Allessia Owens-King

Success24, Salisbury, Maryland

This presentation examines key elements of the culturally informed effort, Comunidad and Umoja Scholars Program (CUSP). There will be a detailed review of mentor and mentee recruitment, selection, and pairing processes. There will also be a review of the program's workshop series, which allows structured mentor and mentee interaction while promoting competent social work practice with marginalized communities. ​

The Council on Social Work Education (CSWE) Annual Program Meeting (APM), Anaheim, CA

15th Annual Mentoring Conference, Fostering Diverse Communities of Mentorship: Evidence-Based Practices for Reciprocal Growth., Albuquerque, NM

Students of color in predominantly white institutions encounter a wide range of challenging experiences that range from microaggressions and overt racism in the classroom. Given the high likelihood of negative classroom experiences and the current U.S. socio-political climate with marked resistance to diversity and inclusion, our school of social work developed two programs that utilize mentoring to support students of color. The programs are "NIA Mentoring Initiative" (NIA) & Comunidad and Umoja Scholars (CUSP).<br>NIA and CUSP students were asked to complete an online questionnaire that included 65 questions regarding their experiences as a member of the initiatives. The online survey took participants approximately 20-25 minutes to complete. Pre and post-test data were collected from participants between 2019 to 2022. No identifying information was collected. This research project has been reviewed by the Salisbury University Institutional Review Board (IRB), protocol #14A.<br>The proposed presentation will review data collected from a research study regarding the impact of both initiatives. A preliminary examination of feedback uncovered that 83.3 % of CUSP participants believed that the mentoring and meetings met their professional needs. The presentation will review in-depth participants' experiences from both initiatives highlighting areas of success and growth.<br>The presentation outlines the various elements of each initiative, including student recruitment, mentor selection, and pairing, meeting topics, leadership project development, and community collaboration, that can be replicated. Uniquely, NIA had benefits for the mentors, including mentors joining forces to create the Cultural Coalition of Mental Health Practitioners on the Eastern Shore. The creation of COPES and other supplemental benefits gained by mentors will be discussed to highlight the mutual gains possible from initiatives.