South Seattle is historically one of the most—if not the most—racially diverse neighborhoods of Seattle. The concept of mentorship in the United States is historically white. With these two at odds, & with Community for Youth primarily serving South Seattle youth, CfY needs to place our core value of Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion at the forefront of every aspect of our organization.
Our youth and adults are partners and collaborators in working to disrupt inequity and oppression for personal and social change. One way we prepare our mentors to take on this partnership is by utilizing Critical Mentoring - specifically, the mentoring approach and framework described by Torie Weiston-Serdan in her book, Critical Mentoring: A Practical Guide.
Critical Mentoring guides every Mentor Workshop, introducing and putting into practice key concepts such as cultural humility, critical consciousness of the inequitable systems we live in, intersectionality within a mentoring relationship, and centering youth and their voices. We build our mentor-training curriculum around critical mentoring so that our mentors are best equipped to interact with a diverse community of students and navigate their mentoring relationships.
Our students should not have to detract from their experience by educating others—they should be able to be in our space as their most authentic, truest selves, while knowing that they will be respected and understood.
We encourage you to dive into the amazing resources linked on this page for more information!