Mayor Rahm Emanuel was recognized by MENTOR: The National Mentoring Partnership with the 2019 Excellence in Mentoring Award in the Public Elevation category. MENTOR announced four winners that advance mentoring opportunities for youth.  

“This award is a recognition not for me, but for the mentors across Chicago who dedicate themselves to ensuring more young people can look forward to the future with confidence and hope,” said Mayor Emanuel. “The future success of Chicago depends on the impact we have today on our youth, and I am eternally proud of the mentors ensuring our young people have the tools they need to stay on the right track and build a bright future for themselves and our entire city.”

The MENTOR’s National Mentoring Summit convened more than 1,000 experts, practitioners, advocates, and philanthropic partners to advance mentoring nationwide.

“Faced with both the fierce urgency of now and the knowledge that some problems require long-term solutions, Mayor Emanuel led a mix of strategies which have gotten results for young people,” said David Shapiro, CEO of MENTOR.  “He has made bold calls for volunteers and civic leadership, crafted public-private partnerships, and raised and made large scale investments in youth mentoring.”

The Mayor has leveraged MENTOR’s local Affiliate, MENTOR Illinois, to provide training and as a hub for mentor recruitment and referral in the Mayor’s Mentoring Challenge. The Challenge not only exceeded its goal of recruiting 1,000 mentors but doubled it with more than 2,000 mentors placed in 34 quality mentoring programs across the City.

Mayor Emanuel was chosen from a national pool of nominees, and was nominated for the Excellence in Mentoring Award by MENTOR Illinois and former Secretary of Education Arne Duncan.  MENTOR also recognized Fred Skolnik, Partner, Certilman Balin Adler & Hyman, LLP for Corporate Leadership; Genentech for Impactful Philanthropy; and Kenneth Ward, Executive Director, College Bound, Inc. for Lifetime Achievement.

Under Mayor Emanuel’s leadership, the City has more than tripled its investments in youth programming. In 2018, more than $75 million local funds were invested across early education, out of school time and enrichment programming; job initiatives; youth violence and mentoring; health and homelessness; and the arts, including media, library and parks services.

“I am incredibly proud of Mayor Emanuel and his commitment to leaving a legacy of strong opportunities for our youth, and even stronger community organizations for all of our neighborhoods and residents to benefit from,” said Lisa Morrison Butler, Commissioner of the Department of Family and Support Services (DFSS). “The Mayor recognizes that mentoring fosters caring and supportive relationships and the skills that will help our young people thrive and I am grateful for his leadership and dedication to our City’s youth.”

In his final budget, Mayor Emanuel included more than $3.5 million in new investments to expand and sustain youth mentoring programs that have had demonstrable success in violence reduction, including an expansion of the Mayor’s Mentoring Initiative to, for the first time, universally cover 7th grade boys. In addition to providing new funding that will allow for the expansion of One Summer Chicago and After School Matters, an additional $12 million from the private sector will support a universal mentorship program for 11th grade boys.

The Mayor’s Mentoring Initiative is a core component of the City’s public safety strategy. In partnership with nearly 60 community-based agencies, it lays out a clear path to provide youth in 22 neighborhoods experiencing high levels of violence with the support they need to remain on-track to graduate high school and avoid involvement in the criminal justice system.

About MENTOR: The National Mentoring Partnership

MENTOR: The National Mentoring Partnership is the unifying champion for quality youth mentoring in the United States. MENTOR’s mission is to close the mentoring gap and ensure our nation’s young people have the support they need through quality mentoring relationships to succeed at home, school, and ultimately, work. To achieve this, MENTOR collaborates with its network of Affiliates and works to drive the investment of time and money into high-impact mentoring programs and advance quality mentoring through the development and delivery of standards, cutting-edge research, and state-of-the-art tools. Connect with MENTOR on LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.

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