About Us
MENTOR Greater Milwaukee
Our Story
MENTOR Greater Milwaukee (MGM) is an affiliate of MENTOR: The National Mentoring Partnership. MGM is an advocate for the expansion of quality mentoring in Metro Milwaukee and a resource for mentors and mentoring initiatives county-wide. MGM will work collaboratively across sectors to support existing and emerging organizations that provide mentoring services to youth by:
- Recruiting individuals interested in becoming a mentor or interested in placing their child in a mentor program;
- Expanding the capacity of agencies to provide high-quality mentoring programs;
- Training for volunteer mentors and groups that want to start mentoring;
- Ensuring quality standards in all mentoring efforts;
- Significantly increasing the number of youth in quality mentoring relationships;
- Convening local mentoring providers, and promoting networking, collaboration and shared learning;
- Multiplying and leveraging the human, financial and in-kind resources dedicated to mentoring initiatives;
- Supporting and building capacity of organizations — non-profits, faith communities, corporations, schools, civic groups and universities — that are equipped to start, manage and expand a mentoring initiative;
- Our shared mission is to increase both the quality and quantity of mentoring relationships. This is accomplished through support to on-the-ground mentoring programs to improve their quality, effectiveness and scale, while coalescing stakeholders to expand engagement and investment locally.
With the intention of serving as the catalyst and leader for quality mentoring in Greater Milwaukee, MGM is uniquely positioned to work with local organizations to increase their capacity, effectiveness and provide relevant and customized evidence-based training, technical assistance and support.
The need for our work is clear. Mentoring, at its core, guarantees to young people that there is someone who cares about them, assures them they are not alone in dealing with day-to-day challenges, and makes them feel like they matter. Research of programs with strong youth outcomes has shown that the consistent use of quality standards and training for youth workers are key to delivering the high quality programs that all youth need and deserve.
“A MENTOR EMPOWERS A PERSON TO SEE A POSSIBLE FUTURE AND BELIEVES IT CAN BE OBTAINED!”
history
In 2016, the City of Milwaukee and Milwaukee Public Schools (MPS) funded a study to explore developing a Mentor Affiliate in Milwaukee. This group convened the Public Policy Forum (PPF) to conduct a study, “Mentoring in Milwaukee: Developing a Regional Mentoring Network,” (September 2016). The study engaged more than 13 additional mentoring organizations in the strategic planning process. Following the study, it was determined that there is an unmet demand for quality mentors. As a result, the following organizations agreed to partner: Milwaukee Public Schools, Milwaukee Bucks, and the City of Milwaukee.
One of the primary goals of Mentor Greater Milwaukee (MGM) will be to build capacity among agencies that are currently offering mentoring services and to increase collaboration among mentoring services by implementing an administrative component that will be able to coordinate recruitment and training efforts.
This collaboration and consistency will establish “best practices”, which will create synergy among mentoring agencies and increase capacity by assisting with the recruitment and training responsibilities that are currently the sole responsibility of each individual mentoring agency.
Our Vision
Ensure all youth in Milwaukee who want and need a mentor have access to a quality mentor by strengthening the organizational capacity and quality of mentoring organizations, advocating for policies and funding for mentoring activities, and actively recruiting mentors throughout the Greater Milwaukee community.
