Mentor Advantage Program

What is the Mentor Advantage Program?

The Mentor Advantage Program (MAP) is a career-based mentoring program that matches middle and high school students who reside in Polk County with professionals based on a youth’s career interests.  Matches are encouraged to spend time at the mentor’s place of employment with the intent to introduce youth to the mentor’s career and expose them to a “behind-the-scenes” look at how educational concepts are applied in a real-world setting.

Mentoring has been demonstrated to improve relationships with family and peers, increase motivation and self-confidence, and promote academic success among youth.  MAP is certified by the Iowa Mentoring Partnership (IMP) and is funded by the Iowa Department of Health and Human Services.

Advisory Committee

Our Program Development Committee acts in an advisory capacity for MAP:

Brittany Freeman, PolicyWorks
Uma Dukle, Georgia Institute of Technology Student
Jane Jeffries, CYC Stowe Heights Challenge Course Director
Abby Holt, Employee and Family Resources
Lee Harper, Principal Global Investors
Ritika Shroff, American University Student
Alfonso Perez, Marketplace Chaplains
Alicia Vermeer, CYC Executive Director Director
Louis Fountain, Des Moines Public Schools
Jill Padgett, Iowa Department of Human Rights

Here is our current list of mentor needs! We’ll update this list monthly – but if you are interested in being a mentor and don’t see your profession listed here – please apply for the program anyway! We receive student applications on a rolling basis, and constantly need new mentors for the program.