Wisconsin Youth Mentoring Council (WYMC)

Vision

Every child who needs or wants a mentor has a sustained relationship with a caring individual.

Mission

WYMC provides leadership and resources to build capacity for quality youth mentoring in Wisconsin.

Values Statement

WYMC values commitment, local needs and interests research and best practices, collaboration and cultural competence.

WYMC is a coalition of mentoring agencies, government, business and youth serving organizations that has been providing leadership and resources to build capacity for quality youth mentoring in Wisconsin since 2000.

WYMC's immediate goal is to establish a new statewide entity, the Wisconsin Mentoring Partnership, to coordinate the growth of mentoring in Wisconsin, in cooperation with MENTOR/National Mentoring Partnership. A recent survey of mentoring and youth-serving agencies in Wisconsin indicated a need for such a statewide entity and identified the core services desired of this entity.

The role of the Wisconsin Mentoring Partnership would be to:

  • Increase public awareness of the need for and the benefits of mentoring for Wisconsin youth, and conduct media campaigns to promote mentoring.
  • Recruit new mentors for local programs and act as a statewide mentor referral source.
  • Deliver technical assistance to existing and new mentoring programs in order to promote sustainability and quality mentoring. This includes acting as a grant/funding clearinghouse, leveraging both financial and in-kind resources, and providing programs with access to mentor training resources.
  • Increase involvement of state and local government, business, service organizations and community leaders in mentoring, and promote mentoring partnerships between volunteer-rich institutions and local programs.
  • Recognize the accomplishments of mentoring programs and individual mentors.

    • A statewide mentoring partnership would advance WYMC's existing efforts to promote mentoring in Wisconsin, thus increasing the ability of programs across the state to expand the number of youth who benefit from a formal relationship with a caring adult mentor.

    For further information about WYMC or the proposed Wisconsin Mentoring Partnership, please contact Kathy Munson, WYMC Chair and Director of Mentoring Programs for the YMCA of Metropolitan Milwaukee, at 414-274-0820 or kmunson@ymcamke.org.