About Us

Our Goals

Our group supports the leadership and development of its members through building mentoring relationships with the youth of our community. Diversity, equity, and inclusion are central to our group's core philosophy as most of the youth involved in our mentorship program have been victim to the harsh realities of racism. We strive to make a positive impact on these vulnerable youth through connections with medical students who may have similar experiences and providing resources to aid in their success in academics and in life. Each mentor-mentee relationship will be uniquely focused on the needs of each individual mentee, and pairings will be based on an intake survey.

A Message from Our Founder

"You can't go back and change the beginning, but you can start exactly where you are and change the ending. Know that many of us are not dealt with the best cards in life, but that's okay, because even though we can't control the cards we are dealt, we can choose how to play the hand. So, keep your head up, believe in yourself, and know your potential is limitless!" -Michael Kelly

Click here to view a video from our original co-presidents!

Our Three Pillars of Advocacy

Mentorship

Stable and consistent mentorship is a staple of the U Link. We pride ourselves on our unique approach to providing personalized, supportive, and reliable mentorship for our community's youth. Our student-mentors are thoroughly trained to provide culturally sensitive, trauma-informed mentorship for each youth.

Workshops

The U Link provides a wide array of workshops for our community partners and the youth they serve. Workshops are created and presented by students, themselves. Workshops include STI education, financial literacy, college preparedness, and so many more. If you are interested in having the U Link present for you, please contact us!

Community Awareness

At the U Link, we believe alone we can do little, but together, we can do so much. Therefore, our third pillar of advocacy is research, presentation, and illuminating the challenges we face as a community. We use our research and presentations to promote meaningful and impactful change within our communities.

Help us, help you!

To Community Members/Organizations: To partner with the U Link, please contact us at ulink@umn.edu. To donate, click here or use the button at the bottom of the page.

To UMN students: To join our team, fill out this application: https://forms.gle/Mgdz5K5kZhNgvxRj7