What Mentors of Color Say They Need to Succeed

Tyson McCrea, K., Miller, K. M., Moore, A., Richards, M., Donnelly, W., Watson, H. L., … Smith, T. (2025). ‘Mentors need mentors’: the perspectives of adolescent cross-age mentors of colour about their instructors’ supports. Journal of Social Work Practice, 1–18. https://doi.org/10.1080/02650533.2025.2494526

Introduction

McCrea and colleagues (2023) explore how adolescent mentors of color describe the support they found most meaningful within a year-long cross-age mentoring program implemented in under-resourced communities of color.

Methods

The data collection was comprehensive and multi-modal, spanning an entire year. It included 359 field notes, 76 peer-to-peer program evaluation interviews, 90 youth exit interviews, and notes from 19 clinical seminars. Participants included 158 youth mentors of color (ages 14–18) across nine sites in the U.S. Midwest. All participants had experience mentoring younger peers as part of an academic-year, school-based mentoring program, and most were students from underrepresented racial and ethnic backgrounds. 

Results

The authors identified three types of instructor support that youth mentors perceived as essential: (1) instructional support (e.g., guidance and modeling), (2) instrumental support (e.g., logistical and practical assistance), and (3) emotional support (e.g., check-ins, encouragement, and personal connection). 

Mentors consistently emphasized the value of emotional and personal support provided during debriefing sessions. They described their instructors as caring, supportive, and mentor-like figures who provided empathy, personal encouragement, and real-time problem-solving help.

Discussion

In sum, youth mentors greatly benefited from the mentoring and emotional support provided by their instructors. These relationships helped mentors grow in empathy, self-confidence, and leadership skills, especially in responding to mentees facing adversity.

Implications for Mentoring Programs

Programs should aim to reframe adult instructors not only as supervisors or trainers but as developmental partners. Instructor training should include relational skills such as active listening, youth-centered communication, and culturally responsive care. Programs must also create formal structures for emotional check-ins, feedback loops, and opportunities for youth mentors to share their challenges. Crucially, programs must center relational trust as a key mechanism for youth mentor growth. 

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