Vermont Business Magazine On October 17th, MENTOR Vermont welcomed mentoring program coordinators and mentoring advocates from across the state to the 2024 Vermont Mentoring Symposium, which was held at the Waterbury State Office Complex. The theme for the annual 2024 Symposium was “Back to Basics,” with sessions focused on meeting youth where they are, building a mentoring mindset, and developing relationship-centered communities.
The annual mentoring conference brought together over 50 youth mentoring program staff and supporters from across the state for a series of networking and professional development sessions focused on working together to create a web of supportive relationships for young people in Vermont, to ensure that they have the support from within their community to grow and thrive.
Rose Friedman, co-founder and executive director of The Civic Standard in Hardwick, provided the keynote entitled, “Community, Culture and Belonging.”
“Inviting adults to really care for and about the kids in our community is a big part of that mutual visibility. Mentorship doesn't have to just be a one-on-one exchange, it can also be a way of thinking about the relationships and well-being of a community as a whole,” said Friedman.
Chris Winters, the Commissioner of the Department of Children and Families, attended the event and thanked Vermont’s mentoring community. “Together we can wrap children and youth in a network of safe and caring adults and supports... and make Vermont a place where people prosper, children and families are safe and have strong loving connections, and where individuals have the opportunity to fully develop their potential.”
Marcus Strother, executive director of MENTOR California, delivered the two plenaries entitled, “Values Matter” and “From a Mentoring Mindset to Radical Love!”
MENTOR Vermont presented the 2024 Youth Mentoring Awards, recognizing the following individuals and agencies for their work and dedication to specific aspects of the youth mentoring field.
- Advocacy – Beth Wallace, Everybody Wins! Vermont
- Leadership and Program Collaboration – Mona Abdelghani, The DREAM Program
- Advancing the Mentoring Mindset – Youth First Mentoring
The Symposium wrapped up with a panel discussion featuring two high school aged peer mentors from The King Street Center’s Book Buddies program.
Additional support for the Symposium was made possible by Lisa Schamberg and Pat Robins, the George W. Mergens Foundation, and the M&T Bank Foundation. More information about the event and about youth mentoring in Vermont can be found by visiting www.mentorvt.org.
About MENTOR Vermont: MENTOR Vermont aims to close the mentoring gap and drive equity through quality mentoring relationships so every young person in Vermont has the supportive relationships they need to grow and thrive. To achieve this vision, MENTOR Vermont provides funding, resources, and support to the youth mentoring field in Vermont to strengthen the quality and broaden the reach of mentoring relationships throughout the state. In addition to the annual Vermont Mentoring Symposium, the organization manages the Vermont Mentoring Grants, provides technical support to mentoring program staff, maintains an online program directory and referral system for volunteers, manages a quality-based program management database, raises public awareness of mentoring, works with programs to ensure they are meeting best practices, and leads statewide mentoring initiatives. MENTOR Vermont is the state affiliate of MENTOR. For more information about mentoring programs and initiatives in Vermont, visit www.mentorvt.org.
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