Director of Research to Present at 2025 Youth Mentoring Research Learning Series

MentorPRO is proud to announce that Dr. Alexandra Werntz, Director of Research, will be presenting at the 2025 Youth Mentoring Research Learning Series, a prestigious virtual event hosted by the National Mentoring Resource Center (NMRC) and sponsored by the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP).

This free, three-part series is designed for mentoring researchers, program evaluators, and practitioners looking to explore emerging evidence and best practices in youth mentoring. The sessions will be held on May 2, May 9, and June 6, 2025, from 1:00 to 3:00 PM ET.

Each session focuses on a distinct, timely topic in youth mentoring:

May 2 – Mentoring Beyond the Dyad
Presentations will explore how mentoring contributes to building social capital and supporting group dynamics. Highlights include psychometrically-tested tools for measuring mentors’ role in expanding youth networks and a comparative evaluation of one-to-one vs. group mentoring.

May 9 – Mentoring and Mental Health
This session features Dr. Werntz, who will present findings from a recent scoping review of therapeutic mentoring. Her talk will examine the state of the evidence around self-described therapeutic mentoring programs, highlighting current gaps and identifying future directions for research. She will be joined by Dr. Heather Taussig, who will present rigorous evaluation data from the Fostering Healthy Futures program—a mentoring and skill-building intervention for youth in the child welfare system.

June 6 – Mentor Behaviors and Benefits
The final session will present new findings on the specific behaviors mentors use to build strong relationships, and the personal and professional impacts of mentoring for those who serve.

The series fosters rich dialogue between researchers and practitioners and is ideal for those looking to strengthen the scientific foundation of their mentoring work. Participation is open to all, and registration is free.

Learn more and register here: https://nationalmentoringresourcecenter.org/youth-mentoring-research-learning-series/