Somerville Mentorship Program helps young adults turn their values, lived experience, and ideas into meaningful work, self-directed lives, and stronger communities.

We are a collective of Somerville youth workers who grew up in this city and spent our careers supporting young people through leadership programs, workforce development, mentoring, and community organizing. Many of us attended Somerville High School, started as Teen Leaders ourselves, and later became Program Coordinators and Directors across more than a dozen local organizations.

Over time, we noticed the same challenge again and again:

When young people age out of youth programs, support often disappears right when they need it most.

Young adults navigating higher education, employment, entrepreneurship, housing instability, and financial independence are often expected to figure everything out alone, without mentorship, professional networks, or paid opportunities to build real experience.

SMP was created to change that.

Our programs combine mentorship, paid apprenticeships, and entrepreneurship support to help young adults build practical skills, economic mobility, and long-term confidence while staying rooted in community.

Our work is grounded in the globally recognized Co-Active Coaching framework and informed by the Urban Institute’s Upward Mobility Framework, emphasizing self-awareness, accountability, economic mobility, and social capital.

Your support helps provide:
• Paid apprenticeship stipends for young adults
• Mentor training and supervision
• Social Entrepreneurship seed funding

We believe young adults already carry vision, talent, and leadership within them. What is often missing is consistent support, opportunity, and community.

Help us build pathways toward meaningful work, economic mobility, and community leadership for the next generation of Somerville young adults.