A multi-institutional mentoring project was created in 2020 (M.E.N.T.O.R., 2020). This initiative is a collaborative capacity building partnership between 1862 and 1890 land-grant universities (LGUs), in which faculty leadership teams (FLT) develop campus-based mentoring programs. By doing this, these teams can provide mentoring support to university students, especially underrepresented minorities (URMs) in the food, agricultural, natural resources, and human (FANH) sciences disciplines.

Over the past two years, 11 LGUs have participated in this project. A core team (project PIs and evaluator) was created to coordinate the project activities and evaluate progress made and outcomes achieved. To implement project activities, participating FLTs were asked to submit and present mini-grant mentoring proposals outlining mentoring activities in their respective institutions. These proposals were reviewed and evaluated by the project leadership team to be approved for funding to receive $10,000.