Mentors Urgently Needed: You can make a life-changing difference for youth

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January is National Mentoring Month

According to MENTOR: The National Mentoring Partnership, 1 in 3 young people will grow up without having a mentor. This means that they may face growing and developing without positive resources and reinforcement outside of the home. 

Life-changing impact

Mentoring has the potential to profoundly transform the lives of young people in our communities. By providing guidance and support, mentors are able to open up new opportunities and broaden horizons for their mentees. However, despite this potential, mentors are still urgently needed in many areas across the country.

Learn why mentorship is so important and how you can help make a difference in the lives of young people today.

What is mentoring?

Mentoring is a process whereby an experienced individual provides guidance, support and advice to a less experienced person. The aim of mentoring is to help the mentee develop their skills, knowledge and confidence so that they can reach their full potential. 

Mentors can come from any walk of life and don’t necessarily have to be in the same field as their mentee. What’s important is that they have experience and knowledge that the mentee can benefit from. A mentor relationship is built on trust and mutual respect, and should be entered into willingly by both parties. 

Mentoring can take many different forms, but typically involves meeting on a regular basis (either in person or virtually) to chat, offer advice and support, and answer any questions the mentee might have. The frequency and length of meetings will vary depending on the needs of the individual involved. 

If you’re interested in becoming a mentor, there are many organizations that can connect you with someone who would benefit from your time and expertise. Alternatively, you may know someone in your personal or professional life who could benefit from having a mentor – if so, why not reach out and see if they’d be interested in starting a mentoring relationship with you?

Long-lasting impact

A mentor can provide guidance, support and advice that can help a young person make good choices and achieve their goals. Mentoring is an important part of helping young people grow and develop into successful adults by:

  • Raising aspirations and confidence
  • Developing new skills
  • Overcoming adversity and setbacks
  • Achieving potential

Mentors can play a vital role in supporting young people through difficult times and helping them to progress towards their goals. 

Read: How Mentorship Supports Young People in Difficult Times

Become a mentor today!

It takes a special person to be a mentor. One who can give of their time, energy and resources to help another individual grow and develop into their best self. If you have the passion and commitment to make a difference in the life of a young person, then becoming a mentor may be the perfect opportunity for you. You can do it!

Still a little unsure? Here are a few tips on how to get started with mentoring:

  • Determine what type of mentoring you would like to do. There are many different types of mentoring programs available, so it is important to decide which one is right for you. Do you want to work with children, teens or young adults? Would you prefer one-on-one mentoring or group mentoring?
  • Consider your skills and experience. Do you have expertise in a particular field that could benefit your mentee? Are you good at listening and providing support? Think about what assets you can bring to the table as a mentor.
  • Complete any necessary training or certification. Some mentoring programs may require you to complete specific training before becoming a mentor. Others may provide training as part of the program itself.
  • Sign up to receive Empowered Flower Girl’s FREE Mentoring Guide to learn how you can fit mentoring into your busy schedule.

Girl World Peace Academy gives youth advocates tips, tools and templates to engage and empower girls

Posted on by empoweredflowergirl

Countless articles, polls and reports have shown that girls are being adversely impacted by digital harassment and cyberbullying. Additionally, a 2020 study revealed that we are in the middle of a teen mental health crisis – and girls are at its epicenter.

Now is the time for us to come together to help our girls. 

You may have been thinking of launching a girls mentoring program or youth-focused nonprofit but not sure where to start or how to engage students. 

Or perhaps you already have an established program but need additional help and resources to grab the attention of potential participants, media and funders.

If either of these describe you, consider Empowered Flower Girl’s Girl World Peace Academy! 

“Our course graduates are making an impact and a difference in their communities,” said Rasheda Kamaria Williams, EFG chief empowering officer and founder. “Our girls need positive role models, mentors and advocates. They need women like you.”

Make a Difference this Year!

Girl World Peace Academy is a self-guided online course + coaching for youth advocates of all backgrounds – from teachers and counselors to after-school program professionals and mentors.

This course is especially for you if:

  • You aspire to make a difference in the lives of girls and young women. 
  • Girls in your school or community face social or emotional challenges (bullying, peer pressure, trauma, etc.) that impact their ability to thrive.
  • You seek empowering and interactive tools and content that complement your current or future SEL, prevention or after-school programming.
  • You can use help getting the word out about the good you’re doing (to media, sponsors and potential participants)

Questions about the course or general questions about the youth empowerment space? Book a free discovery call with Rasheda. 

Enroll at https://rashedakamaria.com/girlworldpeace.

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EmPOWERing 21st Century Teens series addresses challenges and opportunities for youth and youth advocates

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Empowered Flower Girl wants to support families and those who work with teens with a space to discuss the issues, challenges and opportunities their young relatives/students face in the 21st century.

