Having served as Heinz Fellows, Each of the founders of 1Nation Mentoring (Lloyd Cheatom, Kevin McNair, Sam Morant) have enrolled in graduate programs of Organizational Leadership and/or Instructional Leadership. This experience refined skill sets and provided academic backdrop and context within which to develop 1Nation Mentoring. Understanding the need to address the conditions of students from
systemically underserved communities, 1Nation seeks to provide opportunities for academic advancement, personal development, and tools to help combat those conditions that would thwart the efforts
of the aforementioned population. Based on our observation, students displayed high levels of disengagement in the academic environment, unhealthy attitudes toward school as a mechanism for growth, low levels of investment in mandated academic exercises, little to no participation in extended learning opportunities, and high-risk for susceptibility to unhealthy out-of-school activities. Also apparent was a lack of cultural awareness among teens as well as among environments that serve them. Initiating a pilot program that included in-school mentoring, strategies to address those current observations were developed and implemented. The approach was aggregated into three phases: Relationship Establishment, Information Exchange, and Implementation Methods. The program utilizes exercises that promote trust in the facilitator and the environment. The third phase includes opportunities for implementation of shared strategies and those developed by program participants.
