From Mentorship to a Movement
It started with one man, one trip,
and a conviction that wouldn't let go.
When Conviction Became Action
In the early 1990s, Orv Krieger — a retired Navy veteran and successful businessman — took a mission trip to South America and visited a prison holding children under the age of 18. What he saw didn't leave him.
When he returned home, he began visiting juvenile facilities across the U.S., trying to understand what was happening to young people here. What he found confirmed what he already felt: kids didn't need intervention after things fell apart. They needed trusted adults, consistent relationships, and someone willing to invest in them long before a crisis ever came.
The remarkable part? Orv was 78 years old when he acted on that conviction.
He could have spent those years traveling with his wife Mary, enjoying his grandchildren, or simply resting after a lifetime of work. Instead, he stepped forward in faith — and in 1997, founded what would become MentorKids USA.
Executive Director Aaron Parrott, who joined MentorKids two years after Orv's passing in 2003, keeps Orv's photo in his office to this day. In his words: "We stand on the shoulders of giants who have gone before us."
Read Aaron's reflection on Orv's legacy →
That same spirit of faithful action still shapes the way MentorKids serves today.
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.
What Mentorship Grew Into
A Promise Neighborhood is a defined community where MentorKids makes a long-term commitment to students and families. Through free after-school and summer programs, K–12 students are supported right where they live, learn, and grow.
The model is about more than filling a program schedule. It is about showing up with consistency: trusted adults, safe spaces, academic support, spiritual growth, leadership development, family connection, and partners who believe in investing in the same neighborhood over time.
As students grow, MentorKids grows with them. Younger students receive support and encouragement. Middle school students begin exploring leadership. High school students can become iLEADers: paid student leaders who mentor younger children, serve their neighborhoods, and help build the next generation of leaders from within their own community.
This is the heart of MentorKids: building leaders who build leaders.
Find Your Place in the Story
This work grows through people who believe long-term investment can change the future of a child, a family, and a neighborhood.
Visit
Come see the model in action and experience the relationships that bring it to life.
Serve
Bring your time, presence, and gifts to a place where students are growing, learning, and becoming leaders.
Partner
See a neighborhood where MentorKids could take root? Let’s talk about what partnership could look like.
"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