Profiles in Mentoring

Here you’ll find our conversations with researchers, practitioners, and policy makers in the field of mentoring. They share the wealth of knowledge that they possess with us and we share it with you. Click on any interview to hear a new perspective on mentoring.

Profiles in Mentoring: A conversation with Tom Rosenberg of the American Camp Association

Written by Rachel Rubin Tom Rosenberg is the President/CEO of the American Camp Association (ACA), a community of summer camp professionals working to promote youth development through the preservation, promotion, and improvement of the camp experience. In addition to his variety of volunteer roles in ACA (e.g., treasurer, board member), Tom has worked in the […]

Too often, we are left to sink or swim: Young people discuss equitable pathways to opportunity

By and reprinted from the American Youth Policy Forum AYPF recently conducted focus groups to obtain feedback from young people on creating equitable pathways to opportunities. The discussion with our young people surrounded access and success in post-secondary education and training that would directly lead to meaningful employment. Here are some of the valuable insights […]

Profiles in Mentoring: A Conversation with Dr. Alex Werntz about “that magic key ingredient” of mentoring and paraprofessional service delivery

Interviewed by Jean Rhodes Alexandra Werntz  is a postdoctoral researcher with Dr. Jean Rhodes at the Center for Evidence-based Mentoring and with Dr. Bethany Teachman at the University of Virginia. She received her Ph.D. in clinical psychology from the University of Virginia in 2020, specializing in supportive accountability for technology-delivered interventions. Her dissertation focused on […]

An Interview with Dr. Michelle Munson

LY: As an expert on youth aging out of the child welfare system, what have you found to be the most important factors in youth making a “successful” transition into adulthood? MM: So many things go into making a “successful” transition to adulthood. We know that for all young people it takes a lot of […]

Q & A with Stanford Professor Geoffrey Cohen: Why a sense of belonging is so important

From Education Weekly Let’s start with a very basic question—why is social belonging so important? We need other people to survive. As social species, we have evolved to be exquisitely attuned to whether or not we’re included by other people in our group. The need to belong is encoded into our DNA. How did you […]

A conversation with Professor Bernadette Sanchez

Professor Bernadette Sanchez is one of our fields most prolific scholars and among the most consistent voices for cultural-sensitivity in youth mentoring.  I am pleased to have had a recent conversation about Bernadette about her new studies and more.  JR: In your study, which we posted on the Chronicle, you explore the role of mentors in […]

Profiles in Mentoring: Aisha Griffith on afterschool mentoring

Interviewed by Cyanea Poon Dr. Aisha Griffith is an Assistant Professor of Educational Psychology at University of Illinois at Chicago. Her research focuses on the development and function of supportive relationships between adolescents and non-parental adults within informal and formal learning contexts. She is particularly interested in the critical role of trust within youth-adult relationships […]

Supporting autonomy in youth mentoring relationships: A Q&A with Amanda Davis & Dr. Samuel McQuillin

Amanda is a fourth-year doctoral student in the School Psychology program at the University of South Carolina’s Department of Psychology. She received her B.A. from Wake Forest University in 2019 with honors in psychology and her M.A. from the University of South Carolina in 2021. Amanda’s research focuses on studying how young people benefit from […]

Tom Keller

Profiles in Mentoring: A conversation with mentoring expert Thomas Keller

Interviewed by Maaike Kroes and Iris Kools Thomas Keller serves as the Director of the Center for Interdisciplinary Mentoring Research and Director of the Summer Institute on Youth Mentoring. His research focuses on the development and influence of youth mentoring relationships and strategies for improving youth mentoring programs. He also addresses the well-being of youth […]

Meet Professor John M. Gottman, a leading expert on relationships

Editor’s Note: Professor John Gottman of the University of  Washington is one of the leading scholars on marital and other relationships and the factors that both strengthen and diminish understanding and closeness. Gottman is professor emeritus of psychology at the University of Washington. He co-directos the Washington’s Relationship Research Institute and the Gottman Institute with his wife. In […]