Kathleen Vella, Director of Programs at Raise Foundation, is one of Australia’s leading authorities on Youth Mentoring. Kathleen was the founding EO of the Australian Youth Mentoring Network, Australia’s first peak body for the youth mentoring sector. Responsible for establishing the Australian Youth Mentoring Benchmarks, Kathleen developed the minimum operational standards that all mentoring programs in Australia are encouraged to meet. Passionate and driven to deliver programs that enable the best possible outcomes for young people, Kathleen continues to consult privately in the sector alongside her position at Raise. As the Program Director at Raise, Kathleen is responsible for the implementation and successful delivery of over 188 youth mentoring programs nationwide, and leads the growth strategy to offer Raise mentoring to every government high school in the country by 2025.

2022 MHIS Presentation: A lot for a young mind. Supporting student’s social and emotional wellbeing through best practice youth mentoring in schools

Too many young Australians are experiencing an increasing number of challenges that impact their wellbeing including mental illness, disengagement from education, unemployment, bullying, and family breakdown. Unfortunately, many of these young people lack strong social connections and are unable to access support. This presentation will look at how best practice youth mentoring programs in schools can address this urgent social problem by supporting a student’s social and emotional wellbeing. We will use the evidence and experience from our Raise Program as a reference.