The Story Behind MentorKids

MentorKids began with a calling to serve vulnerable youth.

In the early 1990s, MentorKids founder Orv Krieger took a mission trip to South America, where he visited a prison for children under the age of 18. What he saw stayed with him. When he returned to the United States, he wanted to better understand how young people were being treated within the juvenile justice system here at home.

After visiting juvenile facilities in the U.S., Orv became convinced that God was calling him to respond. He saw young people who needed more than intervention after things had gone wrong. They needed trusted adults, consistent support, and the kind of long-term investment that could help change the direction of their lives.

In 1997, Orv founded MentorKids as a one-to-one mentoring program.

For the next 13 years, MentorKids grew into a network of mentors investing in the lives of youth across the Valley. Many of those early mentors are still connected to the young people they once mentored, who are now adults with families of their own. Those lasting relationships became a powerful picture of what MentorKids has always believed: when a young person is surrounded by love, consistency, and opportunity, their future can begin to look different.

Over time, MentorKids began to see that truly transformative change required more than individual support. To walk with a child well, we also needed to come alongside their family, their neighborhood, and the community surrounding them.

That realization led to the creation of the MentorKids Promise Neighborhood model in 2010.

Two people standing in a baseball stadium with a game in progress.
Black and white portrait of an older man in a suit with a patterned tie, smiling.

Orv Krieger, MentorKids Founder

MentorKids began in 1997 as a one-to-one mentoring program.

By 2010, we recognized that truly transformative change in a child’s life required more than individual support—it meant coming alongside their families and neighborhoods as well. That realization led to the creation of our Promise Neighborhood model, allowing us to make long-term investments in the children, families, and communities we serve.

Group of five diverse teenagers smiling and standing together against a brick wall, with two wearing blue shirts with 'iLEAD' logo.

The Birth of the Promise Neighborhood

A Promise Neighborhood is roughly a square mile in a high-risk area that meets certain economic and social requirements. We set up our program at a school, church, or community center within the Promise Neighborhood and offer free afterschool and summer programming for kids from K-12th grade. We engage families through local events and Parent Advisory Councils, and we impact our community through service projects, events, and business and civic engagement.

Our programs are built around our three pillars and content is scaled according to the age of our kids. As they progress into Middle School, they are introduced to the LEAD (Leadership Exploration And Discovery) program, and when they reach high school they have the opportunity to become an iLEADer. iLEADers are part-time paid staff who mentor the younger children and serve their neighborhood through community service projects. To learn more about the iLEAD program, click here.

“MentorKids is all about building leaders who build leaders within our Promise Neighborhoods. Our vision is to open new Promise Neighborhoods across Arizona and, eventually, the country, so that more local young leaders can emerge, more families can be impacted, and more lives can experience the fullness of God's love.”

Aaron Parrott, Executive Director, MentorKids USA

Three young girls in white smocks sitting at a green table, painting orange pumpkins with face designs for a Halloween activity in a classroom filled with other children and pumpkins.
A young boy in a navy polo shirt sitting at a table in a classroom holds a paper plate decorated with pink and yellow flower petals and yellow felt balls. The plate has a child's drawing in the center.
A young boy with dark hair, wearing a maroon polo shirt, smiling outdoors near a body of water on a sunny day.
A young boy in a blue jacket paints a large, decorated pumpkin white in a classroom setting.
A young boy smiling and holding his hands on top of his head at the beach.
Three young boys baking cookies in a kitchen, with one mixing cookie dough in a metal bowl while an adult points at the tray, and the other boy smiles happily.
A young girl with black hair tied in pigtails, smiling and holding a colorful geometric-shaped container with a string, outdoors on a sunny day with a blurred brick building and trees in the background.
A group of young children gathered in a classroom, smiling and posing for a photo. They are holding a colorful display board with star-shaped decorations, titled 'Stars in the Sky'.
A young boy in an Oklahoma City Thunder basketball jersey with a name tag that reads 'Legend' is playing a stacking game with colorful plastic cups at a table with a red tablecloth. A girl is sitting in the background, watching.
A group of children and adults gathered around a long table outdoors, participating in a hands-on activity involving soil. One person is holding a bottle of purified water, pouring it into a container with soil, under a clear blue sky with a brick bu
Children participating in a craft or coloring activity around a table with various papers and supplies, in a colorful classroom or activity room.
Children sitting by the edge of a swimming pool with their feet in the water, two women standing behind them, and banners advertising summer splash camps and activities, with trees and blue sky in the background.