Mentoring Matters

Grenita “Cabbi” Brooks believes in the power of mentoring. To be able to paint a picture of possibilities for young people and to empower them to dream, to do, and to achieve is her raison d’être. She is the founder and executive director of Prosperity Bound, which grew into the International Mentoring Society. Cabbi has developed mentoring programs for youth, trained mentors, and built a small, but mighty board.

PowerWith was asked to assist with a board recruitment strategy and to develop and facilitate a board orientation for new and existing members with the goal of growing IMS’s programs: Prosperity Bound, Mount Up, and Step Up. 

One of the challenges that IMS was having was Cabbi’s inclination to recruit people “just like me!” as she told PowerWith in our initial meeting. While the IMS board had a dedicated group of volunteer leaders, they lacked diversity. Diversity is a major challenge for many organizations, as we tend to recruit and hire people who are similar to us. PowerWith suggested using a board matrix, a helpful tool to ensure that a board of directors has a diverse range of skills, perspectives, and life experience.

As a result of working with PowerWith Consulting, Cabbi welcomed two new board members, and a volunteer to help with design and social media. IMS also welcomed a new program director for the Mount Up program, which is a program specifically designed to develop young men into leaders.

To learn more about the International Mentoring Society, click here. 

To hear what Cabbi had to say about working with PowerWith Consulting, click here.