Girls Group Mentoring Toolkit

IntroductionPurpose of the ToolkitThis dynamic toolkit will provide your organization with aconcrete way to promote positive change for girls in yourcommunity. It will provide you with some of the resourcesneeded to start your own Girls Group Mentoring Program forgirls aged 9 to 13.This toolkit is intended to be a starting point and will supplyyou with the key elements needed to develop a qualitygroup mentoring program for girls. However, this cannot be acomplete resource; organizations will need to take additionalsteps in order to be successful. This toolkit and its contentswill need to be adapted to your specific community with the“The toolkit pushed ourprogram to new levelsof reflection; we wentfrom a linear program toa multi-dimensional one,as a result. And we achieved betterresults!”– Girls Group Mentoring ProgramStaffunique assets, values and challenges that your community and organization possess.It is important to note and understand that although this toolkit uses the term ‘girl’as a social category, gender is a spectrum and not limited to strict categories of‘girl’ or ‘boy.’ The participants in a girls group mentoring program may fall anywherealong that spectrum. It’s necessary to be aware that although a program may targetgirls only, some participants may not necessarily identify that way (Girls ActionFoundation, 2009). In order to be inclusive and to foster the human rights of allyouth, expanding your programming to include diversity-positive spaces is crucial.Program staff should consider the gendered nature of the language and activitiesthey utilize (Girls Action Foundation, 2009). Respecting the right for youth toself-identify and opening the door to gender variance is key. To explore this further,see the Inclusive Programming: Gender Variance Considerations document in theAdditional Resources for this section of the Girls Group Mentoring Toolkit.It is equally important to consider and embrace the differences and diversity of girlsacross race, ethnicity, family income level and culture. The Girls Group MentoringToolkit is intended to be a guide that can be adapted to a variety of contextswith the space to consider and celebrate the uniqueness of the population of girlsinvolved in the program. See Section 2: Program Populations for more information.Girls Group Mentoring ToolkitPage: 9

IntroductionHow to Use the ToolkitThe Girls Group Mentoring Toolkit is interactive and its sections are not necessarily meant to be used in asequential manner. As you develop your program, you are encouraged to move between the sections in away that works for and makes sense for your program. Please remember that this toolkit is intended to beapplicable across diverse groups of people and the information included is meant to be adapted to yourunique community context.Sections of the Girls Group Mentoring Toolkit Introduction to the Toolkit: Provides an overview of the toolkit and the purpose and value of girlsgroup mentoring programs. Program Population: Explores some of the realities facing girls in Canada across populations andincludes key considerations for working with the girls in your program. Assessment of Strengths, Needs & Collaborations: Assists in considering the unique needs, strengths,challenges and opportunities that exist within your organization, community and the town/city/region. Planning Your Program: Outlines important elements to include when planning and evaluating yourprogram. Program & Meetings: This section provides information on the early steps and planning required fordeveloping your program foundations and meetings. Recruitment, Screening & Matching: Provides support for recruiting the right mentors and menteesfor your program, screening them appropriately and matching them effectively. Training: Highlights key aspects of mentor and mentee training. Support & Retention: Shares best practices for the ongoing support and supervision of mentor/mentee relationships, as well as tips for mentor retention. Managing the Group Dynamic: Discusses strategies for keeping the program running strong andfacilitating relationship building as well as solutions for potential setbacks or issues that may arise. Reflecting, Learning & Improving: Explores ways to integrate reflection, learning and continuousimprovement into a girls group mentoring program.Each section of the toolkit contains a short introduction and a table of contents for the subsections. You canreturn to the main home page at any time by clicking the Girls Group Mentoring Toolkit header in the topleft corner of your screen. Each section is followed by a list of Additional Resources and Works Cited for thatGirls Group Mentoring ToolkitPage: 10

