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Bringing People Together

The California Mentor Initiative is making a positive change in society.

Imagine making such a difference in a young person's life that if you weren't there this person might actually be dead. That is certainly the case for Ellen Reay and her experience as a mentor through Student Buddy, a Sacramento-based nonprofit group. One of her mentees, a young woman named Carol, can actually thank Reay for her very life. "I've been working with Carol since she was 12," said Reay. "Now she's 23 and I'm all she has. She attempted suicide and I was there for her. And I've been there for her through many other dark times."


That's what a mentor can do -- save a young person from falling prey to what the California Department of Alcohol and Drug Programs calls the four social ills: teenage alcohol and drug abuse, teen pregnancy, academic failure, and gang participation and violence.

The success of mentoring can be confirmed by recent studies by the nonprofit group Big Brother/Big Sister. In a 1995 study, they found that a mentor's influence reduces the initiation of drug use by 46 percent and alcohol use by 27 percent. Another study done in 1994 showed that 59 percent of students improved their school grades, 52 percent stayed out of trouble, and 53 percent credited their mentor with helping them to avoid drugs. These numbers demonstrate that mentoring may be the "cure" for those four social ills that dozens of politicians and nonprofit organizations have been fervently seeking out.

But even with the famous efforts of Big Brother/Big Sister, people know very little about what it takes to be a mentor or how to become one. This is where the state of California is stepping in. The state has developed perhaps one of the most effective and innovative programs ever launched -- the California Mentor Initiative (CMI).

California Gov. Pete Wilson created CMI to address the challenges and cost to the taxpayers generated by the four social ills. The statistics quoted above and the persuasion of Andrew Mecca, director of the California Department of Alcohol and Drug Programs, as well as the lead person on the CMI project, convinced Gov. Wilson that mentoring is the way to go. "It doesn't take a rocket scientist to look at those statistics to realize that a caring adult can really make a difference," said Mecca. "When I presented this data to the governor and asked him to increase recruitment capacity, training, matching and support of mentors, he said, 'You bet.'"

Thus, the governor put forth the following desired outcome for CMI: To reduce the four major problem areas by recruiting and training 250,000 mentors to reach 1 million at-risks youths by the year 2000. The problem now is that there are only 65,000 to 70,000 mentors providing their support -- via 139 mentor programs -- and nearly 150,000 young people who need them.

Ramping Up

With this many young people to help, the goal was clear; but the question remained of how to bring mentors and mentees together, provide information and develop a support system for all parties. "It's critical that individuals have somewhere to obtain information on mentoring," said Jeff Hoffman, special assistant to CMI and a member of the Sacramento Mentor Coalition. "Without a simple point of contact, potential mentors slip through the cracks.

"Our efforts [via CMI and the coalition] are a response to a need for mentor programs, to share ideas and look at how mentoring can be done more effectively," Hoffman added. "We want to make sure mentor programs are a positive experience for all involved -- both youths and adults. If a program isn't supplying administrative support, customer services and training, the mentors are more apt to feel it's a negative experience. If that's the case, we're doing a major injustice to our young people and we defeat the purpose of expanding mentoring."

The concept of a single point of contact is exactly what CMI decided to develop. The vision put forth by Mecca, and articulated in A California Mentor Initiative Progress Report, was to create an "interactive, state-of-the-art information management technology and communication system."

Technology was the tool of choice, but how would such a system be implemented? The answer to this question would require an unprecedented alliance between the public and private sectors.

Mecca knew the challenge: He needed to have the cooperation of private sector high-technology corporations for his vision to become reality. He approached someone who had the connections to make that happen. This person was Dennis McKenna, CEO of GMW Communications, parent company to California Computer News, Government Technology (GT) magazine and Government Technology Conference (GTC).

"It was so exciting," said Mecca. "I approached Dennis eight days before Christmas and he pulled it all together."

Jim Kooler, deputy director of CMI, who also works for the California Department of Alcohol and Drug Programs, said, "Through GT and GTC, Dennis was able to bring together an array of potential partners in the high-tech community to build an electronic community or central nervous system for the field of mentoring."

