MENTOR Celebrates National Mentoring Month

National Mentoring Month logo

January is National Mentoring Month, a time for Americans to celebrate the power of relationships, drive meaningful change, and expand quality mentoring opportunities for the nation's youth.

One in three young people are growing up in the U.S. without a mentor, and over the past few years, this gap has persisted as the nation is building back after COVID-19. Without mentors in their lives, the unprecedented challenges young people experience — including a national emergency in children's mental health — are only exacerbated. It is the responsibility of adults to respond with urgency and become a mentor. 

MENTOR Chief Impact Officer Tim Wills says, "As we build back from a pandemic that disconnected so many of our young people from important relationships in schools and their communities, we have a keen awareness of the power of mentoring to help youth form identities, feel seen and heard, and forge their own paths to success. National Mentoring Month is our call to action for caring adults in our nation to step up and become a mentor to ensure every young person has someone they can call on." 

MENTOR's research shows that when young people have a mentor, they are 75% more likely to say they held a leadership position in a club or sports team and 92% more likely to volunteer regularly in their communities. Adults who were mentored as youths are more than twice as likely to serve as mentors themselves because they know the power of these relationships. 

This National Mentoring Month, MENTOR and the mentoring movement are encouraging adults to volunteer as mentors. To find a local program,  go to the Mentoring Connector, the only national database of mentoring programs. Take action and join the growing mentoring movement today.

ABOUT MENTOR

MENTOR is the unifying champion for expanding the quality and quantity of mentoring relationships across the United States. 30 years ago, MENTOR was created to expand opportunities for young people by building a youth mentoring field and movement. The result: a more than 10-fold increase in young people in structured mentoring relationships. Today, MENTOR is the expert voice representing a movement that meets young people everywhere they are — from schools to workplaces and beyond. MENTOR operates in collaboration with 24 local Affiliates across the country, with more in development. For more information, visit mentoring.org.