Youth Wise

MENTORING - FOR FY 2021-2022, WE BEGAN WHAT WE SEE AS A BREAKTHROUGH FOR OUR MENTORING PROGRAM. AFTER MONTHS OF INQUIRY AND NEGOTIATIONS, WE HIRED A SOFTWARE DEVELOPMENT COMPANY TO DEVELOP OUR NEW MENTORING MANAGEMENT SOFTWARE, WHICH WILL BE A WEB PORTAL AND APP AND WILL ENABLE YOUTH WISE MENTORING TO SCALE EASILY. IN PREPARATION FOR THIS, YOUTH WISE DID AN IN-DEPTH ANALYSIS OF OUR CURRENT YOUTH MENTORING MODEL AND OUR LESSONS LEARNED TO DATE. FROM THIS, WE IMPLEMENTED SIGNIFICANT PROGRAM IMPROVEMENTS. THEN, TOGETHER WITH OUR SOFTWARE DEVELOPER, WE SPENT SEVERAL MONTHS DEFINING OUR SOFTWARE REQUIREMENTS AND THE PROJECT'S SCOPE OF WORK. THIS EFFORT SET THE STAGE FOR THE BUILD-OUT OF OUR SOFTWARE WHICH WILL TAKE PLACE IN FY 2022-2023. AS FOR OUR MENTORING PROGRAM PARTICIPATION, WE MAINTAINED ITS SIZE, WITH NEW MATCHES STARTING AND SEASONED MATCHES COMPLETING THEIR TERMS STAYING ABOUT EVEN. FOR FUNDRAISING, WE HIRED A NEW EVENT PLANNER, LOCATED OVERSEAS, TO HELP PUT ON OUR VIRTUAL GALA. WE ALSO HIRED A VIRTUAL ASSISTANT, ALSO LOCATED OVERSEAS, TO HELP WITH THE GRAPHIC ARTS AND COMMUNICATIONS FOR OUR VIRTUAL GALA. THE RESULT WAS, WE WERE ABLE TO SUCCESSFULLY RAISE A SIMILAR AMOUNT AS THE YEAR BEFORE AND AT A SIGNIFICANTLY REDUCED COST. IN SUMMARY, WE IMPROVED OUR MENTORING PROGRAM PROCESSES, LAID THE FOUNDATION FOR BUILDING OUR NEW MENTORING SOFTWARE PLATFORM, AND CONTINUED TO MOVE THE ORGANIZATION FORWARD ON STRONG FINANCIAL FOOTING.