"Mecca apprised me of the project and its goal to have 250,000 mentors by the year 2000," said McKenna. "Andy talked about the department's vision to use information technology to create a virtual network that would help link mentor organizations with each other and the state. Part of the challenge most community-based organization like Big Brothers/Big Sisters face is how to recruit mentors, share best practices and post information on community events. There needed to be a place that explains to potential mentors how to sign up. Andy felt the Net was an effective way to do that.

"In hearing his vision and what could be done with technology, I agreed that information technology, the Net and the PC industry could be a resource to bring about that vision," continued McKenna. "I volunteered to act as a catalyst to create a technology task force and bring together high-tech firms in the region. We recruited [these firms] and basically had several meetings to talk about creating the network to connect volunteers."

The high-tech firms McKenna referred to include Oracle Corp., Microsoft Corp., Openworks, Strategic Advantage, Digital Equipment Corp., Compaq Corp., Earthlink Network and MCI. Mecca presented these companies with a concept paper in December 1996.

According to A California Mentor Initiative Progress, "The intent was to elicit ideas on how to electronically link -- via the Internet -- school and community-based programs."

A representative from each company joined the CMI Technology Task Force and worked jointly on the creation of the Web site. According to Kooler, "Oracle stepped forward to build a relational database to capture information on mentors and assist on recruiting and tracking; Microsoft stepped forward with many copies of Windows Office Professional, Windows NT and more; Compaq Computer Corp. donated a server; Earthlink Network donated the ISP service; MCI provided connectivity to the server and a T1 line; CompUSA committed to providing training for mentor programs by using the central nervous system; Strategic Advantage assisted in the creation of program documentation."

Additional hardware and technical support were provided by Compaq, Earthlink, MCI, CompUSA and Dell Computer Corp. Earthlink is providing free Net access to mentor programs and Dell is donating 10 computers to mentor programs for site testing.

A Central Nervous System

As a result of these combined efforts, the CMI Web site went online just this year. The Web site, which acts as an "electronic central nervous system," contains information on how to become a mentor, tools to help potential mentors find community-based mentoring organizations, a registration database for mentorship programs, user surveys for tracking the success of each program, and more.such a system be implemented? The answer to this question would require an unprecedented alliance between the public and private sectors.

Mecca knew the challenge: He needed to have the cooperation of private sector high-technology corporations for his vision to become reality. He approached someone who had the connections to make that happen. This person was Dennis McKenna, CEO of GMW Communications, parent company to California Computer News, Government Technology (GT) magazine and Government Technology Conference (GTC).

"It was so exciting," said Mecca. "I approached Dennis eight days before Christmas and he pulled it all together."

Jim Kooler, deputy director of CMI, who also works for the California Department of Alcohol and Drug Programs, said, "Through GT and GTC, Dennis was able to bring together an array of potential partners in the high-tech community to build an electronic community or central nervous system for the field of mentoring."

"Mecca apprised me of the project and its goal to have 250,000 mentors by the year 2000," said McKenna. "Andy talked about the department's vision to use information technology to create a virtual network that would help link mentor organizations with each other and the state. Part of the challenge most community-based organization like Big Brothers/Big Sisters face is how to recruit mentors, share best practices and post information on community events. There needed to be a place that explains to potential mentors how to sign up. Andy felt the Net was an effective way to do that.

"In hearing his vision and what could be done with technology, I agreed that information technology, the Net and the PC industry could be a resource to bring about that vision," continued McKenna. "I volunteered to act as a catalyst to create a technology task force and bring together high-tech firms in the region. We recruited [these firms] and basically had several meetings to talk about creating the network to connect volunteers."

The high-tech firms McKenna referred to include Oracle Corp., Microsoft Corp., Openworks, Strategic Advantage, Digital Equipment Corp., Compaq Corp., Earthlink Network and MCI. Mecca presented these companies with a concept paper in December 1996.

