The Marriage Strengthening Research and Dissemination Center (MAST Center) and the National Council of Family Relations (NCFR) are pleased to announce a FREE mentoring event for emerging scholars in association with the 2022 NCFR Annual Conference being held virtually Thursday, November 10 at 2:30 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. CT.

The virtual mentoring event is designed to facilitate relationships among emerging scholars—current graduate students and early career professionals who are less than 5 years out from their terminal degree—and more established leaders in the research and practice fields interested in family strengthening research and programming. Emerging scholars and mentors will be grouped (2 mentors and 5-6 emerging scholars) based on topical interest and will have ample opportunity to speak about professional development topics such as: navigating graduate school, launching a research agenda, academic and nonacademic career opportunities in HMRE-related work, and how to form partnerships with HMRE programs.

Emerging scholars will be able to engage in discussions with two different groups. There is no cost to participate in this event. Due to limited space, registration is on a first come, first served basis. There is no cost to participate in this event. Due to limited space, registration is on a first come, first served basis. For mentors and mentees that participated in the virtual portion of the event, there will be an in-person, informal gathering during the NCFR Conference. Participants will be sent more information closer to the event date.

**To Register: **

Emerging Scholars. If you are currently in graduate school or within 5 years or your terminal graduate degree, please register here. Space for this event is limited to 40 emerging scholars and spots will be reserved on a first-come, first-served basis.

Mentors. If you are a seasoned researcher or practitioner interested in supporting new scholars working in the healthy marriage and relationship field, please register here. Mentors will be selected based on need and topic areas of expertise.

About the MAST Center:

The Marriage Strengthening Research and Dissemination Center (MAST Center) supports research and evaluation on marriage, relationships, and families in the U.S. to help inform Healthy Marriage and Relationship Education (HMRE) and other related programs. The Center’s mentoring events are part of broader efforts to build research and evaluation capacity among emerging scholars in the HMRE field.

The MAST Center was established in 2018 by a five-year cooperative agreement from the Office of Planning, Research, and Evaluation within the Administration for Children and Families in the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. The MAST Center is comprised of a strong team of national experts in marriage and relationship research and evaluation, led by Child Trends in partnership with the National Center for Family and Marriage Research at Bowling Green State University.

Times are Central Time (3:30-5 p.m. ET; 1:30-3 p.m. MT; 12:30-2 p.m. PT)