Milwaukee Bucks to Partake in National Mentor Month

MILWAUKEE (Jan. 2, 2020) – As part of National Mentor Month, and in support of MENTOR Greater Milwaukee, Bucks players and front office staff will partake in a variety of community activities throughout the month of January to promote the importance of mentoring and encourage community members to become mentors themselves.

“We are proud to partake in National Mentor Month as well as mentoring initiatives throughout the year to bring visibility to the need for more mentors within our community,” said Bucks Vice President of Corporate Social Responsibility Arvind Gopalratnam. “Research confirms that quality mentoring relationships have powerful positive effects on young people in a variety of personal, academic and professional situations. We are committed to using our platform and resources to shed light on this need while also highlighting the great work of individuals and non-profits across the state in the mentoring space.”

This month’s events will tip off on Jan. 3 with a basketball clinic hosted by Khris Middleton for mentor and mentee matches with Big Brothers Big Sisters of Metro Milwaukee, and a mentoring dinner hosted by Sterling Brown with youth and mentors from Milwaukee Public Schools’ Black & Latino Male Achievement program.

Later in the month, the Bucks and MENTOR Greater Milwaukee will host more than 100 human resource leaders from across the region for a panel discussion around the value of integrating mentoring programs into organizational structures. Panelists for the event include Executive Director of MENTOR Greater Milwaukee LaNelle Ramey, Bucks Chief Human Capital Officer Kelly Kauffman, Northwestern Mutual Foundation’s Program Officer Thomas Rosenthal and Rockwell Automation’s Global Supply Chain Messaging and Communications Manager Darcie Brown. 

Throughout the month and beyond, George Hill will serve as a champion for mentoring by sharing his mentorship story on a special segment scheduled to air on FOX Sports Wisconsin and by recognizing mentors throughout the community through his MENTOR of the Game program. At four select home games in January, local mentors in Milwaukee will be honored on-court and meet Hill during pre-game.

Bucks front office staff will also participate in the month’s events by hosting Own Your Future Night. Students from a local non-profit will tour the Froedtert & the Medical College of Wisconsin Sports Science Center and speak with front office personnel about working for a sports organization.

The Bucks will continue to highlight mentoring throughout the year by hosting students for career-exploration events, weekly outbound mentoring and various other events. 

Since 2016, the Milwaukee Bucks Foundation has donated more than $500,000 to support existing mentoring programs across Wisconsin. In continuation of their commitment to mentoring, the Bucks, in partnership with Milwaukee Public Schools and the City of Milwaukee, launched MENTOR Greater Milwaukee in early 2019. MENTOR Greater Milwaukee provides necessary infrastructure to recruit individuals interested in becoming mentors, expand the capacity of agencies to provide high-quality mentoring programs, and train volunteer mentors and groups that want to start mentoring.

To learn more about National Mentor Month, MENTOR Greater Milwaukee and mentoring opportunities across the region, visit Bucks.com/Mentor.

NOTE: This press release was submitted to Urban Milwaukee and was not written by an Urban Milwaukee writer. It has not been verified for its accuracy or completeness.