According to A California Mentor Initiative Progress, "The intent was to elicit ideas on how to electronically link -- via the Internet -- school and community-based programs."

A representative from each company joined the CMI Technology Task Force and worked jointly on the creation of the Web site. According to Kooler, "Oracle stepped forward to build a relational database to capture information on mentors and assist on recruiting and tracking; Microsoft stepped forward with many copies of Windows Office Professional, Windows NT and more; Compaq Computer Corp. donated a server; Earthlink Network donated the ISP service; MCI provided connectivity to the server and a T1 line; CompUSA committed to providing training for mentor programs by using the central nervous system; Strategic Advantage assisted in the creation of program documentation."

Additional hardware and technical support were provided by Compaq, Earthlink, MCI, CompUSA and Dell Computer Corp. Earthlink is providing free Net access to mentor programs and Dell is donating 10 computers to mentor programs for site testing.

A Central Nervous System

As a result of these combined efforts, the CMI Web site went online just this year. The Web site, which acts as an "electronic central nervous system," contains information on how to become a mentor, tools to help potential mentors find community-based mentoring organizations, a registration database for mentorship programs, user surveys for tracking the success of each program, and more.

Since users can fill out surveys online, the information generated will be fresh and vital to the mentoring movement. Mecca hopes this kind of realtime documentation will provide hard-core facts that will induce public-policy makers to shift dollars towards mentoring activities.

"There is a real effort here not to create another government agency or program, but to empower communities to work with kids and volunteers," said McKenna. "The Technology Task Force feels strongly about using technology to connect people more effectively with their community and that's a big part of why we're doing it."

"It doesn't take a rocket scientist to look
at those statistics to realize that a caring adult
can really make a difference."

A real effort was also expended to quality check the system and the software. This is where Kay Coffin, executive director of Big Brothers/Big Sisters for California's Fresno, Kings and Madera Counties and a member of the Technology Task Force, stepped in. "Oracle and Kay's group worked to make sure [the system] software really worked for all of the mentoring programs," said McKenna. "We didn't want to come out with something that doesn't work."

"I'm the one who carried a big stick to thump heads," joked Coffin. "Seriously, I worked with Oracle employee Mitch Wallace to develop the Web site from a practical standpoint that would work for the lowest common denominator, which is the end user who is also the mentor who may not know how to put a computer together. The design was done to make the system user-friendly. We worked through the Web site step-by-step and found some things needed to be fine-tuned and adjusted. At the end, I think we came up with a viable total package we feel any mentor, mentee or program can use."

While the Web site will continue to develop and change over the remainder of this year, there are many goals to achieve by the end of 1998. Mecca plans to offer no-cost training and technical support to help mentor programs come online. A planned grant resource center will offer grants directly to programs via the Web site. Electronic mentor applications will be available that can be completed and e-mailed directly to the desired programs. The survey system will continue to develop and accumulate data for policy-makers and interested parties to use. Other plans include: mentor/mentee incentives, mentor program business support, an online mentor library, bulletin boards, e-mail and chat room services, and business support incentives.

But perhaps the most important new addition will be the feature that gives programs access to law enforcement background investigations centers. "Protection of our youth is a primary concern for us," said Kooler. "We believe technology gives us the ability to assist in making sure only the right people have the opportunity to spend time with our youth."

The End Result

While technology seems to be the solution to bringing various mentor-related interests together, the real purpose -- to improve the lives of at-risk youths -- cannot be lost in the story. The end result of all this communication, technology, and public/private sector effort is to bring two people together to make a difference in one person's life, and that's what mentoring does.

Going back to Ellen Reay's experiences, she has been such an integral part of her two mentees' lives that she considers them family. She proudly said that Monique, her first mentee, just turned 21 and completed her second year of college, despite the fact she had a baby in high school. Reay said Monique wouldn't have attended college at all if it weren't for her constant support. "The first day of college I walked with her to sign up for classes," said Reay. "She had never been on a college campus, and if I hadn't been there she wouldn't have had the confidence or the [self-worth] to go through with it."

