own organization's brand.
- New opportunities to mentor others within their organization.
The Benefits of Going Virtual:
- Streamlined administrative tasks - in recruiting, screening, onboarding and orienting mentors.
- Ease in bringing mentors and youth together.
The Benefits of Group Work:
- Groups can be a safe haven for sharing insecurities and successes.
- Teenagers take to groups like ducks to water.
The Benefits of Multi-generational Teamwork.
- Our thirty-something youth leader brought quickness and energy.
- Our boomer project manager brought his organizational heft
- Another boomer brought his muscle memory in working with teenagers over forty years.
- And our youth brought their tech prowess and finely-tuned "crap detectors."
- Together, we called ourselves "co-designers" and "co-producers."
The Bottom Line: We created the kinds of bonds between youth and mentors that served as a launch pad for strong one-on-one relationships long after the pilot ended -- indeed for years to come.