In observance of May’s Mental Health Awareness Month, Empowered Flower Girl is hosting a FREE 3-week conversation series. If you’d like to participate as a guest panelist or if your organization provides resources to families of teens and preteens, email rkamaria@empoweredflowergirl.

The series will be streamed via Zoom and Facebook. Follow Empowered Flower Girl at www.facebook.com/empoweredflowergirl.

Schedule:
May 11, 18, 25 – 6 to 6:45 p.m. EDT
Zoom link: http://bit.ly/21stcenturyteens

Topics:
5.11 – Mentoring teens to live above bullying
5.18 – Intergenerational empathy
5.25 – Collaborating to support youth

The Transformative Power of Mentoring

Posted on by empoweredflowergirl

After all they experienced in 2020, children and young adults across the globe can use an extra helping of support and empathy. 

Twenty-first century students face a number of challenges – from societal pressure and family obligations to financial hardships and mental health crises. 

Coping with all of this, especially for those who lack support, can be difficult. 

That’s why mentors are needed. 

As a mentor, you have the potential to change the trajectory of someone’s life, including your own. 

My life was forever changed when I responded to an ad an organization placed in the local newspaper seeking mentors for girls in its after-school program. I was a college senior at the time facing numerous challenges myself. 

I became a mentor as a way to shift the focus from my pain and trauma to help others. I was healed in the process. At the time, I was experiencing depression and PTSD after losing two close relatives. While meeting with my mentees had a positive impact for them, the experience saved my life. 

A big heart and a little time

Whether formal or informal, your mentoring relationship can have a tremendous impact, even if you spend just an hour a week connecting with your mentee virtually.

Young people who need mentors:

  • First generation college students
  • Youth in or aging out of foster care
  • Youth with an incarcerated parent
  • Low-income/homeless youth and young adults
  • Refugees
  • LGBTQ youth

MENTOR: The National Mentoring Partnership found that students who have a mentor are more likely to stay in school, attend college, volunteer, hold positions of leadership and become mentors themselves.

If you’re interested in becoming a mentor but not sure if you have what it takes, answer these questions: 1. Do you have a big heart? 2. Do you have a little time? If yes and yes, then you’ve got this. 

At the end of the day, you don’t need a fancy job title or curio cabinet full of plaques and medals to make a difference for young people. 

Still unsure if mentoring is right for you? Download Empowered Flower Girl’s FREE Mentoring Guide for busy professionals. Ready to become a mentor? Check out the MENTOR search tool to locate a program near you.

Rasheda Kamaria Williams is an award-winning mentor, mentoring consultant and chief empowering officer for Empowered Flower Girl, a social enterprise that empowers youth and youth advocates to live above life’s drama to make a difference. Connect with her at www.rashedakamaria.com.

Icebreakers that Engage

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Are you working or aspiring to make a difference in the lives of girls and young women? Do you seek tools and content that complement your current or future SEL, bullying prevention or after-school programming?
 
If so, sign up to receive our FREE Inspiring Sisterhood “Icebreakers that Engage” PDF.
 
Whether you’re hosting an assembly, workshop or kindness club, you’ll want to incorporate entertaining and interactive activities to kick things off. We’ve got you covered.
 
Be sure to connect with us via social media for empowering news, events and course offerings like our upcoming Girl World Peace Academy!
 
Help us help you. Take the poll:

Be a mentor in 2018

Posted on by empoweredflowergirl

If you’ve resolved to make a difference or dedicate your time to worthy causes in the new year, I encourage you to consider mentoring.

You may have thought about it in the past but weren’t sure if you’d have the time or qualifications. But chances are – you do!

January is National Mentoring Month – a time for individuals and organizations across the country to bring awareness to the need for caring adults to serve as role models for youth.

I’ve been inspired to mentor for the past 16 years. While I have no biological children, I am dedicated to positively impacting the young people in my family and in my community.

According to MENTOR, the national mentoring partnership, 1 out of 3 children will grow up without a mentor.

There are many benefits for children and teens matched with mentors. These young people are less likely to engage in risky behaviors and activities such as truancy, drugs and gangs. They also are more likely to graduate high school and attend college.

Consider this.

It only takes a few hours a month of face time and a phone call a week to help increase a child’s self-esteem. In addition to the mentee’s development, the mentor benefits in many ways. My mentees have helped me aspire higher in my career and in life. And knowing that they’re looking up to me, keeps me living in integrity.

Still not sure about mentoring?

Visit www.rashedakamaria.com to download your copy of my FREE mentoring guide. 

Rasheda Kamaria Williams is an award-winning mentor, author and chief empowering officer for Empowered Flower Girl LLC. Check out her TEDx talk to learn how mentoring makes a difference. 

Empowered Flower Girl to facilitate Mentoring Girls & Inspiring Sisterhood workshop

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Cat fights, drama, gossip. While some of us cringe at these behaviors, they’ve become normalized in popular media.

