Building Bright Futures - Ready for Success

www.MMPOmaha.org

Stable, caring adults are a cornerstone of positive child and youth development. Through positive relationships with adults, children and youth experience a sense of physical and emotional security and learn that they are valued and accepted by others. Research shows that mentoring can lead to a decrease in risky behaviors, stronger communication skills, leadership experiences, an increase in connectedness to school, an improvement in competencies and self-esteem.

The Midlands Mentoring Partnership (MMP) is a 13-member collaboration designed to raise public awareness of and support for high-quality youth mentoring programs by improving youth mentoring through education, best practices and resource-sharing, increasing the capacity of mentoring programs in recruiting/retaining more mentors and carrying out recommendations made by the Building Bright Futures Mentoring Task Force.

Program Goals

Promote awareness and build the youth mentoring movement as not just nice, but necessary
Address underserved populations and communities to increase the number and quality of mentoring relationships
Increase the awareness and practice of mentoring standards in the community
Increase Collaboration between mentoring agencies–connect resources for mentoring organizations
Raise the discussion level about data collection & evaluation to new heights

Midlands Mentoring Partnership Board

Daniel Padilla
Immediate Past President
Regional Branch Director
First National Bank

Ellen Freeman Wakefield
MMP President
Consultant & Adjunct Faculty, UNO

Ashley Robinson
MMP Vice President
Attorney
Baird Holm LLP

Josh Bartee
MMP Treasurer
Senior Vice President and Chief Lending Officer
Enterprise Bank

Gerald Byers
MMP Board Member
Senior Vice President and Chief Risk Officer
Blue Cross Blue Shield of Nebraska

Kathy Clark
MMP Board Member
CFO
FBG Services

John Ewing
MMP Board Member
Douglas County Treasurer

Ean Garrett
MMP Board Member
Attorney/Community Volunteer

Julie Hefflinger
MMP Board Member
Mentoring Advocate/Community Volunteer

Kenny McMorris
MMP Board Member
Administrative Fellow
Charles Drew Health Center

Richard Spellman
MMP Board Member
General Counsel
University of Nebraska Medical Center

Midlands Mentoring Partnership contact

Deborah Neary
MMP Executive Director
402-715-4176
dneary@mmpomaha.org

Whitney Mastin
Program Assistant
402-715-4175
wmastin@mmpomaha.org

COMMUNITY CHALLENGE

Students who fail to develop strong attachments to school by the time they reach the middle grades are more likely to drop out of high school.

In Douglas and Sarpy Counties, there are about 850 eighth-grade students each year who do not meet proficiency standards in reading or math.