Annual Mentoring Summit

Connect with fellow mentoring leaders, volunteers, and aspiring mentors as we learn, share ideas, and strengthen our programs together.

Friday, February 27, 2026 | 8:30 a.m.-1:00 p.m.

2026 Theme: Connect, Collaborate, Catalyze:
The New Era of Mentorship

Community Action Agency
1740 Langdon Farm Rd
Cincinnati, Ohio 45237

REGISTER

Keynote Speaker
Dr. Shamarah J. Hutchins

Dr. Shamarah J. Hutchins, known as TheMindologist, is a mentor, author, and mental wellness leader dedicated to empowering children, youth, and the adults who support and guide them. Through her work with Serene Counseling and Wellness and The Serene Foundation, she advocates for early intervention, emotional wellness, and mentorship as foundational tools for helping young people build confidence, resilience, and purpose. Dr. Hutchins brings an engaging and heart-centered approach that equips mentors to create meaningful, lasting impact in the lives of children and families.

Breakout Session Leaders

Tommie Lewis | CEO and President of Make It Plain Consulting 

Breakout session | Your Story, My Story, Our Story: The Art of Connecting through Empathy and Vulnerability

  • Tommie Lewis is President and CEO of Make It Plain Consulting. He is a recognized public speaker, training facilitator, relationship management specialist, and mentor. Tommie served as the keynote speaker for the inaugural We Mentor Cincy Summit 2024.

    Tommie offers more than three decades of mentor experience, interpersonal skills development, and people-centered strategies. The motto of Make It Plain and Tommie Lewis is to help individuals and organizations uncover their inherent strengths for sustained growth. Tommie has facilitated workshops and relationship management training for the Cincinnati Youth Collaborative, Camp Joy, SuperSeeds, Cincinnati Recreation Commission and Easterseals, to name a few. In 2018, Tommie launched the Illuminate Leadership Institute & Conference, a nonprofit organization supporting families and youth, ages 12-16, on their journeys to independence, health, wealth, and success.

    Tommie's commitment to youth and families is exhibited through his service as a Board Trustee at Camp Joy, 4C for Children, BestPoint (formerly The Children's Home of Cincinnati), The Chatfield Edge, and the Ohio Foundation of Independent Colleges.

    Tommie holds degrees and professional certifications in Africana Studies from Tennessee State University, Egyptology & Deep Thought from the University of Chicago, International & Cross-Cultural Management from the University of Houston, Emotional Intelligence and Diversity from UCLA and Coaching Across Cultures Executive Coaching from the University of Rome, Italy.

Michael Sickles | Back2Back Community Advocacy Manager 

Breakout session | Whole People, Whole Communities: A journey on personal wellness

  • Michael Sickles serves at Back2Back Cincinnati as a dedicated advocate for justice, equity, and community healing. He holds a degree in Developmental Psychology, a Master’s in Counseling, and a Master’s in Christian Leadership and Theology, grounding his work at the intersection of human development, mental health, and faith-informed leadership. With more than twenty years of experience in program development and leadership, Michael has consistently worked to dismantle systemic barriers facing historically marginalized communities.

    As a Certified Living Undivided Trainer and Certified Trauma-Competent Care Trainer, Michael integrates trauma-informed practice with community advocacy to address root causes of inequity. His work focuses on equipping communities and organizations to transform injustice into daily practices of protection, advance equity, and cultivate pathways of resilience across generations. Michael’s leadership reflects a deep commitment to ensuring justice is not merely written into law, but embodied in the lived realities of the communities most impacted.

Rachel Dubose | CEO of Be The Light

 Breakout session | Building Trust: Establishing Safe Relationships in Trauma-Informed Mentoring

  • Rachael E. DuBose was born and raised in the Evanston neighborhood of Cincinnati, Ohio by her paternal grandparents, who both taught her many of life’s most important lessons through their sacrifice and unconditional love. She received her B.A. from THE Ohio State University in 2006, her M.S.Ed. from the University of Dayton in 2012 and has worked in the mental health field since 2010. Rachael is the Soul-Centered CEO of Be the Light, a mental health organization that provides clinical supervision, workshops, and trainings, including Adult Mental Health First Aid and QPR Suicide Prevention (Question, Persuade, Refer), and also teaches undergraduate Psychology at Southern New Hampshire University. She was featured in the 9th Edition of Who’s Who In Black Cincinnati in 2023, awarded the 2025 New Adult Mental Health First Aid Instructor of the Year by Mental Health First Aid Ohio, and is involved with various community organizations including Guiding Light Mentoring, Black Mental Wellness, and I.H.U. I Hear U!’s monthly wellness radio show.

