Youth Mentoring:

Changing Lives

Around Aotearoa mentors help young people to grow, realise their aspirations, and connect with their community.

Youth Mentoring:

Building Community

Around Aotearoa mentors help young people to grow, realise their aspirations, and connect with their community.

Youth Mentoring:

Helping Rangatahi Thrive

Around Aotearoa mentors help young people to grow, realise their aspirations, and connect with their community.

What exactly is mentoring?

Youth mentoring has a long tradition in all cultures and throughout history. It is a positive relationship between a younger person and a supportive adult, and it can be transformational.

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What does the network do?

We support organisations that provide mentoring, facilitating training and connecting community knowledge. We also inform and advocate for improved funding and policies.

About us

How can I get involved?

You can reach our to an organisation in our network, or you can support our work directly by joining our Friends of Youth Mentoring group.

Join today

Mentoring works

Mentoring is about helping young people establish a sense of identity and to develop positive aspirations for their future so that they can grow and flourish to their full potential.

Learn more about mentoring

Find a provider

FOR MENTORS

Mentoring Resources

We've gathered together a whole raft of resources for people looking to provide mentoring services. Explore our fact sheets for mentors, read about local and international research on mentoring, or dive deeper into what you'll need to establish a mentoring service.

Explore mentoring resources

Young people, no problem.

April 9th 2026 Before being involved in the youth sector I ran a commercial business. At a number of networking events over several years there was concerned discussion about a lack of connection between employersRead more

MATES: positive energy supports student transitions

January 19th 2026There are a number of mentoring programmes that operate in schools in Aotearoa but few have the ‘near’ peer features of the MATES programme. Recently I sat down with programme manager Teri FongRead more

Farewell James

December 16th 2025As we come to the end of the year, we’re sad to share that our General Manager, James McGoram, will be stepping down. To honour his time, leadership, and impact at NZYMN, we’ve put together a shoRead more

Understanding youth mentoring in Aotearoa

November 10th 2025The Youth Mentoring Sector Insights report is a first-of-its-kind study into the scale and delivery of youth mentoring in Aotearoa. It was designed to help us understand just how widely youth mentoriRead more

Getting to know Ko Wai Au: Empowering Rangatahi to Be, Belong, and Become

November 3rd 2025Founded by Georgina and Andrew, Ko Wai Au is a mentoring initiative that helps young people reconnect with their roots and discover their identity. We asked Georgina to share how the kaupapa began,Read more

Autonomy in Action

September 30th 2025It was a delight to attend the presentation by Dr Hilary Dutton at the 2025 INVOLVE conference in Ōtautahi Christchurch. For some time now Hilary, with the support of a Rutherford Fellowship, has haRead more

Mentoring with Purpose: MacStrong

July 2nd 2025“Tell me about your point of difference? “was the question I put to Delane and Jono from MacStrong. The response came back “We don’t have a space.” On one level this is a bit unusual andRead more

Reaching the regions: how we deliver workshops

June 5th 2025I remember my first day employed by the Youth Mentoring Network. I'd caught a flight down to Palmerston North the night before, a place I hadn't been to since speeding through it on a road trip downRead more

Youth, mentoring, and the media

May 21st 2025Public perception of our youth often seems to be shaped more by sensational headlines than reality. We can see this daily: a quick study of online search behaviour shows that the most common use of tRead more

Matariki Year 8 to Matariki Year 11: Success at Junior High School

March 26th 2025In November 2024 two taiohi from Thames joined an Upskilling Young Kaimahi workshop in Tauranga. They had a story to tell about their mahi with rangatahi in their hometown. So on a glorious day inRead more

First Impressions of Youth Mentoring

March 26th 2025Jumping in at the deep end In the first four months in my role at the Youth Mentoring Network I’ve received a crash-course in life in the youth sector, have polished up my personal mentoring &Read more

Top Tips for Working with Volunteers

March 26th 2025This post first appeared in our newsletter ‘Connections’ ins the summer of 2020/2021. REP is a programme that brings community volunteers into a school setting, to support Year 9 students withRead more

FOR MENTORS

Upskill at one of our workshops

Our popular training workshops cover everything from foundational skills for youth mentoring, through to building quality relationships and developing a Strengths-Based philosophy in your practice. These professional development opportunities are hosted around the country and online - find one near you today.

Training schedule

Mentor Training
Mentoring Providers
Mentoring Resources
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