Five Questions With: Jo-Ann Schofield

"Our flagship program is the Warwick Mentor Program with more than 200 mentor mentee pairs."

Jo-Ann Schofield, president and CEO of the Rhode Island Mentoring Partnership, has more than a decade of experience in mentoring, training and facilitation. Starting at the nonprofit in 1997, today she is responsible for its strategic direction, day-to-day operations including fiscal and grant management, as well as staff supervision. Schofield also belongs to Warwick 13, a consortium of Warwick nonprofit agencies; is vice chairperson of the Mentoring Partnership Advisory Council for MENTOR: the National Mentoring Partnership; and is a member of the Board of Directors of the Central Rhode Island Chamber of Commerce. Here, she discusses the strengths of her organization and where there is the greatest need for its services.

PBN: How did the mentoring program develop into a statewide enterprise?
SCHOFIELD:
We started the Warwick Mentor Program, the first school-based mentoring program in Rhode Island, in 1990. When word spread about the positive difference it made for kids, we had folks from other areas of the state asking for help starting a program of their own. We realized that our experiences would be invaluable to someone else. Why reinvent the wheel?
We were fortunate to receive an investment from the Feinstein Foundation in 1999 that allowed us to “write the book” on starting a youth mentoring program. We now have a network of more than 60 mentoring programs that we collaborate with by providing training, technical assistance and volunteer referrals.

PBN: Which of your four mentoring programs is the most popular and widely used, and why?
SCHOFIELD
: Our flagship program is the Warwick Mentor Program with more than 200 mentor mentee pairs. It has deep roots in the community with many business partners, like MetLife, Coastway Community Bank and Beacon Mutual that allow their staff to mentor on company time. The program is part of the school culture, which affords us the opportunity to pilot new initiatives, like literacy mentoring, which really engages kids and mentors using the interactive read aloud [technique], with great results.

PBN: Describe the relationship with the Feinstein Mentor Training Institute and why they’re integral to your services.
SCHOFIELD
: It is through the Institute that we offer training programs for both mentors and mentor program coordinators. For mentors, we offer initial and advanced trainings. Advanced trainings cover a range of topics like Strategies for Working with Kids with ADHD, Addressing Abuse, Making Positive Health Choices, and Reducing Mixed Messages about Sex, Drugs and Violence.
For mentor program coordinators, we offer everything from How to Start a Community Mentoring Program to specialized trainings like How to Recruit More Male Mentors, Volunteer Screening and Marketing your Program.
The Institute is the home of our “Quality Mentoring System,” a process where we work individually with mentor programs to assess and improve their operations. Based on MENTOR: The National Mentoring Partnership’s Elements of Effective Practice in Mentoring, we help programs be the best they can be by strengthening their day to day procedures and thereby, producing the best possible outcomes for our youth.

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PBN: How has your audience changed over the years and has that resulted in different services being provided?
SCHOFIELD:
I have been on staff for 17 years and have seen a huge increase in the need for mentors. I think, philosophically, we need to change the prevailing attitude about mentoring our youth. We need to change from it’s being a “nice to have” program to a “need to have.” Without positive role models, our youth will emulate the negativity of those around them. Through our network of mentoring programs, more than 5,000 youth are currently matched with mentors in Rhode Island, which sounds impressive. The need is so great, though. With more than 47,000 Rhode Island youth living in poverty (a leading indicator for the need for mentors), we have a mentoring gap of over 42,000. That’s a travesty in a state of this size.
We are also seeing a wide variety in the issues facing kids. Part of the reason we started our Quality Mentoring System is to identify the gaps in services that are needed and work to offer specialized trainings and advocacy for the field. We are by no means the experts in everything, so we work to provide linkages and topical experts to strengthen both our knowledge and practice.

PBN: What are your latest fund-raising plans and which is most critical?
SCHOFIELD:
Our signature fundraiser is “Dancing with the Stars of Mentoring.” It is an amazing culmination of work among community members. We have volunteers who become our “stars” by agreeing to fund raise and learn a dance number for a performance in front of an audience of 500-plus. The amazing professional dancers at the Dancing Feeling donate all of their time and work with our stars from January until the April 30 event as well as choreographing a Broadway quality opening number featuring, Mario Hilario from WJAR-TV NBC 10. Our friends at Coastway Community Bank orchestrate our Silent Auction and The Washington Trust Company handles a mystery wine sale.
Last year, we made a record net of $120,000, which represents more than 20 percent of our budget, a feat that would be impossible without the support of so many companies and individuals. This fundraiser is the most critical to our success, not only because of the amount of money raised, which of course is crucial, but also because of the spotlight that it shines on mentoring throughout the process.

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