Leadership Sea to Sky’s

Intergenerational Mentorship Initiative
November 2009 to June 2010

Introduction

A major new feature for Cohort VI is the focus on the conceptual theme and practical application of Intergenerational Leadership and Mentorship. Our plan is that the cohort   participants will work collectively on a community project that takes leadership in a mentoring program involving youth from the corridor’s high schools, alumni from LSS, and elders from throughout the region. This new feature is receiving support from many leaders in the Sea to Sky and in many ways builds upon the work of past LSS Cohorts.

Background

Both Cohorts I and III had participants who worked with youth on projects. In Cohort I a study was done to involve youth in careers staying in the corridor. In Cohort III a video was made that described how to keep safe in Whistler, and has been shown in successive years to new lifties and seasonal youth workers. In Cohort IV a team explore mentorship and other post-program ways of continuing to develop and refine leadership skills. Throughout it all there have been several requests from youth workers and others to do more to support youth in corridor. At the same time we have now had ten elders be honorary chairs and others who have presented and supported the LSS cohort program and its participants themselves.

Meeting Corridor Community Needs

We also hear of the many youth-related issues in various communities in the Corridor. At the same time there are many who retire or semi-retire in Whistler and corridor communities leaving urban and suburban work life for residency in the Sea to Sky. And after five years of LSS we now have more than 85 alumni who live and work here and are part of what we have coined as a “network of responsibility” living out the values and practises of community engagement and collaborative leadership.
 

Learning from Others

Many similar leadership programs (Aspen Institute, Trudeau Foundation, YW, UBC, The Minerva Foundation etc) have a mentorship component, and the need for and understanding the value of mentorship is growing. (See Peer Resources http://www.mentors.ca ). There are also regional and national conferences that explore youth issues and challenges that are youth-led (CPRN, D-Code and Healthy Communities). The time is now for LSS to focus attention on connecting these many dots and points of learning into a coordinated effort in the Sea to Sky.

Mentoring Triads

What is most innovative are our plans to have three individuals in a mentoring relationship – a youth (Grade 11 or 12) and a LSS Alumni (in their 30-50’s) and an elder (55 plus). There are only a few ‘tri-mentoring’ programs and mostly in the university setting (At UBC third- and fourth-year students are matched with faculty or industry mentors in their areas of study. These students, in turn, mentor first- and second-year students within their faculty or school. The senior students gain an enhanced understanding of mentoring and become more knowledgeable about career areas of interest. Junior level students build connections within their faculty or school. The University develops a sustainable mentoring culture and forges stronger partnerships with alumni, industry and the community www.careers.ubc.ca/mentoring.cfm?page=what.

We are working now to identify 30 youth, 30 alumni and 30 elders to come together in this intergenerational leadership and mentorship program.  After orientation and training sessions in October they will be matched in triads of a youth, an alumni and an elder for a seven month period. Together they will establish their goals and roles for mutual learning, for reciprocal mentorship about both career and professional development and community engagement and involvement. They will develop a Full Value Contract and work for so that ‘each one will teach one”.
As part of their learning about leadership each of the 17 participants of Cohort VI will work with LSS Director and volunteers to help manage and monitor two tri-mentoring groups. They will learn by supporting, motivating, even coaching the two triads they are assigned to, in addition to the Learning Days and other program elements.

Links and Resources

Peer Resource Centre                          www.mentors.ca/learnmentor.html

YWCA High School Mentorship       www.ywcavan.org/content/Become_a_Mentee

UBC Tri-Mentoring Program              www.careers.ubc.ca/mentoring

Trudeau Foundation                           www.trudeaufoundation.ca/mentors

Canadian Policy Research Network   www.cprn.org/theme.cfm?theme=102&l=en

D-Code                                               www.d-code.com

Full Value Contract                            www.pa.org/about/glossary.php

Youth Development and Leadership  www.cacities.org

Creating a Mentoring Culture,  Lois Zachary, Jossey-Bass. 2005