Scholar Practitioner Mentor
About Me
Torie Weiston-Serdan is a scholar and practitioner with over eleven years of teaching and youth programming experience. She received her Ph.D. in Education from Claremont Graduate University at the age of 30 and has dedicated her life and career to teaching and mentoring young people in her community. She does extensive work with community-based organizations in support of their youth advocacy efforts, specializing in training mentors to work with diverse youth populations; i.e. Black, Latinx, LGBTQQ, First Generation College Students and Low-Income Youth.
Torie founded the Youth Mentoring Action Network, a non-profit organization that focuses on mentoring. The organization has served over 600 youth, helping them get to universities like the University of California at Berkeley, American University, Howard University, Clark Atlanta University, and California State East Bay. An expert in youth mentoring, she specializes in training mentors to work with diverse youth populations, i.e. Black, Latino, LGBTQQ, First Generation College Students and Low-Income youth.
As a scholar, she examines how marginalized and minoritized youth are served by mentoring and youth development programs. Passionate about young people and armed with a firm understanding of educational institutions, Dr. Weiston-Serdan is a strong education and community leader who is using her voice to advocate for youth voice. She has given several talks on education and mentoring, including a TedTalk and has published think pieces on mentoring, education and teaching. Torie Currently serves on the LGBTQ National Advisory Council and as a researcher for the California Mentoring Partnership Research Committee.
Selected Articles
Black History Now: Black LGBTQ+ Aiding In The Resistance
Black people for centuries have said if you want something done, you have to do it yourself. While many Black LGBTQ+voices continue to be targeted and silenced in popular queer spaces, some have made it their life’s work to follow in the footsteps of those who have come before us. By speaking truth to power, these Black LGBTQ+ activists are reminding us that the only way we are ever going to be fully liberated is by making the personal, political.
What Mentors Can Do in the Wake of #Charlottesville
Our young people are taking notice. They are acutely aware of these events and others like them and are having their own discussions and taking their own actions. As we do our mentoring work, we must consider that many of the young people we serve come from communities targeted by the white supremacists who marched on Friday. Some of them attend schools like the one these white supremacists marched through, they may have even been in the crowd of anti-racist protesters mowed down by one of their cars or they were watching President Trump mince his words when speaking about the incident.
JAY Z's 4:44 is a Mentoring Album and Here is Why
Yeah, I said it, 4:44 is a mentoring album and here is why... It does not take very long into the album before listeners realize that there is a maturity in JAY Z’s tone.
Mentoring in Trump's America
Dr. Noelle Hurd, Dr. Bernadette Sanchez, and Dr. Torie Weiston-Serdan
We are delighted to present this important piece by our colleagues, Professors Noelle Hurd, Bernadette Sanchez, & Torie Weiston-Serdan. They offer a clear and compelling perspective on the social and political context of mentoring in today’s world along with three excellent recommendations for mentors and programs to more effectively work with marginalized youth.
The Chronicle of Evidencd Based Mentoring
Critical Mentoring Is Critical to College Success
Interview
To develop the concept of “critical mentoring,” Southern California-based Youth Mentoring Action Network is partnering with Mentor: the National Mentoring Partnership, Summer Search, Amped Strategies, and others. Last week I spoke with Torie Weiston-Serdan, Ph.D., YMAN’s executive director, to find out more.
Black Enterprise Magazine
Critiquing the Anti-Blackness in Mentoring
Co-Written with Arash Daneshzadeh
Mentoring rhetoric has reached a fever pitch since the Obama administration launched its My Brother’s Keeper (MBK) initiative. Increased funding for on-the-ground programs supporting and implementing versions of the initiative has meant that the mentoring and youth development market finds it particularly appealing to pander to communities of color.
Diverse Issues in Higher Education
5 Things Every Mentor Needs to Know About Working with Black Youth
Tell people more about this item. What's it about and what makes it interesting? Give people the info they need to go ahead and take the action you want.
To make this item your own, click here > Add & Manage Items.
For Harriet
Book Reviews
"Critical Mentoring is a savory blend of theories, thoughtful concepts, and evidence. Perhaps its practical utility is the book’s most praiseworthy feature. Readers learn not only what this unique brand of mentoring is, but also how to more effectively develop and support youth, particularly those who are often pushed to the margins.".
SHAUN HARPER,
Professor and Executive Director University of Pennsylvania Center for the Study of Race & Equity in Education
