On behalf of the BIO Girls team, THANK YOU for your role in positively impacting the lives of girls in your community! Your passion for inspiring others, being a positive role model for participants, and cheering others on is a critical piece to the success of the BIO Girls Program. We are so grateful for volunteers, like you, that continue to step up to help the BIO Girls mission grow - year after year. BIO Girls programs are 100% volunteer-facilitated, making you vital to the BIO Girls mission to improve the self-esteem in adolescent girls. We know it takes time, energy, and effort to mentor the girls in your community - please know that your commitment as a BIO Girls Mentor is life-changing work and your passion for helping the girls in your community does not go unnoticed.
With Gratitude,
The BIO Girls Team
This page is dedicated to your success as a mentor.
Please use these materials to guide you throughout your season.
Mentor Expectations
Please review the following BIO Girls Mentor Expectations for your volunteer time. Your Site Director may have additional expectations based on your facility and/or program type.
1. Be reliable.
Plan to attend all sessions of your BIO Girls season and the pre-season mentor meeting.
BIO Girls recommends that mentors miss no more than 2 sessions. If you need to be gone, please communicate with your Site Director as soon as possible.
If applicable, have childcare arrangements for any children not eligible to participate in your BIO Girls program. Mentor’s children who are not registered for the program are not allowed to attend sessions.
2. Be prepared.
Arrive on time for each session, prepared to lead your group.
Read the Site Director email prior to each session. Some weeks require prep work before the session. Please be prepared.
Arrive at least 15 minutes prior to the session start time.
Make notes in your mentor guide on anything you want to share with your small group or key points you want to be sure to make.
When you arrive, set up your small group area and welcome participants as they arrive.
3. Be confident.
Facilitate the small group lesson and discussion with your group using the curriculum guide provided. Feel free to share your personal experiences as appropriate for the age group.
4. Be patient.
With yourself and your BIO Girls group. Building relationships can take time.
Be an active listener and know that everyone has different styles of communication.
Communicate any concerns with your Site Director as soon as possible.
5. Be willing.
Participate in all aspects of the program including the physical activity component.
Your role is to encourage the participants to the best of their ability and to participate to the best of your ability.
For running programs, it is not about time. For yoga programs, it’s not about how flexible you are. For cross-training, it’s not about how strong you are. It is about movement and feeling confident in what the body can do.
Communicate with your Site Director if you have concerns or questions on how to encourage participants.
How to Use the Accountability Tracker
All participants are encouraged to complete 2-3 at-home activities per week. In their journals, they have a progress tracker and accountability slips. Participants can turn in their accountability slips to their mentor each week to redeem for a reward (sticker, mantra band, mantra tattoo, etc). We challenge the participants to bring in their accountability slips each week to see if they can collect all of the available rewards. This not only helps participants to stay engaged all week but is another way to teach goal setting and accountability. There will be a master tracker for your small group within your mentor guide.
Research
Participants in BIO Girls complete surveys on self-esteem and mental health at the beginning and completion of the program. Results from these analyses showed that, by the end of the BIO Girls program, scores improved.
As a mentor, we need your help during our first and last sessions to make sure these surveys are completed to the best of the participants’ abilities.
Resources
Below are additional resources you will find helpful as you navigate your season as a mentor. Please take time to read the documents or watch the corresponding videos.
Weekly Mentor Communications
To listen to an audio version of our weekly mentor emails - please use the information below. You will still need to read the mentor email from your Site Director for your site-specific details each week.
Ice Breaker Ideas for Small Groups
When meeting your small group for the first time, there may be lots of nerves and jitters! Here are some ideas to help get to know your groups.
Mentors should greet their small group members and use the time to get to know the participants. Mentors can use the following questions to help break the ice:
What school do you attend?
Do you have a pet?
Do you have siblings?
What is your favorite activity?
What is something you are afraid of?
Where do you feel the most relaxed?
Social Media Practices & Policy
Here is an excerpt from our Social Media Policy that highlights our most important best practice for mentors. To view the full policy, please see below.
BIO Girls will create and own all BIO Girls social media accounts. Permission will be granted to the contracted Site Director and/or Marketing Lead to manage the site-specific social media accounts. Additional contributors must be approved by BIO Girls. Site Directors do not have permission to add additional users of the social media accounts, including but not limited to, administrators, contributors or managers.
At all times, BIO Girls retains authority to post relevant information to all BIO Girls social media accounts, including, but not limited to site-specific social media accounts.
Participant Privacy
Photo Release: Upon registration each participant signs a photo release. If a parent or guardian requests a participant's photo not be used in social media, it is up to the Site Director and Marketing Lead to ensure no photos of this participant are used in social media posts.
Protect participants’ privacy: BIO Girls volunteers may not reveal the identities, including names, or share personal information about BIO Girls’ participants on personal or business social media channels.
Volunteers should not post pictures of participants to personal or business social media pages: If photos are taken on personal devices, the photo and a short description can be sent to the Site Director for posting on the BIO Girls social media channel. However, no photos should be posted directly to personal or business social media accounts. Volunteers are instead encouraged to share posts from the BIO Girls social media accounts.
Be a positive role model: While acting as a volunteer and representative of BIO Girls, individuals must act in accordance with the BIO Girls mission, vision, values and Code of Conduct.
Do not contact participants on social media: BIO Girls volunteers should not interact with BIO Girls participants on social media.
End of Season Mentor Survey
Your opinion matters to us. Would you spare 5 minutes after session 10 to let BIO Girls know how we did to support you as a mentor?
What is BIO Girls?
BIO Girls is on a mission to improve the self-esteem in adolescent girls through empowerment of self and service to others.
6 in 10 adolescent girls battle low self-esteem.
It’s a crisis. Our 12-session program is proven through independent research to increase self-esteem.
BIO: Beautiful Inside & Out. That is what BIO Girls is aiming to help girls believe they are.
BIO Girls is on a mission too important to fail.
Support BIO Girls Financial Assistance
At BIO Girls, we believe all girls deserve our preventative, mental wellness programming. So much so, that we’ll never turn a girl away due to cost. Our Financial Assistance, fueled by generous businesses and individuals, gives parents the ability to sign their daughter(s) up for programming for as little as $0. In 2022, BIO Girls provided $210,000 in financial aid. In 2023, BIO Girls provided $330,000. This year, we anticipate providing $425,000. As we continue to reach more girls, the need for financial assistance continues to rise. Faithful Friends is our generous community of monthly givers. With recurring, monthly donations of any amount, our Faithful Friends directly supports financial assistance allowing girls to participate in BIO Girls regardless of financial barriers.
As a volunteer mentor, you’re a huge piece in the BIO Girls puzzle, and we’re so incredibly grateful for all that you do. Should you feel called to fuel our mission in an additional capacity by supporting a BIO Girl on financial assistance, please visit Faithful Friends — BIO Girls to learn more.