A teenage girl stands by her father on a riverbank near the Central Oregon coast, the river meandering its way to the sea. Both have fishing poles. But that detail is not really important. What is important is the feeling of complete safety the girl feels with her father.  Growing up, Elizabeth Higley led a charmed life. “As far as I knew, people were good, and the future could be whatever you wanted it to be. It was the stuff of storybooks.” Being with her dad was the safest place in the world. “Though he didn’t know it, I took off my seatbelt when he was driving because I knew nothing c ..read more

Cindy's mom suffered from bipolar disorder, depression and alcoholism. She slept most of the day and was in foul moods for the rest, so nine-year-old Cindy often sought refuge at her neighbor’s homes. Joy and Jim lived across the street. They were retired and had a beautiful marriage. Joy taught Cindy to play the piano and always had freshly baked cookies ready for her. June lived next door. She taught Cindy to sew, and they listened to old music together. Cindy remembers June making lunch--usually a three-bean salad with too much vinegar. She laughs when she describes it: “I loved June and r ..read more

Left to Right: Dr. Carla Herrera, Elizabeth Higley, Dr. David Dubois As Great Life Mentoring (GLM) embarks on a new chapter of expansion to the Portland, Oregon area, the organization is excited to feature esteemed collaborator and research partner, Dr. David DuBois. With a wealth of experience and expertise in youth mentoring research, Dr. DuBois brings valuable insights and perspective to GLM and its mission to improve mental health outcomes for youth from low-resource families.  Having earned his doctorate in Clinical-Community Psychology from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Cham ..read more

Since 1998, Dr. Carla Herrera of Herrera Consulting Group, LLC has dedicated her career to evaluating mentoring programs. She started with Public/Private Ventures (P/PV), a nonprofit organization that was a leader in evaluating youth mentoring programs. When it closed in 2012, she continued as an independent consultant, conducting evaluations of mentoring programs, like Great Life Mentoring. Her research outlines whether and how these programs benefit the youth they serve—with an eye toward program improvement.  In the past, Dr. Herrera has worked with both local and national leaders in ..read more

Emily Dunbar sat in her office chair, listening to her co-worker friends rave about the organization they were volunteering with; each one was developing a relationship with a child who was facing adversity. The children were experiencing rough times, and her friends were helping them. Week after week,  she listened to her co-workers talk about having fun with the kids they mentored and the amazing support they received from the program’s staff. Emily appreciated the commitment they made to their friends as she listened to their stories for two years. As a parent, her child is the single ..read more

For some people, mentoring just seems to be in their blood. The oldest out of all his siblings and cousins, Chris McClung interacted with youth at an early age. By the time he was in high school, he was already helping coach sports and mentor youth through a local program.  Originally, he says he did the youth mentoring to add to his college applications, but he quickly realized it was more than that. “I enjoy spending time with kids. I was always helping and playing with my younger cousins,” he adds, so mentoring came very natural and easy for him.  Once in college, he continued to ..read more

Andrea Barto loves riding bikes with her daughter in their Austin, Texas neighborhood. It’s her favorite hobby because she gets to spend quality time with her child, and she says tackling the big hills teaches her that hard work pays off. This may seem like a simple activity and lesson, but to many youths from low-resource families, even the simple things feel out of reach. Andrea wants to change all that. As a female Director of Engineering in the tech industry, Andrea understands adversity. She has also seen first-hand the power of getting involved. After college, she regularly mentored hig ..read more

The butterfly effect is the idea that small changes cause ripple effects that grow larger and larger – like throwing a rock in a pond. For Leif Liljequist, Board member and youth mentor at Great Life Mentoring, he sees this happening daily with the kids Great Life Mentoring helps. “If we can help even one child who was headed down a ‘bad’ path veer towards a ‘good’ path, it can change an entire community,” Leif shares. “The butterfly effect is particularly applicable with mentoring and GLM. Each kid that grows up to be a socially conscious, kind, contributing member of society will touch hun ..read more

We all want to feel truly seen. To have at least one person who knows our true selves and loves us as we are. This is critical for youth as they learn about themselves and how to navigate the world around them. Melissa O'Keefe believes that empowering youth to be themselves is vitally important.  Melissa has a degree in social work that she got somewhat by accident. “By chance, all my classes and volunteer work lined up with that degree,” she says. “I didn’t even know there was a social work school until my junior year! I just had a natural interest and gravitated to this area of study ..read more

Receiving support and help from someone who expects nothing in return can have a powerful effect on someone’s life. Abhijith (Abhi) Jayakumar knows this firsthand. It’s why he’s chosen to pay it forward by being a youth mentor.  “Growing up, I benefited significantly from being mentored,” Abhi shares. “I grew up in India, where there is intense competition in every field, and it would be easy to get disheartened. I was blessed to have a mentor who was my guide and sounding board.” Abhi received his education in India and started working with General Electric afterward. He started volun ..read more