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Mentorship Program

The Fellows of the American Bar Foundation (ABF) and American Bar Association Young Lawyers Division (YLD) are excited to announce the launch of the Pilot Mentorship Program. In its inaugural year, the program plans to match Fellows interested in becoming mentors to lawyers selected by the YLD for its Scholarship Program. The primary goal of this program is to promote leadership development among the members of the YLD, for the benefit of the YLD, The Fellows of the ABF, and the ABA more generally. The Fellows and the YLD leadership agree that nurturing collegial relationships across the generations of lawyers through mentoring is one of the most effective ways to develop future leaders.

The Fellows and YLD are looking for volunteer Fellows to act as mentors to lawyers in the YLD Scholarship Program. The expectation for mentors is to have regular contact with his or her mentee including meetings at the ABA Midyear or Annual Meetings, regular contact by phone and email as well as in-person meetings if there is geographical proximity. Each quarter, mentors and mentees will be asked to complete a brief report of mentorship activities in order to evaluate the progress and success of the mentor-mentee relationship and the program more generally.

If you are interested in becoming a mentor, please download the application form and email the completed form to or fax it to (312) 988-6579. The YLD will match each YLD Scholar with a Fellows mentor, based upon the information contained in the mentor applications and in consultation with Fellows staff. The YLD will notify the selected mentors and ask them to contact their assigned mentees. 

If you have any questions regarding the Mentorship Program, please contact the Fellows office at (800) 292-5065 or .