Young Women Leaders Program
What We Do
Since its founding in 1997, YWLP has grown to serve 7th and 8th grade girls in four Central Virginia middle schools by pairing them with UVA undergraduate mentors. More than a dozen “sister sites” have been founded using the YWLP model around the US and internationally. YWLP is a research-based mentoring program that incorporates all of the recently recommended thirteen “best practices” in mentoring.
Our Model
YWLP incorporates both a one-on-one relationship between the mentoring pair and a group format may be better for promoting positive peer interactions. Our research on YWLP suggests that this combined group and one-on-one model may be particularly effective with adolescent girls for both promoting a variety of outcomes and supporting the development of mentoring relationships.
Our Research
Research has been an integral component of YWLP since its establishment. It has shown that YWLP has multiple benefits for the mentees as well as the mentors, and it has also begun to reveal mentoring mechanisms that promote positive change.