​The Birth of an Innovative Idea.  In the winter of 2020 we were all set to pilot a rather traditional mentoring program in support of a youth job readiness program in San José, California.  By the middle of March Covid-19 had struck: we had to scrap the model we had spent months building and replace it with a whole new one. 

After painstaking preparation and experimenting with various designs we finally came up with a good plan: we would mentor our students in groups, and we would do it remotely.  Six months later the results were in: it was an unbounded success, for our youth, for the mentors and the youth organization we were supporting.  We concluded that mentoring works extraordinarily well on Zoom.  Covid-19 brought with it the opportunity to be innovative. 

In just four weeks we were able to build such strong bonds of trust that 80% of both groups signed up to continue on with longer-term one-on-one relationships. The foundation for our is now in place, and the agenda going forward is to scale up. To do so, our project needs further incubating. 

If you want a thumbnail sketch, check out the design.  And, if you want to help out, or start a virtual mentoring program of you own, get in touch at clintwilkins@gmail.com.