City agencies, mentoring nonprofits, public schools, and the business community engaged over 15,000 New Yorkers as volunteer mentors to nearly 56,000 high school students
In celebration of National Mentoring Month, the de Blasio administration announced today that it has more than doubled the number of mentee experiences and increased the number of volunteer mentors by nearly 60 percent. Last year, over 56,000 New York City high school students had a mentorship experience thanks to over 15,000 volunteer mentors in programs associated with the NYC Youth Mentoring Initiative.
“Two years ago, our City’s public and private sector joined forces to invest in our City’s future,” said Mayor Bill de Blasio. “Together, we’ve opened doors of opportunity to more young people through quality mentoring, supporting and encouraging the leadership of thousands of students. I want to thank every mentor who shares their time and life experience with a young person to support their success.”
“The 15,000 New Yorkers who answered the call to serve as volunteer mentors is evidence of a powerful swell of civic engagement,” said NYC Chief Service Officer Patricia Eng. “NYC Service is so proud to be part of this movement and I want to give special thanks to our city, nonprofit, and business partners for coming together to show more young people their voices, dreams, and futures matter.”
“Great mentors empower our students and provide invaluable knowledge and connections that can last a lifetime,” said Schools Chancellor Richard A. Carranza. “I thank NYC Service and our public, private, non-for-profit, and cultural partners for helping our students achieve their dreams and succeed in college and careers. This work is essential to our vision of Equity and Excellence for every New York City public-school student.”
Launched in January 2017, the NYC Youth Mentoring Initiative, a collaborative effort between schools, City agencies, mentoring nonprofits, and the business community, aimed to double the number of high school students engaged in mentorship experiences (from 20,000 to 40,000) and increase the number of volunteer mentors by 55 percent (from 9,000 to 14,000).
“We are truly grateful to Mayor de Blasio and our partners across the City for recognizing the importance of this national movement, and for inspiring role models to become mentors and help extend ladders of opportunity to our next generation of New Yorkers,” said Department of Youth & Community Development Commissioner Bill Chong. “In our DYCD Mentoring Program alone, more than 600 mentees and 100 mentors took part in programs this past year stressing leadership skills, college and career planning, and promoting positive self-images.Whether helping mentees study for a test, learn a new skill, or lift them up after a setback, mentors provide our youth with the strength and resilience to move forward and set their sights even higher.”