Introductionsection.While the toolkit does not necessarily need to be read in sequential order, we recommend that organizationsreview the toolkit in full before launching their program. It is helpful to have a sense of all of the programcomponents and best practices before starting to engage girls and mentors.You will see a set of icons and text boxes throughout the toolkit. Each icon represents an important piece ofinformation:Highlights why the section is important to consider when creating a girls groupmentoring program, as well as key take-aways from the section, and will appear at thebeginning and end of each section.Highlights information from the literature and research on mentoring, girls programmingand more.Showcases an anecdote, story or experience from the field of girls group mentoring.Includes additional considerations or suggestions for girls group mentoring programming.Girls Group Mentoring ToolkitPage: 11

IntroductionBackgroundWhy Girls?Women have made vast strides over the past fewdecades. Women occupy higher levels of workforceparticipation and take on more leadership rolesthan ever before. These accomplishments should beacknowledged, celebrated and utilized in buildingprogramming for all girls.Although women have more opportunities than everbefore, many girls still face systemic barriers andoppressive practices that negatively impact theirpersonal growth and development. On a daily basis,girls deal with issues related to their physical andmental health, body image, gender and self-esteem(Iglesias and Cormier, 2002). A large percentageof young Canadian girls also deal with poverty,racism, homophobia, transphobia and sexism on adaily basis. Violence against women and girls alsocontinues to be a serious problem.Girls-only programming offers avariety of benefits and positiveimpacts for girls ages 9 13. Thefollowing reasons were gatheredfrom the feedback of 14 Girls’Fund grantees through the Canadian Women’sFoundation’s (2014) common evaluation processfrom 2009 2012: Girls have different needs and interests All genders behave differently, and girls often prefer a space of their ownGirls are more likely to be themselves in frontof other girlsGirls are more comfortable sharing andopening up in front of other girlsGirls are more likely to discuss certaintopics with other girls (e.g. sexuality, eatingdisorders, self-esteem, body image)Girls worry less about their appearance ingirls-only environmentsGirls worry less about being teased/bulliedwhen we create safe spaces for themGirls behave differently when boys are aroundBeing only with girls helps girls to feel strongand specialHaving female role models shows girls theycan be smart and powerfulGirls find girls-only groups to be more positiveand fun Early adolescence is a turning point for girls. It isa time of transition when girls begin to question and form their own individual identities. Duringthis period, some youth may expand their ideas of gender expression. There are high expectations of what a girl should ‘be like.’ At this stage, girlsoften begin to deal with the gendered roles of adult femininity which can be confusing and restrictingfor many (Kaplan and Cole, 2003). By engaging these young girls in mentoring, programs can stepin at a fundamental time in their development andexploration. Community programming that focuseson the strengths and successes already in the lives of adolescent girls can be a powerful way of supportingand empowering them further. By accepting girls for who they are and how they identify, and seeking tobuild youth capacity to navigate the challenges and experiences of adolescence, mentoring can support girlsat the height of their development.Girls-only programming allows girls a safe space to explore their identities, create positive relationshipswith others and focus on their unique strengths and capabilities. It provides a nurturing environment for girlsGirls Group Mentoring ToolkitPage: 12

Introductionto engage with older female role models, creating immense potential for growth, acceptance and support.Girls-only spaces can create space for discussion that encourages girls to question stereotypes, talk aboutbullying and speak up against oppression with their peers. This creates an atmosphere where girls can buildthe skills and confidence needed to challenge oppression for themselves and others.“Parents and girls reportedseveral reasons why theprogram should be girls-only,including the following: girlsare more comfortable sharingand opening up in an all-girls environment,boys and girls behave differently and boys’behaviour could be disruptive, and boys andgirls have different needs and interests atthis age.”- Canadian Women’s Foundation (2014)Girls Group Mentoring ToolkitPage: 13

