Reentry Radio

In the latest of episode of Reentry Radio, former College Initiative mentoring coordinator, Alejo Rodriguez, discusses the mentor-mentee relationship. Rodriguez highlights the emphasis on compassion, empathy, and respect in eliminating the top-down structure typical for mentor-mentee relationships to best support justice-involved individuals seeking higher education. He argues that, in these types of relations, there is mutual reward and satisfaction along with a certain level of authenticity and sensitivity between mentor and mentee. CI is a community of successful, positive, and supportive students, alumni, and staff dedicated to creating pathways from criminal justice involvement to college and beyond. We achieve this through individualized assistance with college selection, enrollment, financial aid, academic counseling, peer mentoring, and supportive workshops. In short, CI encourages people to enroll in college who might not have considered it, removes barriers to their enrollment, and creates a support