Catherine Togba Woyee, and mentee, Lauryn Taylor
When Catherine Togba Woyee was 17, she and her father walked from Liberia to the Ivory Coast through war, violence and despair. So she understands what Ukrainian families are going through from a visceral soul level. Yet, despite witnessing atrocities at a young age, she has dedicated her life to nurturing the good in people, mainly through mentoring youth, which she calls her heart work. Her strength, spirit and work ethic are impressive, and her plea to all of us is: "mentor more!"
Dolores Harris was a teacher that mentored Catherine when she came to her new high school after leaving Africa. In part, she mentors others to honor her extraordinary mentor. Harris has continued to be in touch with Catherine to cheer her on and celebrate her successes. Catherine's ventures are deeply rooted in humanitarianism and ensure that marginalized communities, particularly black and brown children, have equal opportunities. As a present and proud mom, community organizer and serial entrepreneur, she has created Black Parent Magazine, The National Black Youth Summit and After School AI. And now she is a grandmother as well.
When I asked her the highlight of her Juneteenth weekend, she tearfully told me the story of attending Lauryn Taylor's high school graduation, one of the mentees she has supported since she was in the ninth grade. Lauryn is on her way to college on a full academic scholarship. With the support of Catherine as her mentor, Lauryn developed Girl Scout projects, worked at Black Parent Magazine, and created workshops for younger kids. Through this relationship, Lauryn had many good deep talks with her mentor about life and social justice. In addition, through this relationship, she has become aware of the importance of providing access to other black and brown youth so that she will pass on her experience to others.
She mentored many students along the way and helped each one embrace who they are. Rachel Ivy was another mentee she helped by teaching her to drive, supporting her through getting her first job, starting her own cleaning business and even introducing her to her future husband.
Catherine wants more adults to plunge into mentoring youth without feeling like they have to be perfect. Instead, you can start with something simple. She claims that the mentor's benefits far outweigh the benefits to the mentee. She calls it the best gift you can give yourself. Based on the three amazing people Catherine raised, may prove that mentoring kids outside of your family. can make you a better parent.
In addition to mentoring kids that are not your own, she offers this helpful advice to parents:
1. Ask for help, including finding mentors and professionals that can help you, such as mental health workers if you need them.
2. Reparent yourself in a way that nurtures you. For example, her approach to contemplation involves walking, her phone, and Slack. She walks at least 25 minutes daily to connect to intuition, and her system communicates her light bulb moments to her team in real-time
3. Your children are not you. So be more collaborative and less directive so they can become who they are.
You can honor Catherine for her work in her global and local communities by donating any amount at afterschoolai.org to get her teens off the waiting list! And if you have a teen that needs support creating their future, consider sending them to Dream Lab.
