Membership

Much of R.I.S.E.'s success can be attributed to the relationships built between mentors and their mentees. Each mentor may have up to 3 mentees; therefore, the size of the R.I.S.E. community is limited. Both mentors and mentees must apply to become part of the R.I.S.E. program. Students must be enrolled in a master's program at the Columbia Mailman School of Public Health to be eligible to apply. All applicants must be in good academic and disciplinary standing to be considered. 

Applications provide students the opportunity to share their lived experiences and reasons for their interest in joining the R.I.S.E. community. Students are matched based on these application materials, with particular attention given to program, interests, career goals, and identities.Typically, we receive more applications than we can accommodate for both mentor and mentee roles. If selected, incoming students will be matched with a mentor for the duration of the academic year. 

The R.I.S.E. mentee application for incoming students can be found here. The application will be open until 11:59pm EDT on Friday, July 17, 2026. The 2026 – 2027 cohort of R.I.S.E. mentors has already been selected. Mentor applications for the 2027 – 2028 cohort will be available in March 2027. 

Please visit our Student Resource page for other ways to access support and engagement opportunities.