A company agrees, and identifies one or more employees to relate to a teen mentee, aged 15-18, who will visit the workplace on a regular basis. A typical arrangement would be for 1-2 hours after school one day a week for a three to six month period. Several employees could each have a mentee, in order to share the experience and provide back up. The mentee “shadows” the employee through regular job activities, goes to trainings or meetings with the employee, and establishes a relationship with a dependable adult that includes discussion of school progress, future goals and how to function in the world of work.

Workplace mentoring is free or low-cost, although the company may wish to subsidize the transportation of the mentee from the home or school site to work and back again.

• For the young person, a sustained positive one-to-one relationship with an adult has been proven to be a key factor in school success, reducing risky behavior, setting goals, and achieving them.
• For the mentor, an opportunity to learn, and to feel the satisfaction that comes from making a positive difference in another life.

The value for the business community “bottom line” is less well known:

• Increasing the odds of a well-educated and stable workforce to support economic growth.
• Increasing the odds of a safe and healthy business environment.

Businesses interested in becoming a workplace-mentoring site can contact Gloria Mobley, Program Manager at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it or (202) 789-4666, ext. 18., who recruits participants, arranges interviews, and provides an orientation prior to placement. For more information, click on Frequently Asked Questions below.

Students interested in applying to the Workplace Mentorship Program may complete the application by clicking below.

Student Application for Workplace Mentorship Program (31.11 Kb)

Workplace Mentoring FAQS (45.00 Kb)