BOSTON, January 21, 2025 (Newswire.com) – Each year MENTOR, a national nonprofit that fuels high-quality relationship-centered practices for young people, recognizes mentoring leaders from around the country that go above and beyond to positively impact the lives of young people during the annual Excellence in Mentoring Awards presentation.
After another record setting year of nominations, this year’s honorees include seven individuals that have created a profound impact in the world of mentoring.
“Making a difference is not assigned to one type of person, group, or profession. It is a universal calling. And, with this year’s group of EIM winners, we see people from all walks of life answering the call – a call to mentor, a call to make a difference in the lives of those seen and unseen. We congratulate and uplift this year’s EIM honorees for working in their respective communities each and every day to create healthy mentoring relationships that power opportunities for all,” MENTOR CEO Jermaine Myrie said.
This year’s recipients are:
Corporate Youth Leadership honoree: Alex Saadé, Business Analyst, Deloitte
- Alex Saadé was selected as just one of three fellows from across the country named to the prestigious City Year and Deloitte Fellows Program. During his tenure he served 900 hours with City Year before beginning a full-time analyst position with Deloitte. During the 2023-2024 school year, Saadé received mentorship and support from Deloitte professionals. Saadé is being honored as a young person who recently successfully completed a corporate mentoring program and continues to show great leadership potential.
Impactful Philanthropy honoree: Sureel and Bijal Choksi
- Sureel Choksi is currently the CEO & President of Vantage Data Centers, and sits on the board of Trustees at the Strada Education Network, which supports programs, policies, and organizations that strengthen connections between post-secondary education and opportunity in the U.S. Bijal Choksi has been a leading champion of the organization for two decades. The couple began volunteering with the organization in the late 90s. Through her work with the organization, she helped found the Minds Matter Colorado chapter in 2004. Twenty-one years later the mentors within the organization continue to help high-achieving students from low-income neighborhoods reach the college of their choice with a 100% success rate. To date, the family has donated over $1 million to support the organization’s growth which has included helping to seed Mind Matter Colorado’s first ever endowment, which has significantly contributed to “transformational” growth of summer program activities for Colorado students. The couple has continued to make a significant impact on young people by investing time and funds in mentoring programs and mentoring initiatives.
Lifetime Achievement honoree: Duncan Campbell, Founder, Friends of the Children
- Duncan Campbell’s lifelong commitment to the power of relationships has directly empowered thousands of young people who face extreme challenges. In 1993, Campbell founded Friends of the Children. Since then, Friends of the Children has grown to serve thousands of children and families in 41 diverse urban, rural, and tribal communities across the country. What began in 1993 with three mentors and 24 children has grown today to an organization providing more than 4,000 youth and more than 20,000 children and family members with a paid, professional mentor (called a “Friend”) to walk alongside them in their homes, schools, and communities. Campbell is recognized for dedicating his life’s work to supporting youth through mentoring programs.
Public Elevation honoree: Tyrann Mathieu, Safety, New Orleans Saints
- Super Bowl champion and NFL veteran “Honey Badger” began the Tyrann Mathieu Foundation in 2017, which seeks “to impact the lives of financially disadvantaged children and youth” in Kansas City and his hometown of New Orleans. Since 2023, Mathieu has served as an ambassador for Son of a Saint, a leading New Orleans-based nonprofit organization that is dedicated to empowering fatherless boys through mentorship and support. The New Orleans Saints safety previously earned the team’s nomination for the 2023 NFL Walter Payton Man of the Year award. This season he was named one of the Community Champions by the Super Bowl LIX host committee.
Public Service (State & Local) honoree: Memphis Mayor Paul Young
- Since taking office Jan. 1, 2024, Mayor Paul Young has actively invested in supporting young Memphians. Through the Office of Youth Services, Mayor Young has been intentional about ensuring young people have mentoring and work opportunities that expose them to various industries in the job sector. Through local initiatives, he has demonstrated a continued commitment to supporting our city’s youth. These programs include establishing midnight basketball and game rooms for teens through the Memphis Parks Division, continuing programs for kids, teens, and young adults offered through Memphis Libraries, and increasing the Office of Youth Services budget to expand services and programming.
Public Service (Federal): U.S. Senate Majority Whip, Dick Durbin (D-Ill.)
- Illinois Sen. Dick Durbin has faithfully served his home state since 1996 and currently serves as the Democratic Whip and the Ranking Member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, two key leadership roles in Congress. Sen. Durbin is the original author of the Mentoring to Succeed Act, a bill focused on providing strong, sustainable support systems through mentoring and expanding career and workforce pathways for youth residing in communities with high rates of violence. As a leader in Congress on youth mentoring, Sen. Durbin has worked tirelessly to advance the bill and find creative ways to expand relational supports for the nation’s young people.
Posthumous Public Elevation honoree: Emmy Award-winning journalist, KCAL-TV anchor and founder of The Chauncy Glover Project, Chauncy Glover
- Chauncy Glover, an esteemed Emmy Award-winning journalist, and founder of “The Chauncy Glover Project” tragically passed away on November 5, 2024. Before passing at the age of 39, Glover was the newest member of the KCAL News Anchor Team. Known for his greater impact on the community outside the newsroom, Glover created a mentorship program while working for WDIV in Detroit called “The Chauncy Glover Project.” This project began after he witnessed a teenager die on the streets. “The Chauncy Glover Project” provides hands-on mentoring to help young men of color achieve success. To date, the program has sent over 300 mentees to college and has been recognized by former President Barack Obama and the My Brother’s Keeper Alliance initiative.
The Excellence in Mentoring (EIM) Awards are presented annually during MENTOR’s National Mentoring Summit in Washington, D.C. This year’s Summit takes place from Jan. 29-31 at the Westin DC Downtown. The two elected officials will receive their awards during the Summit’s Capitol Hill Day on Wednesday, Jan. 29. All other honorees will be presented on stage during the National Mentoring Summit throughout the three main plenary sessions over the course of the Summit.
To learn more about this year’s class and the Excellence in Mentoring Awards please visit our website www.mentoring.org.
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About the Excellence in Mentoring (EIM) Awards: Since 2013, MENTOR has presented the Excellence in Mentoring Awards at the National Mentoring Summit. The EIM Awards honor individuals and organizations that have made tremendous contributions to young people and to the mentoring field. Past recipients of the award include entrepreneur, educator, and Super Bowl champion Marques Colston, Rep. Mary Gay Scanlon (D-Pa.) and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.).
About MENTOR: MENTOR fuels high-quality relationship-centered practices for young people, uniting, expanding, and strengthening the mentoring movement. 35 years ago, MENTOR was created to expand opportunities for young people by building a youth mentoring field and movement. The result: a more than 10-fold increase in young people in structured mentoring relationships. Today, MENTOR is the primary resource and expert for the youth mentoring field, representing a movement that meets young people everywhere they are – from schools, to workplaces, and beyond. MENTOR operates in collaboration with 25 local Affiliates across the country.
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