Stacey + Mariana’s Story

Stacey Coffman is the Office Manager at Aon and has been for the last 25 years. She and her husband, Tim,  have been married for 31 years and live in Cedar Springs. Their daughter, Lauren, lives in Ann Arbor. She wanted an opportunity to be a friend and role model to a student in Grand Rapids.

“You guys did a great job putting us together. It was a perfect match. “

Stacey started looking online for mentoring opportunities when she came across Affinity Mentoring. Last year Stacey was matched with Mariana, a shy 4th grader at Burton Elementary. “She hasn’t been shy since day one!” laughs Stacey. “We get along famously. You guys did a great job putting us together. It was a perfect match. Our birthdays are both in June, we both have glasses, and we’re both crazy!”

She describes Mariana as “loving, warm, and kind.” Together they read, practice math problems, make crafts, play a lot of games, and talk. “She has a special place in my heart. Her drawings are all over my cubicle. It’s enriched my life and opened up my eyes. It’s the best part of my week. Her smile lights up her whole face. She laughs from the tip of her toes to the top of her head. She’s always laughing and joking. It’s awesome,” smiles Stacey.

“Everyone can use a little more love in their life. At 53 I can still grow too.”

Stacey believes it’s a mutually beneficial experience for the mentee and mentor, “It’s good for me too. It makes me follow through on things and be accountable. I show up and am there when I’m supposed to be. I don’t let work take over my life. I have learned about different cultures, her dad is from Guatemala. It’s opened up my eyes a lot. Everyone can use a little more love in their life. At 53 I can still grow too.”

Stacey loves having the Mentor Center support and the relational approach Affinity embraces, “You can have a relationship. You can’t relate to children in programs that just focus on reading and in a short time. The Mentor Center is great, the supplies are great, and [the staff] are very helpful. They’re very nice, easy to contact, and always smiling. They’re not looking over your shoulder. They flutter in and out to make sure everything is ok. They get excited for the students.”

Aside from weekly volunteering, Stacey has also been a champion of Affinity at Aon. With Stacey’s advocacy, Aon has financially supported Affinity for the past two years. Aon recently donated $1,200 to sponsor a mentor match. This generous support ensures one mentoring match receives one year of mentoring, match support, resources, parent engagement, and anything else needed to be successful.

Aon is a leading global professional services firm providing a broad range of risk, retirement and health solutions. Our 50,000 colleagues in 120 countries empower results for clients by using proprietary data and analytics to deliver insights that reduce volatility and improve performance. By enabling our clients to take risks, we create social impact every day—driving innovation and economic growth and helping millions of people to recover and thrive in the face of adversity.

Our volunteers represent the best of Aon by demonstrating a commitment to service that extends beyond our day-to-day business responsibilities and into our communities. Each year, Aon employees devote thousands of hours of service to charitable organizations and educational institutions around the world.Visit aon.com/empowerresults to discover how Aon is making a social impact in communities worldwide.

If you’d like to support mentor matches like Stacey and Mariana donate online or if you’d like to learn more about corporate sponsorship opportunities contact Rachel Lopez.


Virtual Mentoring Appreciation Night

To celebrate National Mentoring Month we are inviting Affinity’s mentors, families, partners, and supporters to join us for a virtual night of awards, celebration, and stories of virtual mentoring!

RSVP NOW

 

AWARDS: Nominate a mentor, a partner or a donor for an award to be presented at the 2021 Mentoring Appreciation Night on January 28 at 6:30 PM. Pick the category for your nomination below. You can submit more than one nomination for one category, and/or for multiple categories. Deadline is Jan 17!

 

**Complete the form in English**

Para celebrar el Mes Nacional de la Mentoría invitamos a los mentores, familias, socios y simpatizantes de Affinity para unirse con nosotros para una noche virtual de premios, celebración e historias de la mentoría virtual.

 

PREMIOS: Nomine a un mentor, un socio o un donante para un premio que se entregará en la Noche de Agradecimiento a los Mentores de 2021 el 28 de enero a las 6:30 p.m. Elija la categoría para su nominación a continuación. Puede enviar más de una nominación para una categoría y/o para múltiples categorías.


 

National Mentoring Month

January is National Mentoring Month!

This month, Affinity will reflect on the incredible growth of the mentoring movement, recognize the real life mentoring relationships that form and thrive each day, and offer opportunities to thank the mentors who inspired us. Join us in celebrating #NationalMentoringMonth:

#IAmAMentor [January 4] | A day for volunteer mentors to celebrate their role and reflect on the ways mentees have enhanced their world. Share your mentoring story on Facebook or LinkedIn and tag Affinity! #iMentoratAffinity

International Mentoring Day [January 17]

Mentoring Appreciation Night [ January 22] | Join us for an evening to celebrate our mentors, supporters, and community partners! More details to follow.

#ThankYourMentor  [January 31] | Thank your mentor via Facebook or LinkedIn and tag Affinity! Anyone with real life mentoring experiences can thank those who helped them on their path to adulthood and beyond.


National Mentoring Month (NMM) is the largest-scale mentoring campaign nationwide, culminating each year with the National Mentoring Summit. The campaign was launched four years ago by the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health and MENTOR: The National Mentoring Partnership.