Developing Leadership for Life: Outcomes from a Collegiate Student-Alumni Mentoring Program

This application brief describes the exploratory assessment of a mentoring program between current students and alumni of a leadership studies minor program. We connect leadership education research and practice in two ways: first, we describe a process of qualitative program evaluation to inform program best practices and improvement. In doing so, we also highlight the value of an alumni mentoring program as a strategic component of leadership education. Our findings demonstrate the mentoring program supported students’ leadership development in the areas of career transition, personal growth, and application to “real-life.” Recommendations are offered for creating formal and informal mentoring opportunities.