Big Brothers Sisters of Eastern Missouri
Be There
Programs and results
What we aim to solve
When young people are surrounded by a community of mentors, at home, in schools, and within communities, they experience a greater sense of belonging, inclusion, and engagement. Our holistic approach ensures that hope thrives, dreams form, confidence builds, and success is possible. Our five (5) interlocking actions strengthen relationships with youth and others (e.g. parents, volunteers, staff, donors, Board, partners, etc.): • Affirm Significance – Let them know they matter and strengthen their positive self-identity. • Share Leadership – Treat them with respect and honor their voice and choice. • Promote Growth – Encourage continual improvement. • Expand Horizons – Open doors to new experiences, education, and employment. • Foster Stability – Navigate social systems and identify essential resources.
Our programs
What are the organization's current programs, how do they measure success, and who do the programs serve?
Youth Mentoring
Our historic mentoring program partners with youth ages 5-17. Children ("Littles") are matched with trained and committed volunteers ("Bigs"). Relationship strength and endurance are key outcome metrics.
ABCToday
ABCToday is our nationally acclaimed early warning, recognition and response system to track and improve students' outcomes in Attendance, Behavior, and Course performance in Reading and Math.
Big Futures – Alumni Mentoring
Post-secondary initiative, engaging young adults, ages 18-26, designed to increase the number of young adults enrolling in college/university or trade school, enlisting in the military, and/or becoming gainfully employed.
First Job
Certificate program designed to help young people prepare to secure their first job by age 16 (i.e. service and hospitality, automotive, sports industries, retail).
Where we work
Awards
Agency of the Year 2022
Big Brothers Big Sisters of America
External reviews

Our Sustainable Development Goals
Learn more about Sustainable Development Goals.
Goals & Strategy
Reports and documents
Download strategic planLearn about the organization's key goals, strategies, capabilities, and progress.
Charting impact
Four powerful questions that require reflection about what really matters - results.
What is the organization aiming to accomplish?
Organization goals are focused on the following key areas:
(1) Impact – We focus on relationship endurance and helping young people achieve ABC success (Attendance, Behavior, and Course Performance in Reading and Math). We believe coupling positive relationships with academic achievement is fundamental to living a positive, opportunity-rich life. We will continue developing ABCToday using data to understand where we are progressing. We plan to work in partnership with schools and school districts to share our ABCToday model with other nonprofit organizations. Additionally, we are going to find the ways and means to support our Little Brothers and Little Sisters in their post-secondary efforts. We believe this is a natural next step for us.
(2) Scale – We will focus the majority of our growth in St. Louis City and County. This area represents nearly 70% of the failing students in the State of Missouri. In fact, many of these failing students attend schools within 10 minutes of our office headquarters. We plan to grow services by an estimated 5% annually.
(3) Sustainability – We will focus on building an organization capable of enduring and growing. We will give particular attention to three areas – cash reserved, endowment and loyalty. We will reach back into the community to find and re-engage our alumni and elevate our parents to be activist for our mission. We will work intentionally with our 4:1+1 teams to ensure that they feel connected to and appreciated by our organization and each other, including the completion of our rooftop into an “Urban Treehouse"!
What are the organization's key strategies for making this happen?
What are the organization's capabilities for doing this?
What have they accomplished so far and what's next?
How we listen
Seeking feedback from people served makes programs more responsive and effective. Here’s how this organization is listening.
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How is your organization using feedback from the people you serve?
To identify and remedy poor client service experiences, To identify bright spots and enhance positive service experiences, To make fundamental changes to our programs and/or operations, To inform the development of new programs/projects, To identify where we are less inclusive or equitable across demographic groups, To strengthen relationships with the people we serve, To understand people's needs and how we can help them achieve their goals
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Which of the following feedback practices does your organization routinely carry out?
We collect feedback from the people we serve at least annually, We take steps to get feedback from marginalized or under-represented people, We aim to collect feedback from as many people we serve as possible, We take steps to ensure people feel comfortable being honest with us, We look for patterns in feedback based on demographics (e.g., race, age, gender, etc.), We look for patterns in feedback based on people’s interactions with us (e.g., site, frequency of service, etc.), We act on the feedback we receive, We tell the people who gave us feedback how we acted on their feedback, We ask the people who gave us feedback how well they think we responded
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What challenges does the organization face when collecting feedback?
