Chenelle Miller, a 4th year student, laughs as she recalls an on-going joke about heights between her and her middle school mentee. Miller was a “big,” or female college student mentor, in the Young Women Leaders Program (YWLP). She was paired with a middle school student, or “little,” who already towered over her despite their age difference.

“My little that semester was a lot taller than me and so anytime we would go out in public or to YWLP events, everyone would be like ‘well who's the little?’ and we’d all laugh,” said Miller. “People were always thinking I was the little just because I was short!”

Miller has been involved with YWLP for three years, first as a big and now as a facilitator, or as she describes it, a “mentor to the mentors.” Her second year as a big was challenging because it was during some of the most difficult times of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The pandemic created many challenges for youth mentoring programs, and many paused or folded. However, YWLP not only survived, it returned to its foundation and was able to endure with a curriculum that fosters youth competence, connection, and autonomy. 

Developed and launched in 1997 by scholars at the School of Education and Human Development in partnership with the Women’s Center, YWLP empowers middle school girls as leaders in their schools and communities. Youth-Nex, the UVA Center to Promote Effective Youth Development, has been supporting research and evaluation of the program over the last decade. 

“YWLP is great at creating space for community, both in group and one-on-one spaces,” said Melissa Levy, YWLP program director of instruction and assistant professor at the School of Education and Human Development and Youth-Nex. “And community is something we all needed during the pandemic!”

Along with community, YWLP has a rich history of turning students into change agents.

“What is unique about the YWLP curriculum or the syllabus that we create for the students is that it reflects where we are as a society,” explained Sarah Jenkins, the program coordinator for YWLP. “The core components remain the same, how to be a good mentor and leader, but the activities and content can be flexible based on students’ current needs.”

With the pandemic starting near the end of a school year, the challenge of anticipating student needs started during the summer of 2020. Jenkins said they didn’t know how this legacy program would happen, but it was the student mentors who advocated for it to continue virtually. Their hard work paid off and paved the way for more flexibility with virtual sessions that continue now.  

Mentoring Competencies at Work

The YWLP curriculum outlines core mentoring competencies that include positive attitude (or zest), collaboration (or teamwork), empathy and attunement (or heart), initiative and perseverance (or grit), and mentoring knowledge (or brains). The UVA students embodied these competencies as YWLP pivoted during the pandemic. 

Zest: growth mindset and enthusiasm

“We really wanted to be humane, recognizing the humanity and suffering during this time,” said Jenkins. “Fatigue of everything was real, so we focused on quality over quantity. We recognized that everyone was stuck at home on their computers, and so we wanted it to be fun, engaging and not a chore.”

Miller said their former leadership days transitioned into unstructured times where bigs and littles could play games and connect. 

“During the pandemic we had littles from many schools, since we were virtual and less school specific,” explained Miller. “Instead of seeing people from their middle school only, the littles would see kids they hadn’t seen since elementary school. They hadn't seen these friends in a while and then they were on Zoom with them, so it was kind of cool and fun!”

This enthusiasm has continued as YWLP currently wraps up another successful school year.

Teamwork: positive communication and mutuality 

Jenkins said that the team of YWLP facilitators played an important role in the decisions to pivot during the pandemic. Leigh Kesser, a 4th year UVA student, was a YWLP facilitator during this time and recalled that it was a time to lean on others. 

“Early in COVID was a time when everyone had a tendency to go in on ourselves, but in YWLP we leaned on each other which was especially important during this time of need,” explained Kesser. 

“We built a team or community in an environment where we didn’t know that would be possible,” said Kesser. “We cultivated trust and the youth had an opportunity to do something outside of school. I was grateful for it!”