First Lady Michelle Obama and Patrick Corvington to Announce a Major Mentoring Initiative, “The Corporate Mentoring Challenge”.

Nation’s leaders come together to showcase mentoring as a solution to the dropout crisis

Friday, January 21, 2011 (Washington, DC) First Lady of the United States Michelle Obama will provide the keynote address at the first-ever National Mentoring Summit on Tuesday, January 25, at The Library of Congress. The Summit, titled "Achieving Academic and Social Success: Supporting Youth through Mentoring," brings together leading mentoring organizations, as well as federal and state government and civic leaders to develop strategies that leverage mentoring to increase graduation rates among America’s youth and position them for success. The Summit marks the 10^th anniversary of National Mentoring Month and will consist of a day-long event – from 8:45 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.

The First Lady will discuss the The Corporate Mentoring Challenge, an initiative led by the Corporation for National and Community Service to encourage U.S. companies to launch a mentoring program, expand existing employee mentoring programs or provide resources to support local mentoring programs that help youth gain leadership skills, achieve their educational goals and increase their confidence. The Challenge underscores the Administration’s commitment to work across agencies and with corporate America and the social sector to drive results on the school dropout crisis and juvenile delinquency.

Cabinet Officials U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder, Jr., U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services Kathleen Sebelius, U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan and CEO of the Corporation for National and Community Service (CNCS), Patrick Corvington will participate in a panel discussion following the First Lady’s remarks about the administration’s work to use mentoring as a tool to improve educational outcome and reduce juvenile delinquency. The panel will be moderated by Director of the White House’s Office of Faith-based and Neighborhood Partnerships Joshua DuBois.

WHO: First Lady Michelle Obama; U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder, Jr.; U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services Kathleen Sebelius, U.S.

Secretary of Education Arne Duncan; CEO, The Corporation for National

and Community Service Patrick Corvington; Director of The White House

Office for Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships Joshua Dubois

Leading mentoring organizations, federal and state government and civic

leaders

WHAT: National Mentoring Summit

"Achieving Academic and Social Success: Supporting Youth through

Mentoring"

WHEN: Tuesday, January 25, 2011

1:45 p.m. – 3:00 p.m. Keynote Address followed by Panel Discussion

WHERE: Library of Congress

Independence Avenue and 1st Street, SE

Washington, DC 20003

RSVP: echristman@mentoring.org

703-224-2255

Background on The Corporate Mentoring Challenge

• Major U.S. corporations are getting involved in preparing our nation’s youth for success in a big way by taking the Corporate Mentoring Challenge.Corporations will commit to either: continuing to build on existing programs through expansion, launching a new program, or developing new tools and resources for mentors within the next year (January 2012).

• This initiative is spearheaded by the Corporation for National and Community Service.
• Companies that have signed up include: United Way, Bank of America; Deloitte; Viacom, Comcast; Bloomingdale’s; Macy’s and AT&T.

Background on the National Mentoring Summit

• The National Mentoring Summit is hosted by MENTOR, CNCS, the Harvard School of Public Health and the U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention.
• The Summit will also provide the culminating moment for the 10^th Anniversary of National Mentoring Month, a media campaign that raises awareness around mentoring led by the Harvard School of Public Health, MENTOR and CNCS. MENTOR’s Board Chairman Willem Kooyker will serve as the Summit Chair.
• Founding Partners for the Summit are America’s Promise Alliance, Big Brothers Big Sisters of America, Boys and Girls Clubs of America, City Year, College Success Foundation, Communities In Schools, Dare Mighty Things, Inc, Mentoring USA, National Alliance of Faith and Justice, National Dropout Prevention Center, National Collaboration for Youth, National CARES Mentoring Movement, Points of Light Institutes and United Way Worldwide. Registration for the Summit has closed due to a capacity crowd but additional information on the National Mentoring Summit can be accessed at www.mentoring.org/summit.