Diversity Fellow Project, Natasha Marie Lee
EmpowerMENTOR: A Culturally Competent Curriculum to Evidence-Based Mentoring in Inclusive Post-Secondary Education Programs
The EmpowerMENTORS curriculum trains peer mentors to become culturally responsive "EmpowerMENTORS" to students with intellectual disabilities in Inclusive Postsecondary Education programs. EmpowerMENTORS are trained mentors who engage in culturally competent and supportive relationships with students in IPSE programs to promote positive, evidence-based, social, emotional, and intellectual development. EmpowerMENTORS practice holistic mentoring through a self-determinism framework across four domains: Academic Success, Campus and Community Engagement, Career Development, and Independent Living.
Project Narrative
1. Please describe your activities during your Fellowship experience. Describe your final capstone project(s).
The goal of the Institute of Human Development and Disability was to train peer mentors in Inclusive Post-Secondary Education Programs (IPSE) on the best practices to support persons with intellectual disabilities in a culturally responsive manner. We approached the curriculum with a six-month peer mentoring segment. I was paired with several staff and faculty members, who are experts in the fields of disability studies, cultural competency, intersectionality, and person-centered planning. We recognized the value in supporting diversity and students’ intersectional college experiences in IPSE programs. In addition, we maintained respect for cultural difference and emphasized a reciprocal peer-mentoring relationship, where both the mentee and mentor gain from the mentoring relationship.
EmpowerMENTOR: A Culturally Competent Curriculum to Evidence-Based Mentoring in Inclusive Post-Secondary Education Programs
EmpowerMENTORS are trained mentors who engage in culturally competent and supportive relationships with students in IPSE programs to promote positive, evidence-based, social, emotional, and intellectual development. EmpowerMENTORS practice holistic mentoring across four domains: Academic Success, Career Development, Campus and Community Engagement, and Independent Living. The EmpowerMENTOR curriculum is designed to cultivate cultural self-awareness, cultural knowledge, and culturally responsive skills in peer mentors to better support students with intersecting cultural identities in IPSE programs.
Due to the quantity and depth of the material in the curriculum, the training is best implemented over the course of three days, allowing trainees to reflect on self-awareness and the critical issues surrounding disability. Each day will center on one of the three modules outlined in the table of contents.
Day 1: Disability and Peer Mentoring
What is Disability?
- Person First Language
- Peer Mentoring
Building
- Authentic Relationships
- Cultural Awareness
- Intersectionality
- Power and Privilege in Relationships
- Cultural Knowledge
- Self-Determination
- Habits of Highly Self-Determined People
- Four Domains of Success
- Person-Centered Planning
2. Who did your project inform, help, influence or impact? (UCEDD, individual, community, state) How?
IPSE programs are nationally growing in prevalence and scale, and students are coming from increasingly diverse backgrounds. In addition, current national trends (e.g. over-representation of students of color in special education, health disparities, and limited employment options) reflect a greater need for cultural sensitivity and competence among policy-makers and providers. Further, there are no known resources to promote culturally competent support for students in IPSE programs. Therefore, there was a critical need for resources and materials that build the cultural capacity of peer mentors and staff.
The EmpowerMENTOR curriculum is aimed at supporting college students who will mentor students with disabilities in IPSE programs. We believe that targeting this population would instill competencies and an affinity toward advocacy early their professional development. We hope that peer mentors will advance through their respective careers impacting individuals, communities, and systems.
3. Why did you choose to work on that project(s)?
As a sibling of a person with an intellectual disability and as a person of color, I have always been aware of the systemic issues surrounding equitable education and employment opportunities. Understandably, my experiences have always been the core of my advocacy for historically marginalized populations. Prior to the Diversity Fellowship, I worked with an equity-based education program that promoted access to post-secondary education. However, I was concerned about the quality of supports for students who gained entry into post-secondary education. The Diversity Fellowship allowed me to explore these interests and develop a resource to support students in IPSE programs.
4. What did you gain from being a Diversity Fellow?
I am grateful for my Diversity Fellow experience because I have gained a comprehensive, culturally responsive skill set that I implement in both my professional and personal interactions. I have built a better, more supportive relationship with my sister, who has a disability. In addition, I continue to challenge systems that exclude persons with marginalized identities. Nevertheless, the EmpowerMENTOR curriculum challenged me to explore my own cultural identities and confront the associated powers and privileges.
This experience has taught me to embrace and find value all cultural diversity. In addition, I will employ a critical lens and advocate for equity as well as social justice as I progress through my career. Further, I am pursuing a career in public service to promote equitable opportunities for disenfranchised student populations.
6. What are your future goals? Where do you see yourself 5 years from now?
While developing the curriculum, I noticed a significant lack of research concerning the sexual health and sexual education of persons with disabilities, specifically for culturally and linguistically diverse people. I am interested in exploring these gaps in research as it relates to sexual violence and policy-making in a doctoral program. I hope to gain meaningful employment with a university center or program that promotes integration and l inclusion of individuals from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds.
7. What recommendations do you have for other Fellows?
The Diversity Fellowship experience is ultimately what you make it. Future trainees should maximize the experience by taking initiative, pursuing opportunities for leadership, networking with other trainees, and developing a meaningful capstone project. Diversity Fellows should embark on a journey to become culturally competent and implement it in their personal and professional environment. Diversity Fellows should remain humble and never stop learning.