But how are reality TV and social media shaping girls’ relationship realities? Empowered Flower Girl will examine this and how educators and parents can help transform the way girls relate to one another.

As part of the 2017 MAMSE (Michigan Association of Middle School Educators) Conference, EFG will present Mentoring Girls & Inspiring Sisterhood: In the Age of Bad Girls, Housewives and Frenemies.

This year’s conference is scheduled Friday, March 10 at Swartz Creek Performing Arts Center, 8427 Miller Rd, Swartz Creek, Michigan.
Learn more about the conference and register here.

In addition to engaging more online, girls are twice as likely as boys to be victims of cyberbullying. Mentor Girls & Inspiring Sisterhood examines how role modeling and mentoring can combat relational aggression and encourage positive relationships in and out of the classroom.

EmPOWERing 21st Century Girls: Event Aims to Bridge Generation Gap, Inspire Teens to Live Powerfully

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Twenty-first century girls face challenges that generations before them may have never imagined. From cyberbullying to societal pressure, they’re coping with the pangs adolescence both on and offline. But because of technological advances, they also have unlimited resources and opportunities to live powerful lives.

On Thursday, March 9 during Women’s History Month, Empowered Flower Girl (EFG) – in partnership with the Skyline Club’s Emerging Leaders Group – will host “EmPOWERing 21st Century Girls.”

The event, scheduled 6-7:30 p.m. at the Skyline Club in Southfield, aims to bridge the gap that exists between 20th and 21st century women and girls while encouraging sisterhood and empathy.

Participants will break down the walls of separation by participating in engaging, inter-generational icebreaking activities as well as learn about local organizations and programs supporting girls and women.

Rasheda Kamaria Williams, EFG founder and author of Be EmPOWERed: How to Live Above & Beyond Life’s Drama, will facilitate the workshop and sign copies of the guidebook and journal.

“The ultimate goal of this event is to boost understanding and empathy across the generations while combating behaviors and norms that lead to drama, relational aggression and other challenges young women face,” Williams said.

The event is open to girls 11 and older and their parents, guardians or other adult chaperones. Admission is $10 per couple and includes appetizers and a raffle ticket for prizes.

Call the Skyline Club at 248-350-9898 to RSVP. Learn more about Empowered Flower Girl at empoweredflowergirl.com.

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Mentor Empowers Teens to Live Above Bullying, Drama and Societal Pressure with New Book

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efg-angled-book-imageFrom cyberbullying to societal pressure, 21st century girls face challenges that generations before them may have never imagined. But they also have unlimited resources and opportunities to live powerfully.

Rasheda Kamaria Williams, an award-winning mentor and chief empowering officer for Empowered Flower Girl, explores how girls and young women can use their personal power to make a difference in her new book, “Be EmPOWERed: How to Live Above & Beyond Life’s Drama.”

Written for and inspired by girls, “Be EmPOWERed” is an interactive guidebook and journal packed with inspirational prose, thought-provoking questions and written activities.

Once teased and bullied by classmates for being weird and different, Rasheda found a way to embrace and ultimately celebrate her uniqueness.

The book reveals her journey from excluded to emPOWERed and how she got there with help from trusted adults, mentors, friends and ultimately herself.

“Life isn’t always easy or fair. But if you’re equipped with the right tools, it makes the process more meaningful,” Rasheda says.  “You can learn a lot – especially from yourself.”

“Be EmPOWERed: How to Live Above & Beyond Life’s Drama” is now available on Amazon.com.

A book release and 6-year anniversary celebration is scheduled from 1 to 3 p.m. on Saturday, Nov. 19 at Good Cakes and Bakes in Detroit. Admission is $15 and includes a copy of the book, sweet treats, a special gift and raffle ticket for prizes. Tickets are available here.

Born and raised in Detroit, Rasheda Kamaria Williams is a communications professional and award-winning mentor on a mission to transform the way young people relate to one another. She is the founder and chief empowering officer for Empowered Flower Girl, a social enterprise that works with schools, communities and families seeking solutions to cyberbullying, drama, relational aggression and other social/communications challenges facing youth. A survivor of bullying, Rasheda was featured in Cosmopolitan magazine in the article “Being bullied changed my life.” 

Empowered Flower Girl’s CEO among finalists in national MentoringCruise contest

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We are excited to share that Rasheda Kamaria Williams, founder and chief empowering officer for Empowered Flower Girl has been selected as a finalist in MENTOR: The National Mentoring Partnership and Cabot Creamery Cooperative’s #MentoringCruise contest!

She’s the only person from Michigan selected.

We’re asking for your support. The mentor with the most votes by August 30 will win a once in a lifetime experience of an all-expense paid Alaskan cruise for two. The cruise will feature workshops and seminars for the more than 50 volunteer honorees.

Thanks in advance!

VOTE HERE:

http://bit.ly/2aVLCIA

By the way, sharing is caring. Share the link and invite your friends and colleagues to vote!