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Summer Mentors Make a Difference

Positively Impacting Young People and Their Communities

Summer Mentors trains college students to spend a summer working alongside Wyoming youth. Mentors complete a hybrid program that brings them together for in-person and virtual learning sessions. Programming is focused on relationship-building, youth development, and how to show up for the kids in their care. In exchange, they earn a stipend and funding to bring their ideas to life.

What started in 2023 as a nine-person pilot has grown into a statewide network spanning a dozen Wyoming communities. Mentors leave with real experience and a community of fellow mentors that lasts well beyond the summer. The kids they work with leave with someone who showed up, asked good questions, and believed they could do hard things.

What we learn in Wyoming informs the national conversation about mentoring, youth development, and young people thriving! 

Summer Mentors Cohort 3

The Ripple; Statewide Reach

Four years into programming, the rings continue to expand

6

Communities Served

In 2026, Summer Mentors worked in six communities across the state 

42

Total Mentors

Over four summers, WYEN has supported 42 mentors through professional development, stipends, and resources for their programs

12

County-Wide Reach

Across the lifespan of this program, mentors have worked in a total of 12 of Wyoming's 23 counties

1000+

Youth Impact

Over 1000 Wyoming youth have learned, played, and grown alongside WYEN mentors

Recruiting Cohort 5

Learn about the program

WYEN is now recruiting for Cohort 5. Please consider joining us or sharing this opportunity with college-age students in your community!

In Their Own Words

What the Summer Mentors Program Means to Participants

Ask any mentor what they've learned, and you'll hear some version of the same thing: it's never really about the activity. It's about the relationship.

"Start with the relationships, then worry about the activities later." Abby

"It is exciting to me that I can be a guide to students in my community and allow them to grow into their best selves." Ray

"They can teach you something too — it makes the whole experience so much better." Lauren

 

Summer Mentors Cohort 2
Rachel's Reflection

High Expectations Paired with High Support

"Kids deserve adults who believe they can do hard things, but they also deserve adults who are willing to stay beside them while they figure those hard things out."

YMCA near peer

Curious what a whole summer of this looks like? Spend a few minutes with former mentors

Mentors PRACTICE Team
Stories from the Field

Meet the Summer Mentors from Goshen County

 Mentors Lauren Lynde
Stories from the Field

Meet the Summer Mentor Elevating Youth Voice

Every Year Adds a New Chapter

Thanks to Million Girls Moonshot and STEM Next, we have grown beyond STEM to support all learners who work with youth across the state by celebrating positive youth development, connection, motivation, and reflection.

Summer Mentors 2026 Reflection

Mentors 2026

Mentors worked with Boys & Girls Clubs, 4-H, Girl Scouts, and summer learning programs in communities across Wyoming and into Colorado. Collectively, they served more than 400 young people.

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Mentors PRACTICE Mia

Mentors 2025

STEM is everywhere. Widening the lens past traditional STEM into cooking, gardening, auto mechanics, and quilting. Signature concepts included: ripples and how the work of one mentor can spread across a community and beyond

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Summer Mentors Cohort 2 Group at BBBSWY

Mentors 2024

Near-peer mentors expand opportunities and hope for kids. In 2024, signature concepts included: hope as a skill adults help kids build, not something kids either have or don't

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Practice Program7

Mentors 2023

The pilot. Nine fellows, serving three communities, through six programs. Together, mentors and staff learned about near-peer mentorship, trust, and relationships. Signature concepts: youth development and relationships

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