Kathy DeSantis, an attorney with the Fresno Court of Appeals, tells a similar story about her mentee. She is a Big Sister to an 11-year-old named Marquesha, whom she now considers a daughter. When she met the girl just three years ago, she described her as "listless and very quiet," having come from a home where there was no father and an unavailable mother. Now with DeSantis' influence, Marquesha has blossomed. "She's more outgoing and self-assured. Last year, she even ran for class president, and she is a happy and carefree child."

DeSantis's main goal is to get Marquesha through high school without having a baby or getting involved in drugs, and she hopes to see her graduate from college. She said of her mentoring experience, "It's a lifelong commitment, but it's made me a better person. I like having a little girl to do little girl things with -- to teach to swim and cook. It would be pleasurable for anyone."

Real Success

Stories like Reay's and DeSantis' speak for themselves, and people like Mecca, Gov. Wilson and people at the national level are listening. Last April, CMI received high marks at the President's Summit for America's Future in Philadelphia. At that time, many other organizations, such as America's Promise took a leading role in the creation of mentoring programs across the country.

"America's Promise's goal is to get 2 million youngsters hooked up with mentors by the year 2000," said Jeff Winders, director of public relations. "We've had many private companies step up to help. Lens Crafters volunteered to give 1 million children free eye exams; Disney Corp. is planning to establish a relationship with Boys and Girls clubs to set up mentoring opportunities; Oracle Corp. launched Oracle's Promise, which committed $100 million in cash to place computers in every classroom in America."

"Mentoring is like a clarion [message] for each of us in America to recognize the opportunity, as ordinary citizens, to become a part of the solution," explained Mecca. "By growing America one child at a time, mentoring is an invitation for each of us to take a little time, one-on-one, to ensure every child in America has someone who says 'you count' and holds aspiration for them. And the mentoring movement suggests a coming of age of personal and social responsibility. We're recognizing that if each of us does a little, together we can have an extraordinary affect."

Michelle Gamble-Risley is the publisher and editor in chief of California Computer News.

Why Would Companies Care?

In an unusual event, many private vendors stepped up to the plate to sponsor the California Mentor Initiative (CMI). When asked why they decided to devote time and energy to the mentor idea, here is what a few of them had to say:

"I think it probably emanates from Larry Ellison, president and CEO of Oracle Corp. Mentoring fits nicely in with education and Larry feels very strong about education. He's been close to the mentoring initiative since Governor Wilson kicked it off. His belief is that adults working with kids is going to enhance learning. Without mentoring, kids are not going to be effective learners. Mentoring reinforces the importance of education -- that's why Oracle is involved." -- Lynn Wright, director, Business Development, Oracle Corp.

"Where ever possible, we try to contribute to the future of our country, and the youth is a great place to start. Our group division at MCI is focused on public sector work where it contributes to the support, growth and development of youth in this country. We believe in the people behind CMI, and it's a message we want to deliver. We feel honored to be participating with [the] great companies involved as well." -- Michael Jee, managing principle, MCI

"The mentor initiative is a unique volunteer effort that enables leading high-tech companies to provide hope and opportunity for the youth by mobilizing people to establish mentor facilities. This means young people receive the support and guidance they need to chart positive and productive futures." -- Kristen Kappos, vice president corporate communications, Earthlink Network

"Microsoft thinks of itself as being quite a giver. We see the value of the program itself and we're not looking for the public relations value. We really feel mentoring can truly make a difference to children. We're 100 percent behind it. When 250 resource centers needed 250 copies of Office 97 Professional, I went to Microsoft corporate and within 45 minutes I got a response that was 'no problem, give them what they need.' It felt good to work with a company that is willing to do that." -- Marty Pastula, business development manager, Microsoft state and local government

"Mentoring is just a great solution because it's a marvelous way of bringing the public and private sector together to address a real issue in the community, and do it in such a way that it's not going to burden the taxpayer any more than necessary." -- Jim Weynand, director state and local government markets, Compaq Computer Corp.

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