| Connected Scholars: Intro to Youth-Initiated Mentoring Speaker Description Youth-initiated mentoring (YIM) is a form of mentoring where youth take an active role in recruiting mentors from their social networks to help provide them with resources and social support. YIM is an innovative approach to mentoring that holds promise for addressing the gap between having a formal mentor or Big in childhood and adolescence to graduation from youth programming after graduation from high school. In this session, Dr. Kupersmidt will discuss the history of YIM; research findings on its effectiveness; the results of a study by the Connected Scholars program; and share the Connected Scholars program model piloted by the Big Brothers Big Sisters of Eastern Missouri agency. |