Registration Now Open! Dr. Leigh McCallen on Leveraging Near-Peer Mentorship for Postsecondary Access and Success
We are thrilled to welcome Leigh S. McCallen, PhD, Deputy Executive Director of Research and Evaluation at NYU’s Metropolitan Center for Research on Equity and the Transformation of Schools, as the featured presenter for our upcoming webinar on April 16, 2026 at 12 PM ET.
What if the most powerful person in a student’s college journey isn’t a counselor or a professor, but someone who just walked the same path?
In this session, Dr. McCallen will examine how near-peer mentors and advisors can serve as credible role models for students applying to and persisting through postsecondary education. Drawing on her extensive research in college access and advising, she will explore how near-peers leverage shared lived experience and local navigational knowledge to build trust with students and expand the capacity of existing counseling systems. The session will close with a collaborative discussion for researchers and practitioners on how schools, colleges, and community organizations can intentionally cultivate and integrate near-peer mentors to better support young people.
April 16, 2026 at 12ET
We hope to see you there!
