DE BLASIO ADMINISTRATION ANNOUNCES 5,000 ADDITIONAL HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS PARTICIPATED IN MENTORSHIP PROGRAMS

ONE YEAR AFTER LAUNCH OF THE NYC YOUTH MENTORING INITIATIVE

City agencies, mentoring nonprofits, public schools, and the business community engaged 10,000 New Yorkers as volunteer mentors to 25,000 high school students

  To celebrate national mentoring month, Chief Service Officer Paula Gavin and Schools Chancellor Carmen Farina announced that 25,000 high school students and 10,000 mentors participated in programs associated with the NYC Youth Mentoring Initiative. Launched in January 2017, this initiative brings together individuals from city agencies, mentoring nonprofits and businesses to mentor high school students. In 2017, the local business community recruited nearly 6,000 of their employees as volunteer mentors through NYC Service’s Good for Me. Good for My City. campaign. Student participation increased 25 percent since the start of the initiative. This announcement puts the program on track to reach its goal of engaging 14,000 mentors and 40,000 students by 2022.

“Connecting young people to caring adults is key to ensuring students in our city have every chance for success,” said Mayor de Blasio. “I want to thank the thousands of New Yorkers who answered the call to be a high school student’s personal champion over the last year.”

“One year ago, our City came together to ensure more New Yorkers see the value in mentoring and take action, enabling more high school students to have a mentorship experience,” said NYC Chief Service Officer Paula Gavin. “Today we celebrate the work of our partners and recommit ourselves to our City’s high school youth through quality mentoring experiences. NYC Service is proud to continue collaborating with our partner agencies, mentoring nonprofits, and the Good for Me. Good for My City. partners to inspire more New Yorkers to mentor young people. I encourage every New Yorker to explore all the mentoring opportunities at nyc.gov/mentornyc and personally experience the joy of inspiring someone else, while at the same time, allowing them to inspire you.”

“As the first in my family to go to college, I know it’s not a given that our students envision themselves going to college or pursuing certain careers. Strong mentoring is one way that we open students’ eyes to the options available to them and put them on the path to success,” said Schools Chancellor Carmen Farina “I look forward to our continued partnership with NYC Service as we strengthen and expand mentoring programs for New York City high school students.”

Mentors will continue to be recruited through citywide promotion of volunteer opportunities through colleges and universities, associations, faith-based organizations, and businesses. Increased mentee participation will be driven by the establishment of mentorship programs in 400 high schools, expanding embedded mentoring programs in DYCD workforce development programs, and expanding community-based organization programs at CBO centers.

“The power of mentoring is profound, and DYCD is proud to be part of ongoing efforts to increase the number of mentors and mentees citywide,” said DYCD Commissioner Bill Chong. “Students in DYCD’s funded workforce development programs are being connected with responsible, caring adults—providing them with academic, career, and general life guidance as they grow into New York City’s next generation of leaders.”