On Wednesday May 24, New York City FC employees and Cityzens participated in a speed mentoring event, part of the “Good For Me. Good For My City” initiative to increase volunteering across the five boroughs.
More than 200 high school students benefitted from advice from 175 employees from 13 businesses, including NYCFC, American Airlines, American Express, Brookfield, Citi, Deloitte, Deutsche Bank, HBO, JetBlue, Moody’s and MUFG.
“New Yorkers understand the enormous potential and value in mentoring high school youth,” said Mayor Bill de Blasio.
“The business community’s support of the NYC Youth Mentoring Initiative enables us to connect more high school students across the City to adults that care. Positive mentoring relationships expose our young people to career paths that can improve their futures and ours. I want to thank NYC Service for doing their part to make mentoring opportunities accessible to every New Yorker.”
The campaign is one of the first strategies launched to support the NYC Youth Mentoring Initiative, announced in January, which aims to establish mentoring programs in 400 NYC high schools by 2022, annually engaging 14,000 New Yorkers as volunteer mentors to 40,000 high school students.
New York City FC President, Job Patricof said: “Following the success of the NYC Service Speed Mentoring hosted at our NYCFC office on MLK Day, we are excited to extend our commitment to the young people of New York City with our staff, fans and partners volunteering in the latest NYC Youth Mentoring Initiative.
“We know soccer can help young people reach their goals, and on Wednesday, we had the privilege to share industry experience and discuss career pathways with high school students from Bronx Career and College Preparatory transfer school.
“We are proud to be a charter member of the Good for Me. Good for My City. campaign, joining forces with other great companies on this coordinated day of action.”
The initiative supports the City’s Equity and Excellence plan to achieve 80 percent high school graduation and two-thirds college-readiness rates by 2026.
“Today’s Citywide Speed Mentoring Events are about connecting NYC high school students to adults who care, creating pathways to positive youth development,” said NYC Chief Service Officer Paula Gavin. “Engaging the City’s business community in mentoring opportunities is a key strategy to increase the number of volunteer mentors from 9,000 to 14,000 and I thank our Good for Me. Good for My City Campaign partners for their commitment to our youth and our schools for their leadership.
“NYC Service is honored to be part of this important initiative and I encourage every New Yorker to consider becoming a high school student's personal champion by visiting nyc.gov/mentornyc.”
About NYC Service
NYC Service, a division of the Office of the Mayor, promotes volunteerism, engages New Yorkers in service, builds volunteer capacity and mobilizes the power of volunteers and national service members to impact New York City's greatest needs. To connect to mentoring opportunities across New York City, visit To learn more about NYC Service and connect to volunteer opportunities across New York City, visit nyc.gov/service.
