2024 Summer Institute on Youth Mentoring

Intentional Choices for Mentoring Activities

The 15th annual Summer Institute on Youth Mentoring, co-sposored by MENTOR: The National Mentoring Partnership, and MENTOR Canada will be held in-person at Portland State University in July 2024. The theme of the upcoming Summer Institute will address the intentional focus of activities within the mentoring relationship. The choice of activities is influenced by needs, goals, and attitudes at the participant level and also by priorities and outcomes emphasized at the program level.   

About 
The Summer Institute offers a distinctive educational opportunity for experienced mentoring professionals to engage in highly interactive discussions that provide an in-depth view of the research and examine its implications for program policies and practices. Participants attend an intensive four-day seminar presenting the latest developments in theory and research on youth mentoring. Sessions are led by prominent scholars and include time for participants to think critically and creatively about program issues and explore opportunities for innovation. 

Participants
To encourage interactive discussions among participants, the Summer Institute seminar is limited to 25 participants. Ideal participants have several years of experience in the field of youth development, hold leadership positions in their programs, and are seeking an advanced level of professional development. They are experienced professionals who hold positions enabling them to influence the training and supervision of staff, the development of program models, and the implementation of service delivery changes based on the latest advances in the field (e.g., CEO’s, program directors)..

Researchers 
Researchers presenting at the Summer Institute are selected for their expertise and influence in mentoring and youth development. These scholars give presentations and contribute their insights to the discussions throughout the week. The Director of the Summer Institute is Thomas Keller, the Duncan and Cindy Campbell Professor at Portland State University. Speakers for 2024 include Allison Cloth of University of British Columbia, Kristian Jones of University of Washington, Davielle Lakind of Mercer University, Michael Lyons of University of Virginia, Sam McQuillin of University of South Carolina, Manolya Tanyu of American Institutes for Research, and Alexandra Werntz of the Center for Evidence-Based Mentoring. 

Costs
Registration for the summer institute is $550. Limited scholarship support is available to defray the registration cost, and a request for a scholarship should be made when you apply (there is a section for requesting a scholarship in the application). Scholarship funding is only available to offset registration cost and not to cover other expenses for attending the Institute. 

2024 Dates
Summer Institute sessions will be offered July 22-25, 2024.

Conference Hotel
If you make your reservations as soon as possible you can get the PSU Friends and Family rate of $110 per night and $120 for a comfort (i.e., renovated) room. Portland hotel tax is 16%. The hotel provides breakfast service. Participants wishing to reserve a room can call the hotel directly to make a reservation at 503-221-0140.  

Applications 
Prospective participants complete a short application and provide a current resume. Space is limited to 25 participants. Participants are expected to attend the entire seminar. Applications and scholarship requests are due by May 10, 2024.  

>>Apply

Thomas Keller, Ph.D., is the Duncan and Cindy Campbell Professor for Children, Youth, and Families with an Emphasis on Mentoring and Director of the PSU Center for Interdisciplinary Mentoring Research. Professor Keller has conducted numerous studies of youth mentoring programs and has written about the potential for mentoring to address social isolation and loneliness.  

Allison Cloth, Ph.D., is an Assistant Professor of School and Applied Child Psychology in the Department of Educational and Counseling Psychology, and Special Education at the University of British Columbia. Dr. Cloth’s research interests include school-based mentoring, school engagement and attendance interventions, child and family counselling, and youth support services in schools. She has proposed a model of needs-based mentoring to guide school personnel in working with students facing multiple risks and challenges.

Kristian Jones, Ph.D., is an Assistant Professor in the University of Washington School of Social Work. Dr. Jones investigates ways in which mentoring promotes positive development for Black youth. His research also addresses how community-based mentoring programs address social justice. His professional experience includes work as a behavioral health counselor and foster care counselor. Dr. Jones collaborates with the Friends of the Children professional mentoring program on research and program development initiatives.

Davielle Lakind, Ph.D., is an Assistant Professor of Clinical Psychology at Mercer University. Dr. Lakind’s research focuses on school-based and community-based mental health services for youth and families contending with complex stressors associated with poverty and systemic inequities. She explores aspects of programs that enable mentors, teachers, mental health service providers, and paraprofessionals to work effectively with youth and families. She has a particular focus on training, peer support, and supervision, and family engagement in services or programs. In addition to her clinical practice experience, she previously served as a professional mentor with Friends of the Children.

Michael Lyons, Ph.D., is an Associate Professor in the School of Education and Human Development at the University of Virginia and Director of the Clinical & School Psychology Program. Dr. Lyons investigates school settings and practices that enhance social-emotional development at the middle and high school level. He is particularly interested in school-based mentoring programs as a means of promoting student well-being and academic outcomes. Dr. Lyons also addresses training needs for school mental health providers and co-directs the Virginia Partnership for School Mental Health.  

Samuel McQuillin, Ph.D., is an Associate Professor of Psychology at the University of South Carolina and Director of the School Psychology Program. Dr. McQuillin studies how and why relationships between young people and influential adults, such as mentors and teachers, promote positive youth development. He is particularly interested in developing and testing models for training and supervising mentors, teachers, and school psychologists in using evidence-based practices that support youth success. 

Manolya Tanyu, Ph.D., is a Senior Researcher at the American Institutes for Research (AIR). Dr. Tanyu is a community psychologist and prevention researcher with extensive experience evaluating school-based and community-based interventions designed to promote positive youth development and well-being. She has participated in several large, multi-site, multi-year studies examining the implementation and effects of interventions, including the OJJDP Mentoring Enhancement Demonstration Project and the Reach & Rise mentoring program randomized trial. 

Alexandra Werntz, Ph.D., is the Associate Director of the Center for Evidence-Based Mentoring at the University of Massachusetts Boston. Dr. Werntz is a clinical psychologist whose research focuses on ways of helping mentors to support the mental health and well-being of mentees. In particular, she is interested in how mentors can be trained in evidence-based mental health skills and ways that mentors can provide supportive accountability to mentees engaging in mental health interventions.