MENTOR Virginia 2020 Impact Report

2020
IMPACT
REPORT

2020: A LESSON IN
RESILIENCE

We are humbled. To our partners, donors,
supporters, and advocates -
We all endured a shared thank you...we are humbled. We
experience in 2020. Collectively, strive to be a strong backbone
we learned about new ways of to mentoring programs across
doing things, new solutions to Virginia, but you have been our
new problems, and new things to backbone - not just throughout
be thankful for. 2020, but for the last 27 years.

MENTOR Virginia has been Thanks to you, MENTOR
fortunate to have the support of Virginia emerged from 2020
the community during this with enormous gratitude and an
unprecedented moment in aspiration to empower, elevate,
history. Our goals, each and and encourage all young people
every day, have been to ensure across the Commonwealth.
young people have the support
of caring mentors and that Thank you for your support,
mentors hear the voices of
young people. Bill Bales

Chair, Board of Directors

Jennifer Boyle

Executive Director

Our mission is

to foster quality relationships
that empower, elevate, and
encourage young people.

Our vision is

that every young person in
Virginia who needs a mentor will
have a trained mentor.

PAGE 1

TAKING ACTION

We must progress if we want to move toward a world
where young people have access to opportunities that are
not bound or limited by skin color. Our young people
deserve better.
Through conversations with program partners, our board
members, trainers and consultants, and other MENTOR
affiliates across the country, MENTOR Virginia identified
avenues for our future. These conversations resulted in
actions and initiatives our team and board of directors
are making to more fully disrupt racist systems operating
in our own work.
These shifts are being integrated into the heart of what
we do, changing how we talk about, approach, and fulfill
our mission. We intend this process to be ongoing with
the hope that one day we will live in a world that makes
and keeps the promise of equity and opportunity to all
our young people.
To learn more about MENTOR Virginia's measures to
fight racism, visit https://mentorva.org/taking-action/.

PAGE 2

MENTORING IN A TIME OF
SOCIAL DISTANCING

E-MENTORING 70

Within a month of the pandemic shutting mentoring program staff attended
down schools and mentoring programs the two-part virtual training series
across the state, MENTOR Virginia on e-mentoring
provided a free two-part training series on
how to launch an e-mentoring program, 77%
helping to ensure youth had continued
access to mentoring relationships. of mentoring programs were offering
e-mentoring by August 2020

ZOOMING IN

MENTOR Virginia responded to our
partners' needs by creating virtual
community events to discuss strategies for
supporting youth through the pandemic.

136

mentoring program staff
participated in these online events

BRIDGING CONNECTIONS

MENTOR Virginia established several statewide e-mentoring working groups
comprised of mentoring program staff. These groups met regularly in 2020 to share
experiences, resources, and best practices.

80% "MENTOR Virginia has done a great job
bringing the mentoring programs of Virginia
of participants reported that together to share successes and best practices, as
the working groups helped well as lessons learned from efforts that weren't
strengthen their program
so successful during this pandemic."
PAGE 3
Mary Midyette, Program Supervisor, Team Up Mentoring

THANK YOU TO OUR 2020
PROGRAM PARTNERS

THANK YOU TO THE FOLLOWING PROGRAM PARTNERS WHO
PARTICIPATED IN TRAINING, CONSULTATION, OR AMERICORPS VISTA.

ABC Lutheran Social Services
Abundant Life Ministries Make Space
A Few Good Men, LLC MEGA Mentors
Alexandria Mentoring Partnership MentoringOurMen
AMP! Metro Richmond MentorPrize
Armstrong Leadership Program Micah Initiative
Avery C. Thompson Community Center Million Women Mentor
Baker’s Anchor Mentoring Peter Paul Development Center
Big Blue Play Like a Girl!
Big Brothers Big Sisters Positive Reflections
Bowie Youth & Family Services Pretty Matters, LLC
Boys & Girls Club of America Pretty Purposed
Boys to Men – Arizona Quality of Life
Boys to Men – California Raising Amazing Men
Boys to Men – Hawaii RefugeeOne
Boys to Men – Virginia Richmond Public Schools - Brothers United
C4K St. Andrew's School
Capital One Salvation Army Boys & Girls Club
Capital Youth Empowerment Program SkillsUSA
Casa Chirilagua Space of Her Own
Catholic Charities Starfish Mentoring
Commonwealth Catholic Charities STORY
Communities in Schools Chesterfield S2S Youth Care
Connecting Generations Sweet Briar College
EAB Team Up Mentoring
Fairfax Dept. of Child and Family Services University of Richmond
FIRST Chesapeake UpliftRVA
First Tee Virginia Blue Ridge Virginia City Hybrid Energy Center
ForKids, Inc. VCU African American Alumni Council
Germanna Community College VCU ASPiRE
Girls2Women VCU Health Services
Goodwill of the Valleys VCU School of Education
Henrico HEROES Vision of the Youth, LLC
J. Seargant Reynolds Community College Wendell Scott Foundation
LinkedIn WoMen of Connections Ministry
Little Lights Urban Ministry XZone
Youth of Promise

"[MENTOR Virginia] connected me with other mentor coordinators through small
workgroups and helped me see that our program wasn’t the only program having

challenges engaging the kids in the new format."
Tiffani Peguese, Coordinator, Befriend-a-Child

PAGE 4

CONSULTATION

MENTOR Virginia provided a record- 1,295
breaking 1,295 hours of no-cost technical
assistance (TA) consultation to mentoring hours of no-cost consultation
programs across the state of Virginia in
2020, benefitting 39 programs and 4,908 4,908
youth. Consultation focuses on building the
capacity and sustainability of programs in youth impacted
alignment with best practices in the field,
strengthening systems that will positively
impact youth for years to come.

