BOYS TO MEN FOUNDATION

Our BTM virtual men­tor­ing pro­gram was dri­ven to adapt and embrace vir­tu­al options dur­ing the COVID-19 pan­dem­ic. We have decided to continue our ZOOM Mentoring session indefinitely. This is to cater to potential mentees around the country, who may not be in an area that supports in-person location sessions.

​Despite the tech­ni­cal and inter­per­son­al chal­lenges — includ­ing unre­li­able inter­net ser­vice, dis­trac­tions at home and dif­fi­cul­ty estab­lish­ing on-screen rap­port — vir­tu­al and hybrid men­tor­ship mod­els can ben­e­fit young peo­ple.

BTM men­tors understand struc­tured vir­tu­al mentoring sessions allow for more flex­i­bil­i­ty in their every­day lives — a wel­come and nec­es­sary adap­ta­tion giv­en their shift­ing respon­si­bil­i­ties of everyday life.

Both mentors and mentees expressed an appre­ci­a­tion for in-per­son men­tor­ing while rec­og­niz­ing the ben­e­fits of adding vir­tu­al options to help men­tor­ing pro­grams grow more agile and sustainable.

While vir­tu­al men­tor­ing has its chal­lenges, the impor­tance of adap­ta­tions that have pro­vid­ed cru­cial rela­tion­ships and con­nec­tions for young peo­ple dur­ing the pan­dem­ic for young peo­ple, are bring­ing up impor­tant con­sid­er­a­tions for pro­gram design­ers to pro­vide flex­i­ble options that allow them to get the most out of mentoring.”

BTM MENTORING THROUGH ZOOM