Category: News

In January 2018, when Seattle CARES launched its mentoring movement in partnership with City of Seattle, Christian Love was in the audience. He was so inspired by the presentation and the enthusiasm he felt that night that he signed up to become a mentor, wanting to make an impact on his community.

Christian, who grew up in Detroit, got interested in mentoring early on. As a middle-school student, he was asked to serve as a role model for younger students, helping them set academic goals and improve their classroom behavior. Today, he is pursuing his doctoral degree in higher education at the University of Washington, a first-generation graduate student.

He has been a volunteer mentor with The Rising from the very beginning. “I wanted to help pave the way for future scholars to serve as leaders in our community,” he said. “Over the past three years, I’ve seen these young men grow and develop in many ways, from gaining leadership skills to advocating for important issues that impact Black and Brown youth in Seattle.”

Christian pointed out how a group of students who were quiet and reserved as sixth-graders had become leaders by eighth grade, thanks to The Rising. “They became the first to step up and volunteer for a student-based leadership role,” he said. “Now, as they move on to high school, they want to be student leaders, to join organizations and help impact the culture at their schools. Some will even be coming back to serve as peer mentors for the second cohort of Rising scholars.”

Christian was thrilled that two of The Rising students received scholarships to O’Dea High School. “This will be a game changer,” he said. “It’s an opportunity for them to change the narrative of their current stories and set the stage for positive life outcomes in the years to come.”

Jeff Forge always enjoyed working with kids so becoming a mentor with Seattle CARES seemed a natural next step.

Jeff grew up in New York City and attended the University of Wisconsin on a football scholarship, graduating with a B.S. in child and family studies. He earned a second degree in computer science and lunar and planetary science at the University of Arizona. Along the way, he was a Montessori preschool teacher, a middle school math teacher, and most recently, for the past 20 years, a software engineer.

Recently, we asked Jeff to tell us more about mentoring and what it means to him.

Why did you become a mentor?

Mentoring is important work. Even though I have my own kids, I feel that as a community, the success and well-being of all children is the responsibility of all of us. When I came across the opportunity to participate with Seattle CARES, I jumped at the chance.

What do you like most about mentoring? 

I enjoy getting to know both the students and the other mentors.

Was mentoring important to you growing up?

When I look back on my youth and my time in both athletics and academics, what stands out for me are the mentors and the people who guided me along the way.

Describe being a mentor in three words.

Committed, humble, consistent.

Learn more about mentoring here.