National Mentoring Month, 2024

Proclamation 10694 of December 29, 2023

National Mentoring Month, 2024

By the President of the United States of America

A Proclamation

During National Mentoring Month, we celebrate the
millions of mentors across the country who step up and
give their time, care, and hearts to make sure every
young person in our Nation has a fair shot at the
American Dream.

For most young people, a bond or even a conversation
with someone who believes in them can make a tremendous
difference in their lives, exposing them to new goals,
new ideas, and new ways of doing things. Since day one,
my Administration has been working to support those
kinds of relationships--in schools, in communities, and
in the workforce. Through the American Rescue Plan, we
secured a historic $130 billion for America's K-12
schools, which helped put more teachers in classrooms
and more counselors, social workers, and supportive
staff in our schools. States and districts have also
used these investments to provide high-quality tutoring
and summer and after-school programs for students.
Further, it boosted funding for AmeriCorps to expand
its service options and hire new mentors to volunteer
in our communities. My Administration also launched the
National Partnership for Student Success last year,
with a goal of recruiting 250,000 adults by the summer
of 2025 to encourage, tutor, and coach young people as
they chart a path forward. At the same time, working
with labor unions, we have made historic investments in
pre-apprenticeship and Registered Apprenticeship
programs that provide guidance and skills to help young
people build meaningful careers. In addition, we
created the American Climate Corps--a workforce
training and service initiative that will put more than
20,000 Americans to work in clean energy, conservation,
and climate resilience jobs.

These programs give young people a chance to connect
with others--to discover who they are, what they care
about, and how to achieve their dreams. Any one of us
can have a positive impact on a young person's life if
we take the time to let them know that someone is on
their side. Doing so, often has a tremendously powerful
impact on a mentor's life as well. During National
Mentoring Month, I urge Americans of all ages--friends,
neighbors, college students, coaches, employers,
community and faith leaders, and everyday people just
looking to make a difference--to visit americorps.gov/serve serve and partnershipstudentsuccess.org to learn more
about becoming a mentor or tutor.

The greatness of a nation is measured in part by how it
prepares its next generation to succeed. Ours is a
great Nation, and together, as mentors, we can each
change a young person's life for the better--and with
it, help guarantee our country a future of unlimited
possibilities.

NOW, THEREFORE, I, JOSEPH R. BIDEN JR., President of
the United States of America, by virtue of the
authority vested in me by the Constitution and the laws
of the United States, do hereby proclaim January 2024
as National Mentoring Month. I call upon Americans
across the country to observe this month with
mentoring, appropriate ceremonies, activities, and
programs.

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this
twenty-ninth day of December, in the year of our Lord
two thousand twenty-three, and of the Independence of
the United States of America the two hundred and forty-
eighth.