2024-2025 Lead College Access Mentor (Central Valley)

Are you passionate about reshaping the narrative for young men of color in our community, nation, and world? Join us as a Lead College Access Mentor (Full-Time) with AmeriCorps, a national service and volunteerism agency, for up to 10 months starting this August of 2024. As a Lead College Access Mentor, you will join a nation-wide movement to help increase the college going rates among middle school and high school students enrolled in Improve Your Tomorrow’s College Academy program. This is an opportunity to empower students through mentorship, academic support, college advising, parent engagement, college tours, weekend and evening events and engaging after school programs. 

What is Improve Your Tomorrow?

Improve Your Tomorrow (IYT) was founded in 2013 with the mission to increase the number of young men of color (YMOC) to attend and graduate from colleges and universities. We envision a world where men of color are overrepresented in higher education, underrepresented in the criminal justice system, and leaders in their communities. We work to combat academic inequities and build a college-to-community pipeline through service, teamwork, character and liberation. 

Benefits 

Lead College Access Mentors receive a bi-weekly stipend, medical benefits, loan deferment (if eligible), professional development, career advising, access to Alumni Network and much more! At the completion of the service term, Lead College Access Mentors receive a monetary educational award. Please see more details for your region below. 

• Earn an Education Award upon completion of program requirements
  • Earn up to or between $1,565.08 to $10,000 in educational awards that can be applied towards student loans and college expenses. 
•  Term of service will count towards Public Student Loan Forgiveness
• Eligible for Student Loan Forbearance and Interest Accrual Payment (for all loans that qualify)
• Eligible for Health and Child Care Benefits 
• Eligible for Student Loan Deferment, (for all loans that qualify)
• Gain Career Readiness & Leadership Development training that prepare you for your career path and to be leader
• Participate in Wellness workshops designed to support  mental health, wellness, and personal empowerment.

Living Stipend Amounts

Central Valley

• $1,250.21 Bi-weekly stipend for 40 hours per week

Responsibilities

Lead College Access Mentors are full-time mentors that are assigned a caseload of 30-35 students with the goal of providing weekly academic, college advising, emotional, and mental support (mentorship). 

Lead College Access Mentors are pivotal in driving a college going culture at their school sites alongside their Program Manager and teammates. 

This role is suitable for those that desire additional professional and leadership development, or are interested in pursuing a future as a Program Manager. 

• Recruit and enroll eligible students to join Improve Your Tomorrow’s program through tablings, presentations, parent calls, and direct communication with school administration and students.
• Serve as the team’s “college advising expert and trainer”, promoting college readiness, facilitating workshops and tutorials for both students and fellow mentors, as well as hosting parent nights and workshops (must have an understanding or willingness to learn all college requirements, how to read transcripts and other college access procedures in order to teach others). 
• Facilitate the completion of college applications, FAFSA, and scholarship applications for all eligible high school seniors.
• Provide guidance and oversight of college eligibility for each student to ensure the completion of prerequisite courses to access 2-year and 4-year college institutions; for example, verifying completion of California's A-G requirements (academic support). 
• Conduct weekly communication with parents/guardians via phone/email in regards to the student academic, emotional, and mental growth (mentorship follow-up).
• Ensure all students on caseload complete an academic plan to capture both current and future academic goals and college or career aspirations as applicable (mentorship). 
• Provide after school programming and activities that promote self awareness, wellness, teamwork, character building, service, and college and career readiness (after school). 
• Provide a space for members to build strong study habits and receive academic support on a weekly basis (academic support).
• Complete data entry on a daily basis of student progress into IYT’s Salesforce database such as transcripts, mentorship notes, member information, attendance etc. (mentorship follow up). 
• Participate and/or co- lead events outside of the normal Monday through Friday service hours, including but not limited to, weekend college tours (twice a semester on Saturdays), overnight camping trips, evening pop up events, weekend brotherhood events, Brotherhood Conference, Brotherhood Graduation, Summer Arc, evening parent/family nights and potential school events (service).
• Attend monthly mandatory team building and trainings aimed to strengthen both mentorship, professional, and career development. 
• Assist with the recruitment of college students to become IYT AmeriCorps members. 
• Support/Assist Program Manager and fellow College Access Mentors in both programming and administrative duties as directed. 
• Perform other duties as assigned. 

Qualifications

• Must be a college graduate or college student that is familiar with college requirements and application process
• Have reliable transportation
• Must be available weekends and evenings for events (minimum twice a month) 

Schedule Requirements: 

• Weekly commitment of 40 hours on average per week
• Must be available to serve Monday through Fridays from 8:30am to 5pm or 9:00-5:30pm pending site needs
• If a current student, must ensure classes take place during the evening or outside of regular service hours
• Fridays are mandatory for professional development training
• Available for weekend and evening activities as required, including one to two Saturdays per month are required for college tours, teambuilders, IYT signature events

Qualifications

• Must be a college graduate or college student that is familiar with college requirements and application process
• Have reliable transportation
• Must be available weekends and evenings for events (minimum twice a month) 

Note: This is not an hourly job, but a 10-month AmeriCorps program. 

Please note that this position is contingent upon the availability of grant funding

Requirements:

• Clearance from background checks is required for employment, with fingerprinting expense covered by IYT
• All incoming mentors must attend Mentor Fellow Orientation (California regions will be held in Sacramento, CA.)
• Mileage and hotel accommodations are provided by request.

IYT provides service opportunities to all employees and applicants and prohibits discrimination and harassment of any type without regard to race, color, religion, age, sex, national origin, disability status, genetics, protected veteran status, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, or any other characteristic protected by federal, state or local laws. This policy applies to all terms and conditions of service, including recruiting, hiring, placement, promotion, termination, layoff, recall, transfer, leaves of absence, compensation and training. If you require accommodations during the application process, please contact IYTMentorFellowship@improveyourtomorrow.org to request assistance. We will work with you to provide reasonable accommodations.

Questions? Please email us at IYTMentorFellowship@improveyourtomorrow.org