Training for Program Professionals

We provide a network of resources—including training, resources, and professional development opportunities—to help Virginia’s mentoring programs be even better. Below you can explore all of our professional development opportunities for mentoring programs. If you have other professional development needs we can assist with, please contact Tamice Spencer-Helms, our Learning Facilitator/Curriculum Developer. 

Training for Program Professionals

Elements of Effective Practice for Mentoring Workshop Series

This training is appropriate for mentoring program professionals or volunteers who are involved in mentoring program operations.

On an annual basis, MENTOR Virginia offers a free 8-part interactive workshop series on the Elements of Effective Practice for Mentoring, which are the research-informed and practitioner-approved standards for creating and sustaining quality youth mentoring programs and impactful mentoring relationships. 

Each workshop is designed to cover a critical component of mentoring program design, operation, and evaluation:

  • Part 1: Designing & Planning Mentoring Programs

  • Part 2: Recruiting Mentors & Mentees

  • Part 3: Screening Mentors & Mentees

  • Part 4: Training Mentors & Mentees

  • Part 5: Making Effective Mentor & Mentee Matches

  • Part 6: Monitoring & Supporting Matches

  • Part 7: Closing Mentor/Mentee Matches

  • Part 8: Evaluating Mentoring Programs

Participants who attend all 8 of the live workshops in the series will earn a certificate. We also have an assessment process that will allow those who were unable to attend all 8 live workshop sessions to remain eligible to earn the series certificate.

For more information or to find out when the next series will be offered, email Tamice at tamice@archive.mentorva.org. You can also visit our Events page to see if any workshops from the series are coming up.

Testimonials:

“The EEP Workshop Series was phenomenal! We thoroughly enjoyed the opportunities to both learn and grow from like-minded professionals from around Virginia. The topics and attention to detail within each topic was easy to follow and incorporate into our own practices. One of the things I liked most was that this web series was very up to date and gave insight on the current state of our youth today. Overall, we had a great professional development experience with MENTOR Virginia, and are looking forward to the next series.” ~ Deuene Hickman, Quality of Life Counseling Center

“I have been the program manager for a college-based mentorship program since 2017 and I thoroughly enjoyed this workshop series. Like some in higher education, this is one of the many hats I wear so it is vital that these sessions were recorded and could be made up at a later date within the cohort. I also loved the assessments at the end which allowed you to immediately apply what you just learned and discussed with other practitioners. I have been challenged and motivated to create even better systems to assist our mentors in doing what they do best—assisting students in accomplishing their dreams.” ~ Steven Mosley, Northern Virginia Community College

“The entire workshop series was eye-opening for me in some ways.  Although, we have been mentoring for years and actually doing some of the things that were presented in the workshop series, it gave us the opportunity to document our processes and program logistics.  As a practitioner, this is valuable for creating credibility and integrity for our existing program.” ~ Coach Stephan Hicks, My Brothers Keeper of Greater Richmond

Certificate Awardees:

The following mentoring professionals completed all requirements for MENTOR Virginia’s July 2021–February 2022 offering of the Elements of Effective Practice for Mentoring™, 4th Edition 8-part workshop series.

Other Professional Development Opportunities for Program Professionals

Community Coffee Hour Series

This monthly speaker series is appropriate for all youth development professionals interested in learning more about mentoring best practices, trends, and emerging research.

MENTOR Virginia virtually hosts Community Coffee Hour every 2nd Wednesday of the month to create space for peer-to-peer discussion, resource sharing, and to address issues that mentoring programs are facing during the pandemic and beyond.

Each month’s topic is selected by vote from the audience or taken from survey data on the most pressing topics program professionals want to talk about. Some recent topics we’ve convened to discuss include:

  • Moving from “Mentoring” to “Critical Mentoring”

  • Compassion Fatigue

  • Building Partnerships with Schools

  • Helping Youth Manage Anxiety & Depression

  • Navigating the Changing Funding Landscape

All recordings of past Community Coffee Hours are available on our website. To register for the next Community Coffee Hour, visit our Events page. If you have questions about this series, or have suggestions for future topics, email Emma Rush at pr@archive.mentorva.org.

Mentoring Community of Practice Groups

These community of practice groups are appropriate for all youth mentoring professionals interested in connecting with peer professionals to generate ideas, share best practices, exchange resources, and momentum for our collective work.

In the fall of 2020, MENTOR Virginia launched an initiative to bring mentoring programs across the state together to help each other adapt to the pandemic. The initiative was so successful that MENTOR Virginia expanded the opportunity beyond the immediate concerns of the pandemic to provide regular opportunities for program professionals to network and connect.

Two community of practice groups are available to any mentoring program professionals that wish to join. The Community-Based Mentoring group meets monthly and convenes partners from across the state who are providing mentoring programs in community-based settings across rural, suburban, and urban environments. The School-Based Mentoring group convenes partners from across the state who are providing mentoring programs in school settings, including programs run by school districts as well as external agencies partnering with schools to provide mentoring.

To join the Community-Based Mentoring group, please complete this quick form, and to join the School-Based Mentoring group, please complete this quick form. After submitting the form, a team member will reach out with instructions on how to join the next meeting. For questions or additional information, please email us at admin@archive.mentorva.org.

Technical Assistance Consulting

Technical Assistance consulting is appropriate for any youth mentoring program professionals who want to work one-on-one with an expert in the field of youth mentoring to learn strategies and best practices for enhancing program quality.

In partnership with the National Mentoring Resource Center and the Office of Juvnile Justile and Delinquency Prevention, MENTOR Virginia works with mentoring professionals from new and established mentoring programs to enhance the quality and alignment of mentoring programs with national best practice standards. Technical assistance consulting (TA) is a great way for program staff or professionals in the mentoring field to receive one-on-one training and professional development support from an expert in the field. Our consultants have years of experience in the mentoring field across program models, contexts, and youth populations. Click here to learn more about our consultant team.

To initiate the TA process, please submit a request on the National Mentoring Resource Center website. When you submit your request, you have the option to specify your preference for which consultant you want to work with from our team. For more information on TA, visit our website or email Emma at pr@archive.mentorva.org.

National Quality Mentoring System

National Quality Mentoring System is appropriate for any youth mentoring program professionals who want to engage in a systematic process to assess their program’s alignment with national best practice standards.

By participating in the National Quality Mentoring System (NQMS), programs have an opportunity to assess their program’s alignment with national best practice standards and make a plan for improvement and innovation with the help of a seasoned consultant. NQMS provides mutliple training opportunities for both new and established staff members. By completing the process, staff members have an opportunity to deepen their understanding of program practices and learn more about how national best practice standards for mentoring programs can be applied to their program most effectively.

NQMS gives youth mentoring programs a meaningful indicator of quality and lends credibility to individual programs to help them attract resources and support. It also helps families and volunteers feel confident about participating in a mentoring program that meets national quality standards. Programs that complete the NQMS process can earn national quality badges and be promoted by MENTOR Virginia as a quality partner.

To initiate the NQMS process, please email Emma at pr@archive.mentorva.org. For more information on how NQMS works and the benefits of it for mentoring programs, visit our website.