Featured Project
Kindred Life New Mentor Training Course
Read the case study below, view individual assets, or follow my course design journey from start to finish!
Case Study
Project Summary
Kindred Life is a nonprofit that provides services and support to teen parents and their families. As a critical piece of the Kindred Life program, volunteer Mentors are paired one-to-one with teen parents. The training structure in place for these Mentors had weaknesses in both delivery and consistency, leading to knowledge and skill gaps among the Mentors. This project provided Kindred Life with a comprehensive onboarding and training solution for new Mentors across their organization.
Challenge
When I first began observing Kindred Life, Mentors were trained by the Program Directors at each location to begin the program year, with the intention of further training being delivered monthly. This system had its drawbacks. With only one main training session annually, any Mentor who missed or joined late would simply miss the training and have to play catch up. This system also lacked cohesion because each Program Director was delivering their own version of training at each location. Additionally, the monthly sessions intended for additional training throughout the year were often spent in mutual care and support among the Mentors, crowding out the planned training by the Program Directors. This led to Program Directors often needing to address knowledge and skills gaps in these Mentors, many of whom were new in their role.
Solution
To address these challenges, I worked with Kindred Life subject matter experts (SMEs) and stakeholders to create a blended learning solution for their Mentors. With the comprehensive eLearning component, new Mentors can now complete training on their own before the program year begins, or even join midway through the year and still receive the same training as all other Mentors. To help Mentors solidify and apply what they’ve learned, the instructor-led training (ILT) Capstone course provides a follow-up in-person component using a combination of job aids (earned throughout the eLearning modules) along with interactive activities and scenarios. This Capstone experience completes the New Mentor Training Course and is followed by a monthlong reflective journaling activity, which further helps the Mentors to integrate all that they’ve learned into the relationships they have with their Mentees.
Results
New Kindred Life Mentors now have access to robust training in the essential knowledge and skills they need to succeed in their role. There is shared language across the organization and year-round access to training for new Mentors joining the organization. Program Directors will see increased knowledge and skill among Mentors, decreased need to address gaps, and improved use of time in monthly Mentor sessions. Most importantly, all of this will have a positive impact in the lives of the teen parents Kindred Life serves, helping them and their families to thrive.
Project Title
Kindred Life New Mentor Training Course
Tools Used in Development
Lectora, Canva, Avatar Maker, Google Docs, Google Slides, elevenlabs.io, Gemini, ChatGPT, NotebookLM, Audacity, Camtasia
Total Time in Development
380 hours start to finish
