Company Profile
Company Overview
Mission: To provide children facing adversity with strong and enduring, professionally supported
one-to-one mentoring relationships that change their lives for the better, forever.
Vision: For all children to achieve success in life.
Company History
Big Brothers Big Sisters of Metro Milwaukee is an affiliate of Big Brothers Big Sisters of America, the nation’s oldest and largest youth mentoring organization. For over 110 years, Big Brothers Big Sisters of America has provided professionally-supported one-to-one youth mentoring services across the nation. Big Brothers Big Sisters of Metro Milwaukee has been the premier provider of youth mentoring services in Milwaukee and Waukesha counties for 40 years.
Big Brothers Big Sisters’ mentoring model, developed in partnership with leading youth mentoring researchers, is unique in the mentoring community. To support and guide each mentoring relationship, Big Brothers Big Sisters utilizes the following strategies:
• A comprehensive volunteer recruitment and enrollment process that includes careful screening, extensive interviews, and
5-layered criminal background checks to ensure child safety and development.
• Strong one-to-one case management to every child, family, and mentor to track progress towards educational benchmarks, coach mentors and children through difficult situations, and connect mentoring matches to educational and community resources.
• Integration of educational success into all mentoring services, including the creation of individualized Youth
Outcomes Development Plans for each child that are youth-centered, address specific needs, and guide case management.
• Comprehensive mentor training to support healthy, outcomes-focused mentoring relationships.
• Parental engagement through case management and participation in activities.
• Strategic partnerships that utilize the knowledge and resources of Metro Milwaukee organizations.
• Thorough, scientific evaluation to measure outcomes and impact, build on positive results, and use lessons learned to drive program performance and continuously improve.
Big Brothers Big Sisters’ mentoring program is youth-centered, professionally supported, and built on a foundation of strong and close relationships. Our three mentoring options are:
1) Community-based mentoring: This model matches one child with one carefully screened volunteer adult mentor who serves as a role model and friend. Children and mentors meet weekly for activities and outings that build confidence, encourage healthy choices, promote educational success, and lead to positive outcomes.
2) School-based mentoring: Volunteer mentors meet with children weekly during or after the school day at one of 12 partner school locations for educationally-focused mentoring, including assistance with homework and enrichment activities that incorporate classroom concepts. Volunteer mentors provide role modeling, friendship, and guidance to increase measurable outcomes.
3) mentor2.0: Mentor2.0 specifically serves high school students and builds on Big Brothers Big Sisters’ established, successful one-to-one mentoring model. This mentoring option combines in-person mentoring with safe, secure online communication and a comprehensive weekly curriculum focused on college readiness. Mentor2.0 ensures that more low-income and first generation students graduate high school, increase college readiness, and enroll in college.
Big Brothers Big Sisters volunteers deliver over 100,000 hours of mentoring annually to children facing adversity for an estimated economic impact of $2.2 million, providing an excellent return on investment to our supporters.