Elissa Yancey | Executive and Creative Director of A Picture’s Worth

Breakout session | Widening Your Lens to Build Trust, Understanding and Youth Power 

  • Elissa Lee Yancey, MSEd, is Executive and Creative Director of A Picture’s Worth, a nonprofit focused on community power building through story. A journalist and educator, Elissa is also a seasoned collaborator and project partner who understands that when we work together, magical things happen. Through the United Way's Elevating Voices of Change cohort and a collaboration with Learning Grove/Families Forward, she supports the youth-led community building program called Widening the Lens, a long-term effort to expand understanding, build trust and advance connections between community leaders and. young people.

Dubonna Dawkins | Senior Director of HR & Risk Management at Cincinnati Youth Collaborative

Breakout session | Intersectionality and the Impact on Networking 

  • Dubonna Dawkins is an author and HR professional and facilitator. She earned her BA from The Ohio State University and MBA with a Human Resource concentration from Ashford University, with a concentration in training and development. Ms. Dawkins co-authored A Composition of Life, a collection of poetry, a middle grade novel, Color Blind, and recently released her memoir, Out of the Box. She is currently working on the sequel to Color Blind, Behind the Color Code. She is currently the Senior Director of HR & Risk Management at Cincinnati Youth Collaborative. Ms. Dawkins is a wife, mother and grandmother and enjoys spending her free time cheering her grandchildren on at their sporting events.

Tony Aloise | Founder of Life Solutions Network and The Greater Cincinnati Mentoring Alliance/We Mentor Cincy   

Breakout session | High-Impact Volunteers: Recruiting, Equipping and Retaining Volunteers

  • Volunteering became my life following my retirement from Procter & Gamble 15 years ago. I have a passion to serve people in need (teens and adults) in the areas of “life skills and mentoring solutions”. I believe that we should “live, work and serve to our purpose, passion and potential.” I am the founder of the Life Solutions Network and the Greater Cincinnati Mentor Leadership Alliance (since evolved to We Mentor Cincy) and the author of the High-Capacity Non-Profits book. I continue to coach staff at many non-profits and most mentoring organizations.

Dr. Brandi Neal | Ed.D, M.B.I., Assistant Teaching Professor, School of Computing and Analytics, Northern Kentucky University 

Breakout session | Mentoring Multiplied: AI-Enabled Pathways to Access and Opportunity

  • Coming soon!

Cody Saraco-Polner | Evaluation & Innovation Manager, YMCA of Greater Cincinnati  

Breakout session | Telling an Always Changing Story of Belonging: Survey and Data Collection Best Practices within a Non-Profit

  • Cody Sáraco-Polner is the Evaluation & Innovation Manager for the YMCA of Greater Cincinnati. He began in the Y movement fresh out of the University of Cincinnati in 2020, amidst the pandemic, when the opportunity to intern with the Y fell in his lap. Since then, he has grown quickly in their association and the movement. Now five years into his career at the Y, his work focuses on helping the YMCA tell its data story and grow that impact across the region. Half his time is spent managing the primary qualitative and quantitative data collection/analysis, and the other half is spent as the project manager for the strategic plan. Born and raised in New Jersey, 12 miles west of New York City, he has learned to call Cincinnati home. He lives nearby with his wife and two black cats, the 3 loves of his life.

Hannah Foley | The Character Effect Specialist , Beech Acres Parenting Center 

Breakout session | Recharge and Regain Calm

  • Hannah Foley is a Character Effect Specialist based in Cincinnati, Ohio, and a former high school English teacher. Her years in the classroom shaped her passion for helping people grow—academically, personally, and ethically. Today, Hannah draws on her teaching background to help individuals and organizations translate values into everyday action, strengthen culture, and build meaningful relationships.