Become a Virtual Facilitator

Each mentor team has a facilitator who may help with the logistics of the team's weekly meetings and will be the primary contact with the youth’s caregivers and other support providers. This frees up mentors to keep their primary relationship with the youth, without involvement in the dynamics of their home life and other concerns. The team facilitator will also draw the team together for regular check-in meetings.

Facilitators may spend approximately an hour a week communicating with a youth’s caregiver and with their team to check in and set up the team’s weekly visits. They also gather their team for a monthly meeting that lasts about an hour. We host a weekly conference call (30-60 minutes) for facilitators to share best practices and talk through any challenges their teams are facing. Some facilitators may also be invited to attend wraparound meetings for their team’s youth.

No! Most of the work of a team facilitator (weekly check-ins with the mentor team and caregivers, and monthly team meetings) can happen from anywhere via Zoom, email, and phone.

Please go back to the top of www.braidmission.org/be-a-facilitator to schedule an introductory phone conversation. This is your chance to ask any questions you have about whether this role is a good fit for you.

We want our mentoring teams to be as intergenerational and diverse as possible, with a mix of genders and ages. For this reason, we need you to be flexible in allowing us to create teams that will best serve our youth.

After you are matched with a new or existing Braid team, the first thing you’ll do is meet your teammates. You’ll spend some time getting to know each other, sharing your gifts and strengths and building rapport.

Each team will be assigned a trained volunteer facilitator. The facilitator may help with the logistics of your weekly meetings and will the primary contact with the youth’s caregivers and other support providers. This frees mentors to keep their primary relationship with the youth, without involvement in the dynamics of their home life.

At regular team check-in meetings, the team facilitator will help reflect on the joys and challenges of working with your youth. You have the freedom to figure out when you want to meet for those regular team debriefs.

Your team can plan your own outings and activities with your youth. Because your youth is under the care and regulations of the State of California’s foster system, at least two team members must be present at all times to avoid being one-on-one with the youth.

Our hope is that you will build friendships, have fun, and find a community of support within your team. You are never alone in the work of mentoring!

By being on a team, you’re ensuring that there is a consistent adult presence surrounding youth who have watched many adults disappear from their lives.

And as a team, you have the freedom and flexibility to figure out how you can best work together toward the same goal: supporting your youth. You are not alone! Your team has your back when things come up unexpectedly and you can’t make it to an activity with your youth. Your team is also your support system as you venture together into the transformative work of mentoring.