Torie Weiston-Serdan

Torie Weiston-Serdan is co-founder of the Youth Mentoring Action Network and author of "Critical Mentoring: A Practical Guide." Weiston-Serdan is a scholar and practitioner with over 11 years of teaching and youth programming experience. She received her Ph.D. in education from Claremont Graduate University at the age of 30 and has dedicated her life and career to teaching and mentoring young people in her community. She does extensive work with community-based organizations in support of their youth advocacy efforts, specializing in training mentors to work with diverse youth populations; i.e. Black, Latinx, LGBTQQ, first-generation college students and low-income youth. Torie founded the Youth Mentoring Action Network, a non-profit organization that focuses on mentoring. The organization has served over 500 youth, helping them get to universities like the University of California at Berkeley, American University, Howard University, Clark Atlanta University, and California State East Bay. An expert in youth mentoring, she specializes in training mentors to work with diverse youth populations, i.e. Black, Latino, LGBTQQ, First Generation College Students and Low-Income youth. As a scholar, she examines how marginalized and minoritized youth are served by mentoring and youth development programs. Passionate about young people and armed with a firm understanding of educational institutions, Dr. Weiston-Serdan is a strong education and community leader who is using her voice to advocate for youth voice. She has given several talks on education and mentoring, including a TedTalk and has published think pieces on mentoring, education and teaching. Torie Currently serves on the LGBTQ National Advisory Council and as a researcher for the California Mentoring Partnership Research Committee.