The people we serve tell us they find data collection burdensome, Staff find it hard to prioritize feedback collection and review due to lack of time
Financials
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Operations
The people, governance practices, and partners that make the organization tick.
Connect with nonprofit leaders
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- Analyze a variety of pre-calculated financial metrics
- Access beautifully interactive analysis and comparison tools
- Compare nonprofit financials to similar organizations
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Connect with nonprofit leaders
SubscribeBuild relationships with key people who manage and lead nonprofit organizations with GuideStar Pro. Try a low commitment monthly plan today.
- Analyze a variety of pre-calculated financial metrics
- Access beautifully interactive analysis and comparison tools
- Compare nonprofit financials to similar organizations
Want to see how you can enhance your nonprofit research and unlock more insights? Learn More about GuideStar Pro.
Big Brothers Sisters of Eastern Missouri
Board of directorsas of 03/14/2023
Dr. Sharonica Hardin-Bartley
School District of University City
Chris Lewis
Edward Jones
Dan Isom
City of St. Louis – Department of Public Safety
Jerome Farquharson
Burns & McDonnell
Tony Spratte
FORVIS
Ryan Rippel
Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation
Casey Crowell
Bank of Missouri
John O'Leary
Live Inspired
Timothy Jordan
Children and Families, Inc.
Darryl Jones
D & D Concessions, LLC
J. Gregory Keller
Renaissance Financial
Mark Cusamano
FW Companies
Bill DeWitt III
St. Louis Cardinals
Sara Foster
Commerce Bank
John Fechter
Retired, Wells Fargo
Michael Lefton
Metal Exchange
Maryann Reese
Retired, Saint Francis Healthcare System
Pardeep Gill
Ameren
Board leadership practices
GuideStar worked with BoardSource, the national leader in nonprofit board leadership and governance, to create this section.
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Board orientation and education
Does the board conduct a formal orientation for new board members and require all board members to sign a written agreement regarding their roles, responsibilities, and expectations? Yes -
CEO oversight
Has the board conducted a formal, written assessment of the chief executive within the past year ? Yes -
Ethics and transparency
Have the board and senior staff reviewed the conflict-of-interest policy and completed and signed disclosure statements in the past year? Yes -
Board composition
Does the board ensure an inclusive board member recruitment process that results in diversity of thought and leadership? Yes -
Board performance
Has the board conducted a formal, written self-assessment of its performance within the past three years? Yes
Organizational demographics
Who works and leads organizations that serve our diverse communities? Candid partnered with CHANGE Philanthropy on this demographic section.
Leadership
The organization's leader identifies as:
Race & ethnicity
Gender identity
Sexual orientation
No data
Disability
No data
Equity strategies
Last updated: 06/11/2022GuideStar partnered with Equity in the Center - an organization that works to shift mindsets, practices, and systems to increase racial equity - to create this section. Learn more
- We review compensation data across the organization (and by staff levels) to identify disparities by race.
- We ask team members to identify racial disparities in their programs and / or portfolios.
- We analyze disaggregated data and root causes of race disparities that impact the organization's programs, portfolios, and the populations served.
- We disaggregate data to adjust programming goals to keep pace with changing needs of the communities we support.
- We employ non-traditional ways of gathering feedback on programs and trainings, which may include interviews, roundtables, and external reviews with/by community stakeholders.
- We disaggregate data by demographics, including race, in every policy and program measured.
- We have long-term strategic plans and measurable goals for creating a culture such that one’s race identity has no influence on how they fare within the organization.
- We use a vetting process to identify vendors and partners that share our commitment to race equity.
- We have a promotion process that anticipates and mitigates implicit and explicit biases about people of color serving in leadership positions.
- We seek individuals from various race backgrounds for board and executive director/CEO positions within our organization.
- We have community representation at the board level, either on the board itself or through a community advisory board.
- We help senior leadership understand how to be inclusive leaders with learning approaches that emphasize reflection, iteration, and adaptability.
- We measure and then disaggregate job satisfaction and retention data by race, function, level, and/or team.
- We engage everyone, from the board to staff levels of the organization, in race equity work and ensure that individuals understand their roles in creating culture such that one’s race identity has no influence on how they fare within the organization.