The team at SWSG Pittsburgh is proud to unveil our first achievement badge from The Mentoring Partnership of Southwestern Pennsylvania (TMP). As an organization, we’ve completed the first step of TMP’s National Quality Mentoring System (NQMS).
The National Quality Mentoring System (NQMS) review is a structured, systematic process for mentoring programs to assess their practices in alignment with the Elements of Effective Practice and other research-based best practices. This process creates recognized standards and procedures for the operation of high-quality mentoring programs based on evidence and guidelines for continuous improvement within a program.
“Working through the NQMS with The Mentoring Partnership is something our whole team is passionate about as we continue to seek improvements to our programming,” said Rachel Vinciguerra, Monitoring, Evaluation, and Learning Manager for SWSG Pittsburgh and collaborator on the NQMS project. “It’s been a rewarding process so far and has allowed us to set clear, targeted goals for the next year of mentorship with our girls and women.”
Completing the first step of the NQMS helped SWSG create an Improvement and Innovation plan with four specific priorities. This year, SWSG will:
- Complete an LGBTQ+ Supplement Self-Assessment Survey (an extension of NQMS).
- Develop uniform resources for college chapters with focus on recruitment processes, collecting references, and best practices training for Chapter Directors.
- Develop a process for checking in individually with girl mentees for match monitoring and supervision purposes.
- Clarify a policy for re-matching professional women mentors during transitional points in relationships.
“We’ve already set these plans in motion, and I’m excited about the impact they’ll have on mentorship for our participants,” said Alicia Angemeer, Program Manager and collaborator on the NQMS project. “Our team is committed to elevating the program by serving our girls more intentionally and helping our volunteers feel prepared and heard.”
By sharing the first in a series of badges with our community, SWSG hopes to underline our commitment to quality improvement and partnership with TMP. TMP is dedicated to advancing mentoring in Western PA to ignite community involvement, strengthen programs and empower youth to succeed in life. TMP’s work to provide resources, training and information on mentoring best practices to more than 150 local agencies has helped to increase the number of youth being mentored each year to more than 20,000. For more information, visit www.MentoringPittsburgh.org.