Color Magazine Online

With its new campaign, Mass Mentoring Partnership is asking communities of color, especially men of color, to pay it forward.

Mass Mentoring launched its Mentors of Color program in June, with the ambitious goal of recruiting 1,000 men and women to be a part of it over the next three years. The response was strong, positive and from a wide array of communities.

The Mentors of Color program is a concerted effort to diversify and expand mentoring programs, with a special focus on recruiting men. Of the youths in mentoring programs or waiting for mentors in Massachusetts, 63 percent are Latino or African-American. Of the 9,000-plus adult mentors, 75 percent are white.

"We are starting little by little to bring more men of color into the program," said Shapiro, executive director of Mass Mentoring. "We've made progress over the last four years. Some of the Mentors of Color Program is what we're doing now, but it will start in a more intense way."

That means launching a marketing campaign directly targeting African-American and Latino men, but also providing mentoring organizations with the tools to properly train and retain new recruits.

"The Mentors of Color program has two critical elements," said Chris McCue, director of marketing and mentor recruitment. "Marketing is part of it, building awareness of the need for mentors in communities of color. But especially in Latino and African-American communities, we are working with programs already in our network to make sure they have the cultural competencies and understand what they need to do. We want to make sure these programs have everything they need. Our goal is helping them retain the recruit.

"The cross-section of people who came (to the launch) was so great to see," said McCue, noting that attendees included representatives from Lesley College, Liberty Mutual, an attorney with his own law office, the Department of Public Health, Boston Public Schools, the Boston Coalition of Black Women, Suffolk County House of Correction.

"We asked people how they're interested in moving the campaign forward and we had responses that included everything from becoming a mentor to introducing us to groups to partner with to people who want to help us do media outreach," she said.

Shapiro said part of the program is to ensure mentors don't have a bad experience, emphasizing that mentors are not expected to fill a parental role. In fact, they are intentionally trained to be a friend.

The initiative is working with local media and also has a significant faith-based element, partnering with leaders in those communities to influence adults to mentor.

Shapiro describes Mass Mentoring as a trade association or umbrella organization for mentoring programs across the state. It works with about 160 programs large and small, involving 20,000 youths. Staff provides, among other things, training, recruitment referrals and fundraising advice and support. They also work with people who want to start new programs.

"A lot has been made of the idea that we are collectively responsible for one another," Shapiro said. "With the Mentors of Color program, we want to bring the idea of helping to give the chance of a better life to a child of color."

For more information on the Mentors of Color program to find a mentoring program in your community, visit www.massmentors.org or call 617-695-1200. In Western Mass., call 413-796-2330.