REGISTRATION IS NOW OPEN!!!

Celebrating 100 Years of Mentoring Youth in Canada:
Innovative Partnerships, Practice and Research

November 5 – 7, 2013
Banff Centre, Banff, Alberta

It’s About Inspiring Lives

To register online now, click here.
To complete a mail-in form, click here.

To access the full event information package, please click here.

Visit our website at www.nmsevent.ca

The National Mentoring Symposium will celebrate 100 years of mentoring across Canada by showcasing innovative mentoring partnerships, practices, programs and research and by setting the stage for mentoring in the future.

Big Brothers Big Sisters of Canada (BBBSC) and The Alberta Mentoring Partnership (AMP) are working together to co-host the first ever national conference on mentoring. The event will strive to advance the unique contributions of mentoring to the well being of children and youth, volunteer mentors and communities across Canada by highlighting innovative partnerships, promising practices or programs and the state of the research.

This symposium includes four keynote presentations including Michael Ungar, Network Director of the Children and Youth in Challenging Contexts Network and founder and Co-Director of the Resilience Research Centre at Dalhousie University; Max Valiquette, one of Canada’s best known culture and media experts and commentators; and Tom Jackson, actor, singer, producer and activist. A Research Institute will focus on evidence related to mentoring from across Canada and internationally. Over 30 speakers will present over two and half-days through breakout presentations and a cracker barrel session. A forum involving 25 youth will coincide with the symposium and results from their forum will be presented on the final day.

Attendees will be surrounded by opportunities to network and partner while being encircled by the rich beauty of Alberta’s Banff National Park.

Hosted at The Banff Centre, all events are one place. Breakfasts, lunches and an opening reception will ensure attendees are well fed while away from home.

Objectives

To learn from the latest findings in mentoring research, and identify needed directions for new research.
To provide an opportunity for mentoring programs to share their work and what they have found to be effective in their practice.
To explore the application and impact of mentoring in the context of various populations of children and youth (e.g. different age groups, children with disabilities, ethno-cultural groups, high risk youth, Aboriginal children and youth, children and youth with mental health or addictions problems, youth involved with the legal system, etc.), and across a continuum from promotion and prevention to intervention.
To provide opportunities for youth who have been mentored or who are mentors to share their perceptions and experiences.
To provide opportunities for informal networking and explore interest and potential mechanisms for ongoing linkages and sharing of practices among mentoring programs in Canada.

Anticipated Outcomes

Increased awareness of how mentoring supports high school completion and promotes healthy, civically engaged young people
Common understanding of core components for successful mentoring
Uptake of new knowledge to ensure high quality mentoring programs
Increased engagement of businesses and corporations in supporting mentoring
Future directions for mentoring research; development of research practice partnerships
Ongoing Canada wide community of practice on mentoring
Emerging innovations in mentoring for the next century

Why Mentoring is Essential

In addition to teaching of skills and affording young people with an opportunity to articulate their thoughts and feelings, mentoring is thought to improve self-esteem and social skills, academic performance and school completion, peer and family relationships, and overall life success.

Improving outcomes for children and youth through mentoring means they are more likely to become engaged, productive citizens who contribute positively to their communities.

There are also benefits for those who volunteer as mentors. Older students who take on mentoring roles experience not only the satisfaction that goes along with helping another young person grow and develop, but also improvements in their own self-esteem, sense of social responsibility and tangible outcomes such as completion of volunteer hours for scholarships.

For more information, please visit www.nmsevent.ca

To register online now, click here.

To complete a mail-in form, click here.