POLICY RECOMMENDATIONS LAUNCH “FOR EVERY SECTOR, A MENTOR” INITIATIVE: Identify a network of mentoring organizations across New York City to build a coalition of providers and engage Business Associations and Business Improvement Districts (BIDS) to sign on to participate in this initiative for a minimum of 3 years with specific targets for both expansion of a young adults’ network and meaningful hiring goals to create access to career experiences and jobs across industries. • The New York City Council should explore a legistlative policy change that would authorize BIDS and Business Associations to fund a pilot program through the taxes or membership fees they collect. • Ensure each participating member organization conducts an equity analysis, including an evaluation of their readiness to implement Positive Youth Development Strategies. By creating a coalition of mentoring organizations rather than relying on “one off” relationships with individual providers, New York City can capitalize on both general youth mentoring organizations, like BBBS of NYC, and those with a specific focus (LGBTQ+, Immigrant Youth, Interest Specific Programming, etc.) to create a more inclusive initiative better able to serve the diverse needs and interests of NYC’s young people. • Leveraging mentoring organizations allows the relationship between a mentor and mentee to thrive by creating accountability in the relationship (particularly in the early stages of relationship formation), offering a space for continued training for mentors as well as an opportunity for youth to influence program changes while preserving child safety and bringing a trauma-informed approach to relationship building. This structure promotes the “Share Power”62 component of developmental relationships,63 integral to enabling mentoring to have a meaningful, lasting impact. • Compensate youth participants for their participation in these programs to enable their full commitment and limit competition with other part-time opportunities available for high school aged young people, which is often their cited reason for opting out of continued programming year-over-year.
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