Wyoming Community Foundation

Summer Mentors Make a Difference

Positively Impacting Young People and Their Communities

Summer Mentors trains college students to spend a summer working alongside Wyoming youth. Mentors complete a hybrid program that brings them together for in-person and virtual learning sessions. Programming is focused on relationship-building, youth development, and how to show up for the kids in their care. In exchange, they earn a stipend and funding to bring their ideas to life.

What started in 2023 as a nine-person pilot has grown into a statewide network spanning a dozen Wyoming communities. Mentors leave with real experience and a community of fellow mentors that lasts well beyond the summer. The kids they work with leave with someone who showed up, asked good questions, and believed they could do hard things.

What we learn in Wyoming informs the national conversation about mentoring, youth development, and young people thriving!

The Ripple; Statewide Reach

Four years into programming, the rings continue to expand

2026 Communities Served

In 2026, Summer Mentors worked in six communities across the state

Total Mentors

Over four summers, WYEN has supported 42 mentors through professional development, stipends, and resources for their programs

County-wide Reach

Across the lifespan of this program, mentors have worked in a total of 12 of Wyoming's 23 counties

1000+

Youth Impact

Over 1000 Wyoming youth have learned, played, and grown alongside WYEN mentors

Welcome Cohort 4

This summer's mentors

Right now, twelve college students are spending their summer showing up for kids from all four corners of Wyoming. This is what summer looks like when a whole state decides mentorship matters.

Cohort 4 Participants

Aspen Trevathan, Rawlins
Brianna Hoisington, Laramie
Cadence Fostervold, Laramie
Emma McAmis, Longmont, CO
Husanpreet Singh, Laramie
Juilanna Stewart, Glenrock
Kort Bannan, Lusk
Olivia Conner, Casper
Paxton Philipott, Burlington
Rachel Stephens, Laramie
Taryn Crookshanks, Laramie
Taylor Petersen, Evanston

Cohort 4 kicked off its experience with training in positive youth development, community-building, and the development of a supportive statewide network. We’re grateful to the summer programs partnering with us to host these mentors and excited to see the connections—and opportunities—they’ll help spark for Wyoming youth this summer.

In Their Own Words

What Summer Mentors Means to Participants

Ask any mentor what they've learned, and you'll hear some version of the same thing: it's never really about the activity. It's about the relationship.

"Start with the relationships, then worry about the activities later." Abby

"It is exciting to me that I can be a guide to students in my community and allow them to grow into their best selves." Ray

"They can teach you something too — it makes the whole experience so much better." Lauren

Rachel's Reflection

High Expectations Paired with High Support

"Kids deserve adults who believe they can do hard things, but they also deserve adults who are willing to stay beside them while they figure those hard things out."

Every Year Adds a New Chapter

Thanks to Million Girls Moonshot and STEM Next, we have grown beyond STEM to support all learners who work with youth across the state by celebrating positive youth development, connection, motivation, and reflection.

Mentors 2025

STEM is everywhere. Widening the lens past traditional STEM into cooking, gardening, auto mechanics, and quilting. Signature concepts included: ripples and how the work of one mentor can spread across a community and beyond

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Mentors 2024

Near-peer mentors expand opportunities and hope for kids. In 2024, signature concepts included: hope as a skill adults help kids build, not something kids either have or don't

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Mentors 2023

The pilot. Nine fellows, serving three communities, through six programs. Together, mentors and staff learned about near-peer mentorship, trust, and relationships. Signature concepts: youth development and relationships

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