Alumni and Mentors

Mentor: A mentor is an experienced and thoughtful leader who is committed to investing one’s time to assist in the growth and development of others.  The mentor is willing to share their knowledge, experience, and wisdom and act as a guide and role model.

A mentor supports and encourages the professional development of the mentee and provides active guidance to help them achieve their goals. The mentor offers a fresh perspective and an independent point of view, while guiding a process that fosters the growth and educational development of the mentee. 

Interested in becoming a mentor? Email netteruacsalumni@sas.upenn.edu.

Staff Mentorship:

Site directors at each school are quality resources for alumni to begin to engage with the Netter Center after graduation. Paulette Branson and Joseph Brand are great examples of staff that continue to stay connected with Netter Center students. Both of these staff members have played a pivotal role in advocating for students to be hired throughout Philadelphia and have been very successful. They also keep genuine relationships with students that supersede tangible opportunities. Joseph and Paulette can act as a sounding board for alumni to evolve into active members of society after graduating from high school. 

We encourage students participating in any Netter Center programming to reach out and make connections with the staff at their site. Staff members are the heart and soul of maintaining the bond of alumni networking and can be an abundant resource for you!

Alumni Mentorship: Tamera Morris 

Tamera Morris is a great example of an alumni that has tapped into the Netter Center resources after graduating from West Philadelphia High School. She became involved in programming afterschool in her 10th grade year. Through connecting with Miss Desiree after school, Tamera found out about the summer Cross-Grade Sports program. She began interning through CGS every summer up until her graduation. 

In the fall of her senior year, Tamera did not know what she planned to do after graduating. She was offered guidance by her Netter Center mentor Ms. Desiree who encouraged her to go to college. Tamera was accepted to Penn State University that year.Every obstacle that came in the way of Tamera, Ms. Desiree helped her to overcome.  She informed Tamera about fee waivers and helped her obtain transportation for school. Both of them never expected the deterrent of the pandemic that came in the following spring. 

Tamera attended her first year at Penn State and shifted to online learning when the entire country went into quarantine. Tamera experienced a time in her life with no school structure and also had no extracurricular activities due to the pandemic. Due to this, Tamera decided not to attend Penn State and acquired a job as an instructor with CGS on zoom for the summer of 2019. She gained leadership and mentoring skills through working as an instructor with the Netter Center and wanted to work with students more now that she was no longer attending Penn State. 

Through working with CGS, Ms. Desiree, and Coach P, Tamera found out about a job position where she could work with the children of essential workers to complete their school work while their parents were working. The program was temporary and assisted by the Netter Center for the time when school was online. So when the program was over, Coach P helped Tamera get a job as an After School Instructor at West Philadelphia High School. 

Tamera is now a valued member of the Netter Center staff at the very school where she was once a student that was being served. She is a great example of how a student can benefit from the Netter Center beyond just the offered programming on our website and throughout different school sites. She stayed connected to her mentors and peers in every program that she participated in and now she reaps the benefits that come along with alumni engagement. She has gained skills that will make her competitive in many job fields, like leadership, classroom management, and mentorship. She has also gained immense employment opportunities in her field of interest that have kept her economically stable throughout a global pandemic. Tamera is a trophy of how the Netter Center continues to nurture the youth involved in our programs well beyond their primary school educations. 

Tamera Morris’ story is valuable because it gives insight to the many opportunities available at the Netter Center that are not explicitly mentioned. Tamera benefited from the Netter Center by making her needs known at every step in her journey after high school. We encourage students to stay connected and voice their needs, much like Tamera did.