Mentoring is the presence of caring individuals who provide youth with continuing support, counsel, friendship, reinforcement and constructive example. Mentoring has always been an integral part of the career advancement of successful people. In the armed forces and in corporate America, mentoring has become an important strategy for helping new associates move up the ranks or fit into a new work environment. If you’re a sports fan, you often read about veterans who take rookie players “under their wing” and “show them the ropes” to help them move up to the next level.

Research shows that stable relationships with caring adults is one of the essential resources children need to succeed. Caring and connectedness within and beyond the family are consistently found to be powerful factors in protecting at-risk young people from negative behaviors and in encouraging good social skills, responsible values, and positive identity. In the past, siblings, relatives, friends, teachers, and neighbors provided children with the consistent emotional support necessary for success. But the increasing stratification and fragmentation of our society and rapidly changing demographics mean that many of our young people no longer have access to these caring adults and positive role models. Single parent households, illiteracy, drugs, poverty, neighborhoods with few working males, large impersonal schools, and other social problems are working against our children's chances for success.

Mentoring has emerged as an important tool for providing the resources that kids need to succeed. Programs such as Big Brothers and Big Sisters, America’s Promise and the Academic Volunteer and Mentor Service Program recognize the impact that caring adults can have on our disadvantaged youth. Mentoring programs are proliferating across the country, supported by government and a wide range of groups and community organizations. Rigorous evaluations of mentored students’ achievement have shown that mentored students are performing 15-30% better than similar students without mentors.