Mentoring Black and brown Girls Movement
Mentoring Black and brown Girls & Femmes
MENTOR and its Affiliates are focused on addressing the persistent opportunity gaps and structural barriers faced by Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC). More specifically, this work centers BIPOC girls and women and how their realities intersect with themes like wellness, community-building and mentoring. Research has shown that BIPOC girls and women experience unique challenges from childhood through adulthood including disproportionately high rates of school suspension and discipline, sexual trauma, violence and abuse, and a significant pay gap with barriers that prevent full participation in the workforce.
These challenges, perpetuated by systems rooted in racism, sexism, and structural poverty, have long-lasting effects on BIPOC communities. Although there is a high level of awareness around this, there aren’t adequate solutions that address the short- and long-term impacts of these experiences at scale.
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The Data We believe – and research confirms – that mentoring can offer powerful pathways to success and healing for BIPOC girls and women. Young people from under-resourced families and communities, which are disproportionately made up of people of color, are often excluded from opportunities to build relationships with from more caring, non-parental adults and webs of support.
One study put the national rate of disconnection at 21.6% for Black youth, 20.3% for Native American youth, and 16.3% for Latino youth: significantly higher than for White youth (11%).
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The Way Forward Mentoring, at its core, and when done with authenticity, intentionality, and with cultural humility, guarantees young people that there is someone who cares about them, assures them they are not alone in dealing with day-to-day challenges. Mentoring relationships, in any context, can help to address many of the challenges BIPOC girls and young women face, by empowering them to lead their lives in a way they deem fit.
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The Work Mentoring is not new to BIPOC women. For decades, BIPOC women have been leading movements and change in their communities from the grassroots up, mentoring others along the way. Now is the time to listen and learn from them in order to provide them with resources rooted in their voices and expertise. Over time, these initiatives will equip thousands of mentoring programs with the tools they need to help more BIPOC girls and women recover from trauma, foster a sense of belonging, and better equip them to achieve their goals.
MENTOR, as the convener of the mentoring movement, is uniquely positioned to leverage its network of BIPOC women leaders and mentors, extensive partnerships, 24 national Affiliates, to synthesize and scale learnings and innovations to meet the needs of mentoring programs serving millions of BIPOC girls and women across the US.
Meet the Team
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Janeen Smith-Carnes Director of Training and Capacity Building
Janeen Smith-Carnes joined MMP in March 2015 and is the Director of Training and Capacity Building. In her role, she builds the training and leads technical assistance and operations support for youth mentoring and other youth-serving programs across the state. She gained experience in youth development and program management during her time as an AmeriCorps Promise Fellow and has worked in adult programming at YWCA Boston. A New Jersey native, Janeen earned her BA from Smith College and an MBA in Nonprofit Management from the Heller School at Brandeis University.
With Support from MENTOR
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Natalie Spriggs Manager of Community Engagement, Eastern MA
Natalie Spriggs joined Mass Mentoring Partnership in February 2023. Natalie is originally from Dayton, Ohio, but recently moved to Boston Massachusetts. She has spent the last 20 years in non-profit work with a youth serving focus. She started out as a teacher before becoming a director of programs within different organizations. Natalie holds a degree in Early Childhood Education as well as Human Development. She now serves as MMP’s Manager of Community Engagement for Eastern Massachusetts.
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Desiree Roberston With over 20 years in the mentoring field, Desireé Robertson is the Director of Training and Product Design for MENTOR. In this role, she is responsible for driving and executing MENTOR’s vision for quality training development and product design and collaborates with internal teams to identify training needs, design curriculum, and facilitate workshops and summits. She leads with a passion for empowering individuals through mentoring and ensures that our products, tools, and trainings are developed with best practices in adult learning theory, and instructional and information design. Desireé is the national lead on the new Black and Brown Girls’ Mentoring Movement and is an international trainer and facilitator. Prior to MENTOR, Desireé gained extensive experience in mentoring, program management and development, curriculum development, training and professional development by directing the local mentoring Affiliate in Memphis, Tennessee and built a mentoring program and directed it at Girls Incorporated of Memphis, Inc. As a Sociologist and business owner of Sol to Root Wellness LLC, she has a passion for community building and integrating wellness into all aspects of her life, including mentoring curriculum. Desireé holds a graduate degree in Sociology from the University of Memphis Desireé’s search and areas of interest include restorative justice, youth voice, critical mentoring and supporting college students in finding meaningful mentoring opportunities.
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Lauren McCabe Manager of Training and Capacity Building
Lauren joined MMP in August 2022. In her role as Manager of Training and Capacity Building, she trains and supports youth-serving programs implementing high quality mentoring programs across the state. Lauren comes to MMP from Boston After School & Beyond, where she led the Partnerships for Social and Emotional Learning Initiative with Boston Public Schools. Lauren grew up in New Hampshire and holds an Interdisciplinary Degree from Stonehill College. After graduating, she completed an AmeriCorps term with the Jesuit Volunteer Corps Northwest in Aberdeen, WA, and completed a second year of service in Brockton, MA with the Stonehill College Service Corps. Over the years, she has worked with young people, consulted with programs to integrate SEL, facilitated retreats, led book clubs, and shared her efforts to live sustainably. Lauren values community, solidarity, simple living, and joy.
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Elizabeth Santiago,PhD
GET INVOLVED
VOLUNTEER at local Summits in your community.
DONATE services, swag, or event space to help facilitate trainings and Summits in your community. MENTOR a Black or brown girl.
COMMIT to helping by becoming a local community trainer, or attending trainings yourself.
Mentoring Affiliates will utilize the structured mentor curriculum, full toolkit, and a community of practice to support mentors and meeting programs to assist Black and brown girls and young women navigate systems and access the tools, resources, and communities that help them increase their self-worth and net worth so they can achieve their ambitions for a better life.