IntroductionWhy Group Mentoring?The American Psychological Association (APA) (2014) describes girls’ experiences in early adolescence:“Early adolescence appears to be especially stressful on adolescent girls’ friendships andpeer relations, signified by a sharp increase in indirect relational aggression. More typical ofgirls and more distressful to girls than to boys, relational aggression, characterized by suchbehaviors as spreading rumors or threatening withdrawal of affiliation, appears to emergeas girls’ attempt to negotiate current power relations and affirm or resist conventionalconstructions of femininity Friendships can be a source of both knowledge and strengthfor adolescent girls. They can also be a source of struggle, hurt, and confusion, particularlyas girls move into adolescence and begin to negotiate dominant cultural views of sexualrelationships, femininity, and appearance. Directly engaging adolescent girls in conversationsabout such issues and encouraging them to explore together how current power relationsare played out in the context of their relationships with other girls and women can providesupport as well as opportunities to resist social separations.”Group mentoring is an approach that affords young adolescentgirls the opportunity to, as the APA suggests, engage inconversations about issues they’re facing in the contextof both peer and adult supportive relationships. Groupmentoring occurs when one or more mentors is matched withtwo or more mentees. Group mentoring sizes and match ratiosvary, depending on the program goals, type of mentor andavailable resources.All models of mentoring have benefits for children, youth andcommunities. Group mentoring in particular contributes toimprovements in both horizontal (peer) and vertical (adult orsomeone more experienced) relationship development:“It is possible thatmentoring groups, overthe long term, allow forthe establishment ofrelationships that canopen possibilities for newexpectations, empathy, tolerance fordifferences, and mutual caring that maynot have previously existed.”- Leadbeater & Way (2007)“Vertical relationships offer protection, security,and opportunities for the development of basic social skills. Horizontal relationships formthe contexts in which social skills are practiced and elaborated. Though the nature of theserelationships evolves with development, both remain important across developmentaltransitions from early childhood through adolescence.”- Kuperminc & Thomason (2014)It has been theorized that group-based mentorship practices are more accessible to marginalized youthGirls Group Mentoring ToolkitPage: 14

Introductionthan traditional one-on-one mentoring partnerships (Herrera et al., 2002). Individuals who may not feelcomfortable participating in one-on-one mentoring may be more likely to do so in the context of a group,where they might still benefit from having a supportive mentor and supportive peers. Girls-only groupmentorship can provide a positive space where resources can be shared and discussed. There is strongevidence that suggests that girls, specifically as they enter adolescence, benefit from more intimate,psychosocial relationships (Denner & Griffin, 2003). Girls group mentoring can also be particularly valuablefor organizations with limited resources or in communities with limited numbers of mentors. By matchingthe girls in groups, the program can include more girls and have potential for greater impact.Girls Group Mentoring ToolkitPage: 15

IntroductionWhat is the Canadian Women’s Foundation’s approach to Girls Group Mentoring?Since 2006, the Canadian Women’s Foundation’s Girls’ Fund has supported dynamic programs for girlsbetween the critical ages of 9 and 13 that engage their body, mind and spirit. Building on the Girls’ Fundand creating greater opportunities for girls, the Nancy Baron Mentorship for Girls Program was launchedwith generous funding from The W. Garfield Weston Foundation. Mentoring is widely recognized as a highlyeffective way to promote leadership, increase exposure to diverse perspectives and experience, and buildconfidence through relationship building.Commencing in 2012, the Foundation helped organizationsprovide group mentoring for more than 1400 girls incommunities across Canada through 4 year grants. TheNancy Baron Mentorship for Girls Program combines uniqueelements to support group mentoring of girls within diversecommunities. The program includes the following features:“The support that thementees and mentors gaveto each other was crucialto help them through somevery difficult problems.These girls showed me the necessity ofpersistence and reinforced my beliefnever to judge on first impressions. Itwas a deeply rewarding experience forme to witness the formation of such astrong, positive peer support group.” Mentorship participants are connected to a smallpeer group, then matched with a mentor or mentors,allowing the girls to form relationships with and learnfrom both their mentors and their peers. Program format is customized by each organization- Boys & Girls Club of London, Justand based on the particular needs and assets of thefor Girls Mentorship Projectcommunity it serves. For example, some programsmatch high school age mentors to build leadershipin teenage girls. Other programs pair elders or oldermentors with youth to strengthen understanding and respect between generations. Program staff take on the critical role of running the program, recruiting and supporting mentorsand girls, as well as overseeing the mentoring relationships to ensure they have a safe, effective andsupportive impact. Volunteers take on the role of mentors. Every program uses a comprehensive, skills-based, girl-centred approach. Priority is given to the most disadvantaged girls, and opportunities for Indigenous girls and girls inNorthern communities is a high priority.Peer learning for service providers is an integral part of the program: half of the programs started theirgroup mentoring in the first year of their four-year funding, while the other half used the learning fromthe first group to launch their mentorship programs in the third year of the funding cycle. CanadianWomen’s Foundation also prioritizes knowledge sharing. Organizations across the country have the ongoingopportunity to join in the discussion and learn about gender-based group mentoring through online learningand in-person trainings.Girls Group Mentoring ToolkitPage: 16

