Chapter Two

Steps to Creating an E-mentoring Community

We make a living by what we get. We make a life by what we give.
— Sir Winston Churchill —

Creating an online mentoring community requires access to technology and Internet communication tools, administrative infrastructure, and ongoing facilitation. Following are steps for setting up your own e-mentoring community for teens with examples from the successful practices employed by DO-IT. Sample forms and documents that can be modified to suit your program are provided in Chapter Thirteen.

View the video Opening Doors: Mentoring on the Internet, for an overview of DO-IT's electronic mentoring community, as well as for testimonials from participants. To understand the program context of this e-mentoring community, view the video How DO-IT Does It. These video presentations can be purchased from DO-IT in DVD format or freely viewed on the DO-IT Video page. Consider what goals, characteristics, and outcomes of DO-IT's e-mentoring community you hope to tailor to your program.

Acknowledgement: A summary of these steps is published as an Information Brief by the National Center Secondary Education and Transition (Burgstahler, 2006b).