Miscellaneous Mentoring and Youth Development

I was able to attend the National Mentoring Summit on Jan 24 and 25 in Washington, DC and met many people who I've met in past events and through networking on-line. During the Summit I shared ideas live via my Twitter feed using the hashtag #mentor2012.

Congratulations are in order for David Shapiro - the esteemed CEO of the Massachusetts State Mentoring Partnership - who will be taking over the helm at MENTOR! I know first-hand from living in another state (Oregon) with a strong mentoring partnership just how pivotal insightful and strategic leadership can be in promoting quality services and advocating for the field. This is just great news.

From MENTOR's news release:

Peter Benson, a national leader in mobilizing communities to support youth, has passed away. Benson gave a great TEDx talk that serves as a wonderful eulogy (and could be great for mentors, as well!).

SAMHSA is seeking comments on changes to its block grants for substance abuse and mental health services. Thankfully, youth have been named as one of several populations the agency believes should be specifically addressed by states and other block grant recipients. Rumor has it, however, that states may be pushing back on the special populations so comments about how to make sure these important dollars are best leveraged to support youth especially imperative. Note that the block grants provide a significant proportion of funding for adolescent substance abuse treatment in this country.

Excelsior Drum & Bugle Corps Has set the pace in growing Youth into well rounded business minded people for Non- for - profits. By way of a Junior Board of Directors that is lead by a Chairman and Guided by the Chief Executive Director this group is learning the intricacies of finance in an organization . Focusing primarily on fundraising and recruitment they are quickly learning the value of what they do and who is in place to help them achieve their goals as members.