Help Wanted: Mentors/Mentees In Demand

By AOL Black Voices

For a decade, Michelle and Barack Obama have mentored Michael Strautmanis, the chief of staff to top White House aide Valerie Jarrett, in ways big and small.

“They not only mentored me as someone who wanted to go in to public service but as a person who wanted to be a good dad, a good husband and just a productive member of society,” Strautmanis said in an interview with Aol. Black Voices.

Now he’s getting a chance to return the favor by spearheading a mentoring initiative sponsored by the “First Couple.” Mrs. Obama kicked of an initiative designed to mentor young women in November, and Strautmanis will head the White House initiative to mentor young men.

Twenty young men from the D.C. area, mostly sophomores and juniors in high school, will spend a year attending workshops at the White House. Mentors will come from various White House departments and other agencies and companies around Washington, D.C.

“We know the difference a responsible, caring adult can make in a child’s life: buck them up when they’re discouraged, provide tough love when they veer off track, being that person in their lives who doesn’t want to let them down and that they don’t want to let down and refusing to give up on them — even when they want to give up on themselves,” President Obama said at the event.

“Studies have shown that young people in mentoring relationships get better grades in school. They’re less likely to drink; they’re less likely to do drugs. And you ask any successful person how they got to where they are today, chances are they’ll tell you about a mentor they had somewhere along the way,” Obama added.
The goal of the program is to give the young men being mentored access to new experiences and open new worlds.

“We will design the program to give these young men an experience they might not otherwise have. They will have opportunities to network with people in different careers, learn about resume writing and applying for college,” said Strautmanis. “The mentors will get as much out of it as the mentees.”

The program is being launched in conjunction with National Mentoring Month. Strautmanis said the Obamas are not only aiming to help a group of young people but to show, by example, the importance of mentoring.

“President Obama’s father left him and his mother when he was 2, and he was raised by his mother and grandmother, who poured everything they had into him, but it took mentoring along the way to help him to get where he is. He asked for help when he needed it, and he asked questions every day,” said Strautmanis.

Mentoring is especially needed in the African-American community.

“In the African-American community, we are dealing with single parents at a much higher rate. The economic struggles are more severe and exacerbated in the African-American community,” said Strautmanis. “The President, First Lady and I are all African American. We want to send the message that if we can do it, you can do it too.”

A small time investment can make a big difference, added Strautmanis:

“It doesn’t take that much time, and it will have a big impact. We want our young people to aspire to be Supreme Court justices, community leaders and maybe even president. Right now, the most influential people in some of our young people’s lives are athletes and rap stars. That’s fine, but we need to add a broader picture of what kids can become and what they can do,” he said.