2020 TRENDS IN TA 39

Launching e-mentoring programs programs served
Virtual engagement strategies
Supporting virtual matches 48%
Virtual match activities
Recruiting mentors virtually of programs who received TA were
Training mentors on cultural located in an area of Virginia outside
humility and bias of the Greater Richmond region
Measuring program outcomes

PARTNER FEEDBACK

"We had to create the foundation of operations for a new e-mentoring
program. The guidance, planning, structure, and support was of great

value to CYEP." - Capitol Youth Empowerment Program

"[Our TA Consultant] did a great job of helping us
understand mentoring programs and their success
based on evidence based programming." - First Tee

Virginia Blue Ridge

“I presented the changes we have already made to leadership at Little
Lights and they were very impressed. They mentioned, echoing my own

thoughts, that this process of TA has really taken the quality of our
program to a new level.” -Little Lights

PAGE 5

TRAINING

1,604 MENTOR Virginia trained 1,604
mentors and mentees across
trained mentors and mentees Virginia on topics ranging from
initiating new relationships,
virtual engagement, building webs
of support, trauma/resiliency, and
culturally responsive mentoring.
Due to COVID-19, the majority of
trainings were offered through
virtual sessions.

PARTNER FEEDBACK

"The training really got me more excited to be able to engage with the mentees,
and made me feel more comfortable and confident in being able to deal with
certain unprecedented situations."

"The New Mentor Training was fantastic! The candor was lively and the content was
timely, relevant and addressed what many young folks are experiencing in these
unprecedented times. I look forward to implementing what I learned."

"We had a really diverse group and we all got to share our experiences and help
better understand what we can do as mentors."

"The presenters were very professional and engaging. They created a positive
environment where I felt comfortable sharing ideas. Their open-ended questions

were thought-provoking and led to interesting discussions."

PAGE 6

AMERICORPS VISTA

10 MENTOR Virginia was able to
provide 10 mentoring programs
AmeriCorps VISTA host sites across Virginia with the
opportunity to build capacity for
their programs by hosting a full-
time AmeriCorps VISTA Member
for 365 days during the 2020-2021
service year. VISTA Members
work to expand high-quality, high-
impact mentoring opportunities
for youth and young adults.

AMERICORPS PROJECT SPOTLIGHT

With MEGA Mentors in Chesterfield, Arya Pazhwak is developing
mentoring policies and procedures focused on virtual mentoring,
and revising mentoring program curriculum for grades 6-12 to
include content on racial equity.

With C4K in Charlottesville, Yvonnia Bryant is developing and
implementing a marketing and outreach plan centered around
elevating the voices of youth who participate in their programs.

With Germanna Community College in Fredericksburg, Briana
Oyler is developing, implementing, and sustaining three
mentoring programs for specific campus populations with a goal
of strengthening retention and connecting students to resources.

PAGE 7

ADVOCACY

In January 2020, MENTOR Virginia
gathered partners from across the
state of Virginia to advocate for
expanded support for mentoring
initiatives. The VA delegation
joined hundreds of others from all
over the country in Washington
D.C. for this annual Capitol Hill
Day, which resulted in a $3 million
boost in federal funding for
mentoring in FY20.

NOTABLES

In 2020, MENTOR Virginia's Board of Directors established a Governance
Committee, Advancement Committee, and a DEI Task Force to focus efforts
as we develop strategies for progress.

In the midst of the pandemic, MENTOR Virginia moved our office location to
the Manchester neighborhood in Richmond. We are grateful to the volunteers
who helped make this happen.

In February 2020, we welcomed Jennifer Boyle as MENTOR Virginia's new executive
director. Jennifer succeeded Elizabeth Bass, who embarked on a new journey after
serving six years in the position.

After 27 years of being in a mutually beneficial relationship with Virginia Commonwealth
University, MENTOR Virginia achieved operational independence in order to push into
new avenues of growth and excellence.

PAGE 8

CARPOOL CINEMA

As COVID restrictions continued into the fall of 2020, our communities were seeking
safe forms of communal entertainment that would help distract from the stresses of
life during a pandemic.

MENTOR Virginia's Carpool Cinema, held October 2,
provided a family-friendly escape for people to come
together and enjoy a shared experience.

Over 200 attendees in more than 60 vehicles enjoyed
How to Train your Dragon—a movie with a strong
mentoring element. Food trucks, fair weather, and a
full moon rounded out the evening.