IntroductionThrough careful evaluation, there is greater understanding of how to develop and deliver group mentoringfor girls between the ages of 9 and 13. It provides a comprehensive offering of best practices, learningopportunities and resources to help impact and improve services for girls across the country.Girls group mentoring programs funded by Canadian Women’s Foundation for 2012 2016 includes:Big Brothers Big Sisters of Saint JohnBoys & Girls Club of HamiltonBoys and Girls Club of LondonBoys & Girls Club of South Coast BCCalgary Immigrant Women’s Association (CIWA)Girls Inc. of Northern AlbertaKa Ni KanichihkNorth York Community HouseSturgeon Lake First NationThorncliffe Neighbourhood OfficeTsleil-Waututh First NationWahbung Abinoonjiiag Inc.Y des Femmes de MontréalYWCA CambridgeYWCA MuskokaYWCA TorontoYWCA YellowknifeCanadian Women’s Foundation also worked closely with five community organizations to pilot this toolkit.These organizations partnered with Canadian Women’s Foundation to test the toolkit over a six-monthperiod and actively participated in an ongoing reflection and evaluation process. The focus of the pilot wasto evaluate the toolkit’s value and functionality, and to engage in a collaborative and continuous learningand improvement process. Through these learnings, we have been able to evolve the content of the toolkitto better meet the needs of the organizations looking to develop a girls group mentoring program.Girls group mentoring pilot programs funded by Canadian Women’s Foundation for 2014 2015 included:Community Action Resource CentreCornerstone Family & Youth Inc.Inuvik Youth CentreSarnia-Lambton ReboundYWCA LethbridgeGirls Group Mentoring ToolkitPage: 17

IntroductionKey Take-AwaysGirls in Canada will benefit greatly from connections with a mentor (or mentors) and peers in asafe and empowering environment. This section offered information to help you better: Understand the impact a mentor/mentoring program can have on a girlFamiliarize yourself with the various components of this toolkitStrengthen your understanding of the challenges faced by girlsRecognize how group mentoring can be an effective tool for girls’ empowermentFamiliarize yourself with Canadian Women’s Foundation’s approach to girls group mentoring acrossCanadaGirls Group Mentoring ToolkitPage: 18

IntroductionAdditional ResourcesGo Girls and the Power of Group Mentoring: One Organization’s Experience in Girls Group MentoringAn Edmonton organization shares their positive experience running Girls Group Mentoring programs.Inclusive Programming: Gender Variance ConsiderationsAdditional information about gender variance and how programs can remain inclusive and accepting of allyouth.Girls Group Mentoring ToolkitPage: 19

IntroductionWorks CitedAmerican Psyc

Girls Group Mentoring Toolkit Page: 2 This Girls Group Mentoring Toolkit provides the tools, resources and support to create, implement, deliver, and evaluate a quality group mentoring program for girls, ages 9-13, in your community. The Toolkit is intended to be used in a range