Leaders through service, PCF mentors are professionals in their chosen field who have a deep belief in the power of education to elevate and bridge the opportunity gap for first-generation scholars.
Mentors provide scholars with social/emotional, academic, and career support for a few hours every month and play a vital role in the ecosystem of support for our scholars’ college and career success. This long-term relationship helps scholars navigate through college and beyond.
The long-term relationships mentors and scholars form can be life-changing.
We often speak to companies, networking, and friend groups to generate interest in becoming a mentor and to share our mission. Let us know if we can host a mentor information session for your company, colleagues, or friends.
We use information from a candidate’s application to learn more about them, and once approved, to match them with a scholar. The application, open from November until April, consists of short answer questions and two reference requests.
Selected candidates are invited to attend a 45-60 minute interview where we learn more about them and confirm their interest and eligibility in becoming a mentor.
PCF reviews all application and interview materials. Selected candidates are contacted to complete a background check.
Upon completion of reference and background checks, candidates are notified of their "match-eligible” status and placed in a pool of mentors ready to be matched with a mentee.
Applications are reviewed on a rolling basis within our recruitment window, November - April. Mentors are matched with scholars in mid May.
November 1
2024
Application Opens
April 15
2025
Application Deadline
April 15
2025
Reference Request Submissions Deadline
May 2
2025
Final Interviews
Mid May
2025
Mentor/Mentee Matching
June 7
2025
New Mentor/Scholar Orientation
# of mentoring hours contributed supporting 1st-generation scholars since 2005
Please review our FAQ for commonly asked questions.
We’ve learned that the strongest relationships are the result of meaningful, consistent, and long-term support. Most mentor-mentee pairs work together for 1 to 2 hours per month for the duration of the mentee’s undergraduate experience, 4 up to 6 years.
To provide college and career support, we expect mentors to have a Bachelor’s degree and at least 3 years of post-graduation professional work experience in their chosen career.
To make a long-lasting match between a mentor and scholar in our program, we ask mentors to complete an application and a series of thoughtful questions. We also ask for two references and a background check.
We use the information from your application and interview to make a strong and long-lasting match with a scholar. The more information we have about you and your interest in becoming a mentor, the more successful the match.
We review applications on a rolling basis within our recruitment window. We often see delays waiting for references to respond, for the applicant to schedule an interview, or for background checks to clear. We recommend applicants alert their references to look for the request and to schedule interviews promptly.
There are a variety of factors that help us determine a mentor/mentee match including career, gender, personality, and interests.
Most applicants choose one personal and one professional reference. Both references should know the mentor well enough to evaluate their commitment and character.
The application should take approximately 20 to 30 minutes to complete. Mentoring is a big commitment so we ask a variety of questions to elicit thoughtful responses.
Mentors serve as allies and advisors to mentees and, with assistance from PCF staff, provide social/emotional, academic and career guidance and support.
We do not require mentors who volunteer with PCF to have previous mentoring experience. However, many of our mentors have engaged in a rewarding mentor relationship in the past.
Each mentor-mentee pair is different. Most pairs use a variety of methods to communicate, including texts, video calls, phone calls, and in-person meetings when safe to do so.