Thank you to the sponsors of Carpool Cinema!

FFIINNAANNCCIIAALLSS

CONTRIBUTIONS & REVENUE EXPENSES

PAGE 9

THANK YOU TO OUR
DONORS

$50,000 + $500 - $999

Altria Allconnect - A Red Ventures Company
MENTOR: The National Mentoring Partnership William B. Bales II
Owens & Minor Hezekiah C. Butler
The CarMax Foundation
$25,000 - $49,999 Kathleen Carrig
Robert Diegelmann
Bob & Anna Lou Schaberg Foundation Genworth
The Claude Moore Charitable Foundation Andy C. Foldenauer
United Way of Greater Richmond and Petersburg Kul Wheels
Matt Lively
$10,000 - $24,999 Microsoft
Heather Anne Newman
The Bales Family Foundation Britt Parrack
Herndon Foundation E. Lee Showalter
The Wilbur Moreland Havens Charitable Dr. Jason Wayne Smith
The Westmoreland Family Charitable
Foundation
Fund
$5,000 - $9,999 Joan Woodis

Anonymous PAGE 10
Dominion Energy
Emily S. and Coleman A. Hunter Charitable Trust
Luck Companies
Tredegar Corporation
Weinstein Properties

$1,000 - $4,999

Andrea Lynn Hill
Hinesight
Dr. Catherine Howard
Midlothian Rotary Club
RBC Foundation
H. B. Thomson in memory

of Tom and Cathy Thomson
Vanguard Charitable / Kelly Lee (Groh) Tuminelli
Jim & Bobbie Ukrop
Virginia Credit Union

"Everyone deserves a caring adult who will be
their champion. I believe in the power of

mentorship and know firsthand that it works.
My goal is to reach as many youth as possible by
expanding programming across the district so
that they receive what they rightfully deserve."

Leslie Velez, K-12 Intervention Specialist,
Henrico HEROES

$200 - $499 Mark Kilduff
Cynthia Lantz
Anonymous Marci Linas
Elizabeth Bass Sarah Martin
Dwayne Bennett Sue Murdock in honor
Marty Bland
Capital One of Jessica White and Mary Lynn White
Bryan D. Carr Erin Poston
Davidow Family Donor Advised Fund Mark Raper
Gregory B. & Elizabeth W. Robertson
of the Richmond Jewish Foundation Russo Family Fund
Bonnie Draga Kala Somerville
Sam and Sheri Highfill Phil and Suzanne Sword
Franklin & Bettina Hinckle Willis Walter
Sarah Keeble in honor Kaitlyn Wark
Malissa Whitby
of Sarah Wilkinson Ben White
Elizabeth W. Majewski Mary Lynn White
Allyson F. Roberts Charlene Whitfield
Gregory B. Robertson Sarah Wilkinson
Scott & Maria Sorkin Seth Wilkinson
Tamara Thornton Susan Williams
William and Amanda Van Thunen Bill and Myra Wood
Jessica Dalton White

up to $200

Thomas Anderson
Melissa Armstrong
Emanuel Bartolotta
Utibe Bassey
Jennifer Boyle
Tim Brooks
Georgia Sutton Buchanan
Maggie Carnan
Kevin Curtis
Marvin Daniel
Deena Disraelly
Sherry Finneran
Marilyn and Jim Flinn in honor

of Mr. and Mrs. Cooper & Kristen O'Neil
Natalie Foster
Cheri Garvin
Philip Goodpasture
Carmen Gutin
Christina S. Halligan
Jaraad Hines
Gurlfriend Hoof
Kate Hoof
Kathleen Hunter
Angela Hyldburg in honor

of Sarah Wilkinson
Chapin Jones

PAGE 11

2020-2021
BOARD OF DIRECTORS

Chair: Marty Bland Heather Anne Newman
Bill Bales Capital One Altria
Atlantic Union Bank
Hezekiah C. Butler Tamara M. Thornton
Vice Chair: Patrice and Associates & Direct Owens & Minor
Andy C. Foldenauer Learning Solutions
RBC Wealth Management Kaitlyn Wark
Bryan D. Carr Capital One
Treasurer: Deisinger Consulting, LLC
Elizabeth Majewski Malissa Whitby
CarMax Andrea Lynn Hill Capital One
EY
At-large: Jessica Dalton White
Jason Smith, Ph.D. Franklin M. Hinckle, Jr. Jessica White Travel
Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond Dominion Energy

STAFF AND
CONSULTANTS

STAFF TRAINERS AND CONSULTANTS

Jennifer Boyle Dwayne Bennett Tammie Mobley
Executive Director
Rameka Blakey Bianca Myrick
Natalie Foster
Director of Programs and Partnerships John Harris Tiffany Patton

Vanessa Reyes Stephanie Hunter Allyson Roberts
Director of AmeriCorps Program
Laura Leporati
Sarah Wilkinson
Programs Manager

PAGE 12

201 Hull Street, Suite B
Richmond, Virginia 23224

804.829.7236

mentorva.org