From Connection to Opportunity: A Social Capital Building Toolkit for Youth Mentors
Social capital refers to the web of supportive relationships and resources that youth can activate to pursue their life goals. Social capital can help young people develop the skills necessary to succeed in school, navigate the job search process, and gain experience working in professional settings.
From Connection to Opportunity: A Social Capital Building Toolkit for Youth Mentors was co-created by researchers, mentors, and mentoring program leaders with the goal to strengthen mentoring relationships and support mentors in building mentees' social capital. The toolkit introduces the definition and benefits of social capital, and is intentionally sequenced into four modules with a total of 13 activities for mentors and their mentees to do together.
- Module 1: Building Developmental Mentoring Relationships includes four activities (e.g., identity wheel) designed for the mentors and mentees to get to know each other better, as a developmental mentoring relationship is foundational to social capital development.
- Module 2: Setting Goals Aligned with Youth Sparks includes four activities (e.g., opportunity board) designed for mentors to help mentees set realistic, meaningful goals aligned with what excites and motivates them.
- Module 3: Understanding our Web of Support includes three activities (e.g., identifying connections) designed to help mentees understand the importance of relationships and who is in their web of support.
- Module 4: Strengthening our Web of Support includes two activities (e.g., informational interviews) designed to strengthen mentees’ relationships with people within that web of support and beyond.
The toolkit also includes a tracker that mentors can use to monitor and celebrate progress.
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From Connection to Opportunity: A Social Capital Building Toolkit for Youth Mentors
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This project was supported by Award No. 15PNIJ-22-GG-01424-MENT, awarded by the National Institute of Justice, Office of Justice Programs, U.S. Department of Justice. The opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this publication/program/exhibition are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect those of the Department of Justice.
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