WOMEN AND YOUTH SUPPORTING EACH OTHER

Women and Youth Supporting Each Other envisions a world in which all women are empowered to determine their future and effect change. Our mission is to empower young women by providing the resources and support necessary to make positive life choices and create community change. WYSE's mission and programming are governed by five key pillars:
1. CRITICAL THINKING AND DECISIONMAKING: WYSE women explore fully and think deeply about significant issues in order to make informed, deliberate decisions;
2. IDENTITY AND SELF ESTEEM: WYSE women strive to recognize, explore, and proudly express who they are as individuals;
3. COMMITMENT TO MENTORSHIP: WYSE women believe in the power of positive relationships to change lives. Through commitment to mentorship, WYSE women dedicate themselves to being a positive influence and role model for those around them.
4. COMMUNITY CHANGE: WYSE women strive to make a better society by gathering information, spreading awareness and taking action on issues that are meaningful to them.
5. SAFE COMMUNITY AND EXPLORATION: WYSE women express their ideas, ask questions, and learn in a safe, open, and accepting community. WYSE women encourage others to speak up and help each other discover new ideas.

WYSE works towards our mission and vision using the following strategies:
• Year-long one-on-one mentoring: WYSE mentors and mentees engage in fun, one-on-one outings to spend time together and foster a relationship beyond group sessions. These extra activities are important for building trust and mutual respect between each mentor and mentee and are crucial to WYSE's high retention rate of mentees. Outings include museum field trips, college campus visits, environmental excursions, and WYSE Future Options Day.
• Curriculum-based group mentoring: Once a week, mentors travel to their middle school sites to host a group session for mentees on a specific topic. WYSE mentors use an up-to-date and program-specific curriculum to plan and build weekly sessions that are tailored to the unique needs of our mentees. Using the multi-faceted WYSE curriculum as a guide, mentors engage their mentees in decision-making games, in-depth discussions, and community action projects.
• National leadership training; For over a decade, WYSE has been hosting our flagship leadership program, the National Leadership Training Conference (NLTC) for our branch directors from all over the country. This is a unique opportunity for the leaders to develop skills as well as learn from their sister branches.
• Alumni Network: An extension of our mission to provide opportunities for leadership development and mentorship even after women have graduated from the program.
• WYSE Week: Held every spring across all WYSE branches, WYSE Week is a time to celebrate WYSE by hosting events with mentors, mentees, or on campus focusing on community action. All week long, stories are shared on social media. For example, WYSE branches celebrated WYSE Week 2019 with the theme "Aspire to Inspire," celebrating their hopes and dreams for the future.
• National Network: The WYSE National Network cross-branch communication strategies that will improve the effectiveness of program delivery through fostering national cohesion and the sharing of best practices.
• Fundraising: WYSE seeks to have strong financial health and support our branches.

WYSE is a national mentorship organization that provides adolescent girls in underserved communities with the information, resources, and support to make healthy decisions and create community change. Through WYSE, college women volunteers offer group-based and one-on-one mentorship, employing a national curriculum to address key issues that contribute to a woman’s empowerment, from building self-awareness to exploring future options. The current WYSE curriculum covers a myriad of topics relevant to adolescent girls, including self-esteem, discrimination, conflict resolution, dating violence, sexual health and decision-making, healthy lifestyle adoption, and future options awareness. WYSE is governed by a board of five alumni of diverse professional and personal backgrounds, and branch leaders receive support and leadership training annually.

In the 2018-19 program year, 497 mentees and mentors were served by WYSE in 11 WYSE branches nationwide. 198 sessions designed to empower young women were conducted in 15 public and charter middle schools. 76 young women were involved in branch leadership and put on 137 special events including community action, bonding, and campus outreach. Across mentors, branch directors, alumni, and the Board of Directors, close to 30,000 hours of volunteer time were spent achieving WYSE's mission in 2018-19.

WYSE's outcomes continue to show that WYSE works! Out of mentees surveyed at the end of the 2018-19 program year, 98% said they felt that WYSE is a safe space; 96% agreed that WYSE helped them take action against sexism, racism, and discrimination; 96% planned to continue a relationship with their WYSE mentor; and 96% agreed that WYSE helped them be confident in their ability to make healthy decisions to achieve their goals. Mentors also reported strong outcomes, with 98% recommending WYSE to other young women and 95% agreeing that WYSE helped them be involved in their community.

Perhaps the strongest evidence of WYSE's accomplishments come from the stories of former mentees. One former WYSE mentee explained the importance of the program in her life: "As an eighth grader, I faced many uncertainties about who I was, the direction my education was taking, and my confidence as an individual. WYSE entered my life at a turning point and affected the direction my life was headed towards. My mentor gave me the confidence to believe in my future and the confidence to set challenges for myself." Lily is one
of many WYSE mentees who go on to become WYSE mentors in college, fully encapsulating the spirit of the WYSE national organization and network.

In the years to come, WYSE hopes to continue expanding our reach to more middle schools and universities across the country. We are always excited to hear from college students who want to start WYSE branches of their own, and we hope to support each and every WYSE woman - current or future - across the country.