Mission Statement

The Mentoring Center’s two-tiered mission is to improve the quality and effectiveness of mentoring programs and to provide a direct service mentoring program model designed to transform the lives of the most highly at-risk youth.

Who We Are

Founded in 1991, The Mentoring Center (TMC) was created to serve as a technical assistance and training provider for Bay Area mentoring programs. TMC has served more than 800 mentoring programs in its 16 years of operation in the Bay Area. As a result, TMC has worked with more than 25,000 youth and volunteer mentors.

The Mentoring Center provides technical assistance and training to approximately 50-85 mentoring efforts, and direct mentor training to 1,700-2,500 volunteers and program staff annually. TMC’s technical assistance and training services are tailored for organizations such as school districts, individual local schools (k-12), colleges and universities, juvenile detention facilities, faith-based organizations, community based organizations, municipal/public institutions, and private businesses.

As a direct service provider, TMC serves between 90-130 adjudicated and incarcerated youth between the ages of 14-25 annually through two intensive mentoring and intervention efforts: The Transition Program and the Positive Minds Group. In response to overwhelming requests to conduct our programs at other locations, TMC began the Positive Minds Group On-Location program, a condensed form of our services conducted at local schools and community centers. TMC also leads the City of Oakland’s two initiatives that serve youth offenders, Pathways to Change and Project Choice.