Kiki & Alyanna

Kiki began her journey at Friends for Youth in 2018 as an intern, and soon began working as a mentor in the school-based group program where she first met Alyanna. Kiki and Alyanna shared many things in common, which helped them form a strong bond. Kiki gravitated toward what she refers to as “Alyanna’s old soul”. At the time, Kiki was responsible for the mentor recruitment process and wanted to match Alyanna in the 1-to-1 program. She felt it would be beneficial to Alyanna as she was facing some hardships at home. Alyanna agreed and the search for her mentor began. When Kiki mentioned she had a good mentor match in mind for her, Alyanna asked, “Why don't you be my mentor?” Kiki too had thought about this, and after getting approval for the match, they officially began their 1-to-1 mentoring relationship.

Kiki and Alyanna enjoyed eating out, attending Friends for Youth’s events, and going to Home Depot to look at plants. Although it was tough, they even made time to meet virtually during the pandemic. Kiki also built a great relationship with Alyanna’s mom, who was just as open to a relationship with Kiki as Alyanna was. “She cares about Alyanna, but managing a lot of other kids is tough,” Kiki says. “When I was with Alyanna, I hope it gave her some peace of mind that she was with someone she can trust.” Kiki says she has had the pleasure of watching Alyanna mature and grow more excited about her future. Her humor and her knack for having fun, however, have stayed the same.

Why do you think mentoring is so important? 

“I’m especially passionate about women mentoring each other because of where we are in the world – we have to help each other to elevate ourselves. Mentoring in general is this intergenerational exchange so that we learn from each other, but it also expands our way of life and helps make us better people.”

Why did you want to become a mentor? 

“I've always been into mentoring girls because I really want women to succeed and do well, even when I was working at Starbucks or at school. If there was a time to help people grow, I would. I've always been passionate about that and I feel like we all as women have a duty to help each other – that's how I felt about Alyanna and her success.”

How did your friendship impact each of your lives? What have you learned from each other?

“She's just so funny. I've learned to laugh more and just to have fun. It gives me a chance to step out of my own bubble of life and be around a really great energy and just be excited for her – learning good, not tangible, but valuable things. Both of us are kind of busy in life, but I hope she has learned she has someone rooting for her and someone there if she ever needs anything. I hope she learned it's okay to open up and share. I also learned a lot from her about current culture and all that fun stuff. I learned a new energy and my world expanded.”

How is being a mentor different from what you expected?

‘It’s interesting because as a coordinator, I thought I knew everything to expect because I was the one leading the interviews. But I didn't expect to learn so much from her. We can prepare on our side about what we're gonna do or say, but it's also the mentee teaching. I didn't expect it but it was a great surprise.”