Mentoring Relationships as Catalysts for Strengthening Youth Social Capital

In 2022, Search Institute partnered with DREAM’s Village Mentoring program to unpack the ways that developmentally strong mentoring relationships are experienced by young people and how these relationships impact their lives.

Through focus groups and interviews with program staff, mentors, and youth, findings highlight how each of the five elements of Search Institute’s Developmental Relationships Framework (Express Care, Challenge Growth, Provide Support, Share Power, and Expand Possibilities) come to life within high-quality mentoring relationships.

Findings also show how mentoring relationships that are characterized by the five elements of a developmental relationship are primed to facilitate social capital development. Mentors and youth alike described several ways in which DREAM’s Village Mentoring program supports youth social capital. This included mentors serving as a bridge to connections and resources, expanding youth’s web of support, enhancing access to community resources, and strengthening youth self-confidence as they work towards future goals.

Read the report for additional strategies and lessons learned from DREAM’s Village Mentoring program about how to support mentoring relationships that are developmental and support youth social capital development.