During our Economic, Personal, Intellectual & Cultural (E.P.I.C) Empowerment 2019 Youth forum in The Gambia, our founder, Dr. Margaret Ellis announced a unique opportunity to mentor twenty young Gambians in 2019.

And because Coaches of Influence Foundation (COIF) was birthed out of a vision to "be an anchor through which youth and women will learn how to nurture their natural gift of influence", we started by encouraging all interested youths to apply for the program.Within a few days of the announcement, we received more than 50 applications and were tasked with selecting 20 candidates out of the pool.

The key ingredient that makes our program unique is truly our approach.  We birthed our vision for mentorship following several interactions, research, conversations, dialogue and assessment of our target audience to determine their areas of need and struggle.  We identified that the youth (especially those in The Gambia) are given a lot of information from the multitudes of trainings, conferences, forums etc yet, a good number of them are challenged with charting a course for their future or intentionally applying the knowledge they acquire to unleash their potential.

This is where COIF comes in – to bridge the gap between the present condition and the desired state.  We bring a fresh approach to the table which simply focuses on self-identification, self-exploration and self-assessment of our mentees to identify their areas of strength, their skills, their passion, their goals and the areas that need polishing to birth a new breed of youths.  We believe that no one can walk in their full potential unless they understand who they are, their beliefs & tendencies, their perceptions, the effect of the 'internal dialogue', their behaviors and an understanding that "the behaviors they exhibit are nurtured in the soil in which their culture is cultivated".

The program rolled out on February, 8^th 2019 with an orientation session, vision casting and soliciting commitment, dedication and full participation from the selected candidates.  With this approach, we are already seeing some transformation taking place.  It is very encouraging to watch our mentees take intentional steps to arrive to sessions on time, communicate effectively, complete all assigned projects and learning to set and work on established goals.

We are planting new seeds of hope and a desire to uproot the behaviors and self-limiting beliefs that stifle personal growth and development of our mentees.  We are guiding and teaching them the skills to "clear the stones and stumps" that sabotage their journey in order that they can take back the ground they may have given over to "self-limiting beliefs, learned helplessness, victim mentalities and toxic" culture.  Together, we are cultivating new beliefs and behaviors that will birth new values and attitudes.

We know that molding a responsible and impactful leader, entrepreneur, citizen, and youth begins from the inside.  If people are not emotionally and mentally healthy or balanced, they will struggle with utilizing all the information and knowledge poured into them.  At COIF, we believe that the journey of influence begins with taking inventory of what lies within the person and planting new seeds of influence that will yield the fruit of positive impact.  And this, is what we expect out of our mentees by the end of the journey in July 2019.

Mentorship Session Pictures