MENTOR Vermont, Comcast, and Other Supporters Celebrate 2022 Vermont Mentoring Month

MENTOR Vermont, in partnership with youth mentoring programs, youth mentees, volunteer mentors, legislators, and business supporters, celebrated Vermont Mentoring Month with a variety of online initiatives and events throughout January. Comcast and MENTOR Vermont partnered for the seventh straight year to commemorate mentoring with a virtual awards ceremony recognizing the youth mentee and mentor honorees of the 2022 Vermont Ambassadors of Mentoring Awards on Monday, January 31.

“Comcast is committed to supporting youth development programs, like MENTOR Vermont, that help build stronger and more inclusive communities,” said Brad Palazzo, Director of Community Impact for Comcast’s Western New England Region, which includes Vermont. “For the seventh year in a row, Comcast is proud to partner with MENTOR Vermont to honor outstanding mentor-mentee pairs who are dedicated to creating positive change in people’s lives at home and across the state.”

This year’s Ambassadors of mentoring matches were honored together by Comcast and MENTOR Vermont at the virtual awards session. Members of the public can read the full nominations for each of the 13 mentor and mentee matches and view the recording of the award ceremony by visiting www.mentorvt.org/Ambassadors-Of-Mentoring.  

The Ambassadors of Mentoring Awards are designed to recognize youth mentees and volunteer mentors both for the power of their personal mentoring stories, as well as the additional contributions they’ve made to support their local mentoring program. This year, in response to the continued COVID-19 pandemic, these awards highlighted the creative ways mentors and mentees have maintained their connections and discovered new ways to stay in touch during this time of uncertainty.

The 2021 Vermont Ambassadors of Mentoring are:

• Alexis and Betsy Dunham (MAUSD Mentoring)
• Andrew and Moira Notargiacomo (Windsor County Mentors)
• Assia and Alice Urban (Crossroads Mentoring Program, USCRI Vermont)
• Bawmu and Patrick DiMambro (Everybody Wins! Vermont)
• Halima and Premila Peters (King Street Center)
• Isaac and Pat Fleming (Spectrum Mentoring)
• Karson and Ellen Dorsch (Grand Isle County Mentoring)
• Kaylee and Jenica McEvoy (Mentoring at United Counseling Service)
• Lily and Kym Duchesneau (Milton Mentors)
• Lucca and Johanna Davis (The Collaborative)
• Mckenna and Deb Barnwell (Twinfield Together Mentoring Program)
• Nevaeh and Amy Daigle (Empower UP! Mentoring)
• Zachary and Mark Billian (Girls/Boyz First Mentoring)

All of this year’s Ambassador candidates were nominated by a program coordinator or director of their local mentoring program.

MENTOR Vermont’s 2022 Vermont Mentoring Month festivities also included Governor Phil Scott signing a proclamation officially recognizing January 2022 as Mentoring Month in Vermont and Representative Kate Webb (Chittenden-5-1) leading a resolution by the Vermont House and Senate recognizing January 25 as Vermont Mentoring Day. Additionally, 30 mentoring program staff members attended the 2022 Virtual National Mentoring Summit thanks to support from the A.D. Henderson Foundation. To closeout Vermont Mentoring Month, MENTOR Vermont, with support from PC Construction, will host virtual match trivia events in the coming weeks.

MENTOR Vermont’s 2022 Vermont Mentoring Month campaign was made possible through the continued support of Ambassadors of Mentoring sponsor Comcast; Mentor Match Trivia sponsor PC Construction; Mentor Recruitment Sponsor Community Bank N.A., Vermont Mentoring Month sponsors Cabot Creamery Cooperative, M. Kraus and Company, Redstone Commercial Group, Rutland Regional Medical Center, University of Vermont Medical Center, Vermont Gas, Vermont State Employees Credit Union; as well as Mentoring Supporter sponsors AARP Vermont, Bar Harbor Bank & Trust, Community National Bank, Concept2, Desai Management Consulting, Heritage Aviation, Flex Realty, Local Muscle Movers, New England Federal Credit Union, NFP Insurance, North Country Federal Credit Union, Northfield Savings Bank, Union Mutual, Vermont Federal Credit Union, and Vermont Mutual Insurance Group.

Mentoring Amplifies: The theme of the 2022 National Mentoring Month campaign is “Mentoring Amplifies,” which encourages mentoring supporters, mentors, and mentees to use their mentoring experiences to “amplify change, one relationship at a time, to help make the world a place of opportunity for all.” Nationally, the campaign is spearheaded by the Harvard School of Public Health, MENTOR National, and the National Basketball Association (NBA), with support from the Highland Street Foundation.

 About Mentoring during COVID-19: Throughout the pandemic, youth mentoring programs and mentors across Vermont have stepped up to continually adjust their approach to meet the needs of the youth they serve. Based on MENTOR Vermont’s COVID-19 Response Survey in the spring of 2021, 95% of youth mentees said that “my mentor is someone I can depend on,” 86% said that “my mentor is someone with whom I can share my feelings and experiences related to the COVID-19 pandemic,” and 96% said that “my mentor makes me feel like I matter.” Since March 2020, programs have implemented creative ways for matches to continue meeting remotely when they have been unable to safely meet in person. Programs across the state are actively seeking new mentors to meet the increased need. To find a mentoring program in your community, visit www.mentorvt.org/find-a-program.

About Comcast Corporation: Comcast Corporation (Nasdaq: CMCSA) is a global media and technology company that connects people to moments that matter. We are principally focused on broadband, aggregation, and streaming with over 57 million customer relationships across the United States and Europe. We deliver broadband, wireless, and video through our Xfinity, Comcast Business, and Sky brands; create, distribute, and stream leading entertainment, sports, and news through Universal Filmed Entertainment Group, Universal Studio Group, Sky Studios, the NBC and Telemundo broadcast networks, multiple cable networks, Peacock, NBCUniversal News Group, NBC Sports, Sky News, and Sky Sports; and provide memorable experiences at Universal Parks and Resorts in the United States and Asia. Visit www.comcastcorporation.com for more information.

About MENTOR Vermont: MENTOR Vermont provides funding, resources, and support for youth mentoring throughout the state. In addition to managing the Vermont Mentoring Grants, the organization provides technical support to mentoring program staff, maintains an online program directory and referral system for volunteers, manages a quality-based program management database, raises public awareness of mentoring, works with programs to ensure they are meeting best practices, and leads statewide mentoring initiatives. MENTOR Vermont is also the state affiliate of MENTOR National. For more information about mentoring programs and initiatives in Vermont, visit www.mentorvt.org.