The Promise Corps team of coaches and staff gather together often, at least once per month for professional development centered on student support, sharing resources and learning about new initiatives that may be occurring in Philadelphia that effect Coaches and/or students.

So far this year we’ve hosted trainers from Mentor Independence Region to follow up on their Mentoring 101 session during orientation with a full 8-hour training that shared skills and strategies for mentoring young black and Latino men. You can learn more HERE about Mentor IR. We’ve also hosted a research team from Drexel University that shared local trends and important policies regarding the school to prison pipeline national challenge. You can learn more HERE about this crisis.

This month during a November professional development day, the team was joined by AmeriCorps members from the Notre Dame Mission Volunteers and gained training on Public Speaking and creating safe and brave spaces for LGBTQIA youth with a delicious pot luck in between! Notre Dame Mission Volunteers (NDMV) AmeriCorps members serve with local partners to expand access to education. NDMV’s primary approach is to offer small-group and 1-on-1 instruction at a variety of diverse sites such as traditional classrooms to neighborhood community centers. NDMV AmeriCorps members serve full time for 11 months.

Hosted by a public speaking advisor, Anthony Havrilla, AmeriCorps members were able to gain important tips and advice for improving their public speaking skills and ways to overcome any fears of speaking to an audience. All AmeriCorps members had opportunities to practice and provide feedback to improve their ability to speak to a group.

The afternoon session was hosted by Hazel Edwards of the Attic Youth Center who shared excellent information to best support LQBTQIA youth in Philadelphia by increasing shared language, learning important historical context regarding the LGBTQ movement and discussing real life, recent questions and scenarios youth are experiencing concerning sexuality and gender.

As we move into the new year with additional professional development sessions planned and topics to consider, we recognize how fortunate we’ve been to host such diverse, experienced professionals to help us expand our knowledge and gain new skills to better support youth in Philadelphia. Thank you to all the trainers and speakers who joined Promise Corps so far this year and answered our questions, downloaded your knowledge and offered us the greatest gift of your time!