How Do We Define Mentorship?
Launched in 2018 under the USAID-funded project YouthPower Learning and continued under YouthPower 2: Learning & Evaluation, YouthLead and the YouthLead Mentorship Initiative is guided by the principles of Positive Youth Development (PYD).
PYD recognizes the critical role of mentorship for promoting healthy relationships for young people and, more broadly, contributing to an enabling environment for youth. Mentorship can encompass a range of activities and stakeholders that identify and link youth to positive adult role models, mentors, coaches, teachers, health care providers, and community leaders. Ideally, youth have at least one caring and consistent adult in their lives. Healthy peer relationships are also particularly important.
Under the YouthLead Mentorship Initiative, young changemakers in the YouthLead Network can learn more about mentorship, explore resources and information for how to find and cultivate healthy mentor relationships, be a peer mentor to others, or identify mentorship programs and networks to help support their personal and career pathways, and build their knowledge and skills in mentorship and related topics through live learning events, and more.
What Does the Mentorship Initiative Offer?
We offer YouthLead members...
- A searchable library of resources on mentorship (e.g., how to be a mentor, find a mentor, learn about mentorship, and find a mentorship program)
- A networking and discussion forum on mentorship and related professional development topics
- A calendar of live learning events (e.g., webinars, training, Q&A sessions, networking forums) on mentorship and related topics hosted by the YouthLead team and partners
- Additional networking and learning opportunities with YouthLead partner organizations that are focused on or implementing mentorship and related skill-building programming
We do not offer...
- Direct one-to-one mentor matching - While we do not offer direct one-to-one mentor matching services, there are dedicated mentorship organizations and networks that do! YouthLead members can search a list of mentorship programs in the Resource Library, while YouthLead Mentorship Initiative Learning events can help you to build the knowledge and skills for how to work with mentors.
What is Positive Youth Development?
Positive youth development (PYD) refers to a broad approach that aims to build the competencies, skills, and abilities of youth that they need to grow and flourish throughout life. PYD is both a philosophy and an approach to adolescent development.
As a philosophy, PYD views youth as precious assets to be nurtured and developed rather than as problems to be solved. The approach that flows from this philosophy works on building mutually beneficial relationships between youth and their family, peer groups, school, workplace, neighborhood, community, other government institutions, society, and culture to provide opportunities for youth to enhance their knowledge, interests, skills, and abilities.
While there are several definitions of PYD, YouthPower Learning has defined it as follows:
Positive youth development (PYD) engages youth along with their families, communities and/or governments so that youth are empowered to reach their full potential. PYD approaches build skills, assets and competencies; foster healthy relationships; strengthen the environment; and transform systems.
PYD recognizes youth participation as vital to development. Young peoples’ full participation in development efforts can contribute to more sustainable investments to end cycles of poverty; to build resilient, democratic societies; to improve health and nutrition outcomes; and to strengthen economies (Scales, Roehlkepartain & Fraher, 2012).
To learn more about Positive Youth Development (PYD), click here.
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