Judge Judy credits Her Honor program with making her 'hopeful' for the next generation

recently announced that shes "rewiring" and letting son Adam Levy take the reins of TV courtroom drama, but she has plenty of other projects to keep her busy. The Her Honor Mentoring program she helped co-found just celebrated its 20-year anniversary.

the program with her daughter Nicole Sheindlin to empower young women through mentorship and professional development. For the past two decades, Her Honor Mentoring has welcomed approximately 2,500 participants; 1,500 mentees, selected from 31 high schools across the region, and more than 1,000 mentors from 400 organizations and businesses.

"Im so happy to be here 20 years after our freshman year," Sheindlin told Fox News Digital.

The project, she said, "started off with a dream" and all they could do was hope it was successful. The first class held only eight or nine women, whereas the most recent class in September saw over 100.

"Its the combination of the mentoring and the financial part of it – which is the girls get paid for working… and learning how to dress for success, learning about making first impressions, learning how to manage your money and just knowing how to grow up financially prepared to be an adult," Sheindlin told .

The project, she said, is "simple, but satisfying." And she's been impressed and inspired by the young participants' drive to succeed.

"This small cohort makes me hopeful," Sheindlin said. "I think that you become jaded when you see so much dysfunction. Ive been around so much adult dysfunction and juvenile dysfunction, that to see young people still hoping and dreaming, wanting to work hard to realize their dream that their journey on this Earth is positive and fulfilling, makes you feel good. It sort of renews your faith that probably the vast majority of people are like these young women. That they want their lives to be productive and happy and fulfilling."

Several of the former mentees have come back as mentors after starting their careers.

"Were teaching them to give back," she said. "Were teaching these young women the importance of being not only for themselves. But then once youve realized that, to supporting others with your time and your talent… they have a drive, they want to be their own engines. They want to be the engine that pulls their own train."

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Sheindlin credited her stepdaughter Nicole as being "the engine that keeps the project running."

Nicole, the current CEO of Her Honor Mentoring, said the program started as a reflection of her relationship with Judge Judy. She went to the same law school as her stepmother and sat on the bench with her when she was a judge in family court. Nicole called it the perfect model for the program, saying, "The power and the impact of having a professional woman, a strong woman be a mentor, be a guide, be a supporter."

The mother-daughter duo concluded they should empower young women together to help women gain some extra skills and expand their professional network. 

"Weve come to learn how much the mentors have grown and are inspired," Nicole told Fox Digital. "Theyve discovered that giving back empowers their own personal wellbeing."

The program connects mentees with mentors across several industries. During 20 weekly meetings throughout the academic year, mentoring teams explore topics rela