Youth Mentorship

Join us for the 2019-2020 Also-Known-As Mentorship Program!

Are you interested in getting involved with Also-Known-As?
Come participate in our youth or teen mentorship program. We are currently accepting applications for the 2019-2020 year!

Program Mission

The Also-Known-As Youth Mentorship Program is targeted to intercountry adoptees ranging in age from 7 to 12 years, or children in that age range of international adoptees.  The goal of our program is three-fold:

(1) to foster personal relationships with people who have similar life experiences.
(2) to develop positive self perception through role modeling and companionship with adult international adoptees and members of the minority community.
(3) to facilitate an appreciation of the diverse cultures and races and their contribution to the global family.

In order to accomplish these goals, Also-Known-As provides a safe and exciting opportunity for younger intercountry adoptees to be in a community reflective of their life experiences; to have discussions of issues faced by the intercountry adoption community – race, cultural identity, adoption, and family; and to become active participants in the community through various cultural and voluntary activities.

Information for Mentees

For adoptive parents and our future mentees, this is an opportunity to become involved in a dynamic, young organization of other international adoptees.

Guidelines

• Meets one Saturday a month from September through June;

• A group of international adult adoptee mentors will be present at each of the events;

• Open to children aged 7 - 12 who are intercountry adoptees or children of an intercountry adoptee;

• Parents must complete an application and phone interview, and submit payment;

• The cost of the program is $400 per child to cover the cost of the events + $50 per family for 1 year Also-Known-As family membership.

The program runs from September – June. We accept applications from May through July 31st each year. Interviews will be scheduled during the month of July in the order applications are received. Admittance to the program is on rolling first-come, first-serve basis.

Information for Mentors

We are excited to be able to offer this program to adult intercountry adoptees and friends of the adoptee community.  We invite prospective mentors to seek this opportunity to become role models, to become a friend, and to be an enriching addition to a young person’s life.

Requirements

• Be an Also-Known-As member;

• Be at least 21 years old;

• Comfortable and versed in the various issues around intercountry adoption.

• Be able to guarantee a once a month commitment (3-4 hours on a Saturday) for the academic year.

• Complete an application and personal interview;

• Be willing to work in a group setting and be a team player.

• Central Park Zoo

• Museum of Natural History

• Brooklyn Bridge

• Statue of Liberty

• Museum of the Moving Image

• Intrepid Sea, Air and Space Museum

• Laser Tag

Contact Information

Misha Ulrich is the Lead Mentor for Teen Mentorship as well as the Director of Mentorship Programs.  Please contact Misha for more information about the program or to submit an application to be a Mentee or Mentor.

Misha was adopted with her twin sister from South Korea when they were three months old where they grew up in New York City.  Misha graduated from Hawaii Pacific University with a B.S. in Public Relations.  During her time as an undergrad, she studied abroad on Semester at Sea in the Spring of ’09, and at Sogang University in Seoul, South Korea in Fall ’11.  After graduating, she spent time traveling through Europe before moving to Melbourne, Australia to study international relations at the University of Melbourne.  Upon returning to New York, Misha became a mentor in Also-Known-As’s teen mentorship program and stepped up to become Lead Mentor last year.  She is also a member of the Also-Known-As Board of Directors.

2019-2020 Calendar

Activities for the Mentorship Program are scheduled for the following dates (all Saturdays), plus the annual BBQ in June: