Mentor2Youth Inc

Mentor2Youth is a 501(c)(3) organization that was founded by EMU graduate Emmanuel Jones back in 2011. Emmanuel noticed that there were several gaps when it came to educational and community resources that were accessible to youth from challenging backgrounds. Even though there were several out there, several youth were still not being reached or impacted by these services and resources. At that time, he decided to do something.

During his time at Michigan State for graduate school, he conducted a research project to find out how a mentoring program would affect students' academic performance and behavior. 

Once the research project had ended, Emmanuel chose to continue the program but took away the resources, structure and expectations, incentives. Now it was just homework help and if they chose to, have someone to talk to. Slowly but surely, attendance dropped, grades decreased and behavior of the students reverted back to that of their peers. From that point on, Emmanuel knew he was the sole person that made an impact in these students lives and knew with the right help he could have a large impact on the community. With that aspiration, Mentor2Youth was born...

Mentor2Youth has now served more than 350 disadvantaged youth in Washtenaw County by providing free personal and academic intervention programs. 

Mentor2Youth currently provides eight youth programs throughout the school and summer period with sites at four different locations with assistance from 50+ volunteers.  Through constant innovation, Mentor2Youth has created an effective model for engaging youth. Partnered with 30+ agencies and organizations, Mentor2Youth has been able to provide resources for students who lack needed access. We have employed 25+ high school and college age youth through our various internships. There still, is more work to accomplish in Washtenaw County.