At Upside Youth Mentoring we match young people with a consistent adult mentor who shows up, listens, and believes in them. We believe that consistent, caring relationships can change the course of a life - and the future of our country.
Upside is one of New Zealand’s leading youth mentoring organisations.
Founded in 2006 by Bill Grayson, Dave Robertson and Dr John Newman (founding Executive Director of Starship Hospital), Upside was born out of a deep belief in the power of presence to change young lives.
Through our evidence-based, early intervention model, we’ve supported over 1,000 tamariki and rangatahi that have experienced adverse childhood experiences, helping build emotional resilience so they can tackle life’s challenges head-on.
90%
success rate in 2019 (24% higher than international standard)
We work with young people aged 9-13 years old who have been referred to us from schools, (via Principals, Counsellors, and Learning Support Coordinators) who believe a positive role model is what this young person needs to help navigate their current challenges.
Upside works across Tāmaki Makaurau (Auckland), and supports young people in other areas through Partner organisations doing the mahi in their community.
100%
with Adverse Childhood Experiences
Our volunteer mentors hail from a hugely diverse range of ages, cultures and backgrounds. From CEOs to students, to parachuters and retirees. If you've time every week for a year to change a young person's life, we want to hear from you.
6000 hours
of volunteer mentoring in 2020
We're stoked to be partnering with other organisations doing amazing mahi to reach young people outside of Auckland. We're already working with awesome organisations such as Springboard in Rodney, and Tipu Skills for Life in Tauranga, delivering Upside's mentoring programme to their local communities.
If you are a registered charity and are interested in learning more about running the Upside mentoring programme, we'd love to chat more about being there for young people together. Click here to learn more about becoming an Upside Partner.
Our 2024 Annual Impact Report celebrates the incredible mahi made possible by generous individuals, funders, organisations, and corporate partners who chose to back brighter futures for young people. View 2024 Annual Impact Report here.
