Honorees include US Senator Corey Booker, amongst other celebrated leaders and philanthropists.
MENTOR National, an organization dedicated to unifying mentoring across the nation recently announced this year’s honorees of the annual Excellence in Mentoring awards. Amongst its honorees was Tacoma native, Melody Rodriguez, Director of Proyecto MoLE (Movimiento Latino Estudiantil).
The Excellence in Mentoring awardees represent the breadth and depth of the mentoring movement and the power of mentoring relationships to support, inspire, and engage young people.
Melody Rodriguez was recognized with the 2021 Mentoring Lifetime Achievement Award for her remarkable career in caring for, mentoring, and extending opportunities to young people throughout her life. During this time in our country when immigration status has been used as an increasingly divisive political issue and in the midst of a health crisis that has left families more isolated, Ms. Rodriguez has committed herself to supporting and addressing the emerging needs of undocumented students and families.
Melody founded Proyecto MoLE in 2007 as Pierce County’s only specifically Latino youth-serving organization. From helping navigate DACA and immigration, to supplying personalized care packages and financial support to families, Melody stands alongside youth and families in ways that empower individuals and foster connection.
This year’s awards ceremony will take place on January 27th to kick off the virtual National Mentoring Summit, bringing together more than 2,000 experts, practitioners, advocates, and philanthropic partners to advance mentoring nationwide. Melody Rodriguez will be recognized alongside other honorees, including U.S. Senator Corey Booker and The Milwaukee Bucks.
“Each year for National Mentoring Month, we come together to celebrate rock stars in the mentoring field,” said David Shapiro, CEO of MENTOR National. “The variety of our honorees shows how important mentoring is in all industries, positions, and communities. Each honoree and finalist have shown their dedication to the mentoring mission, the impact it’s had on their lives, and the impact they’ve made in the lives of others.”
Proyecto MoLE is a fiscally-sponsored program of Leadership Foundations, a global nonprofit organization and network that creates meaningful and productive relationships between experienced leaders, passionate local advocates, and community stakeholders, all working together toward positively changing their cities for the better. Founded in 1978, Leadership Foundations’ 43 affiliates serve and directly impact more than 567,000 lives annually.
To learn more about Melody Rodriguez and Proyecto MoLE, please visit https://www.leadershipfoundations.org/proyecto-mole or via the media contact information below:
Media Contact:
Kerri Feider
Director of Communications and Technical Resourcing
kfeider@leadershipfoundations.org
253.292.5991
