PLATINUM2023

Big Brothers-Big Sisters of San Luis Obispo County

Change their world, change the world.

aka BBBS   |   San Luis Obispo, CA   |  http://www.slobigs.org

Mission

Our Vision: Our vision is that all youth achieve their full potential. Our Mission: Create and support one-to-one mentoring relationships that ignite the power and promise of youth. Accountability: We partner with parents/guardians, volunteers and others in the community and hold ourselves accountable for each child in our program achieving: • Higher aspirations, greater confidence and better relationships • Avoidance of risky behaviors • Educational success and academic advancement

Ruling year info

1994

CEO

Jenny Luciano

Main address

PO Box 12644

San Luis Obispo, CA 93406 USA

Show more contact info

EIN

77-0348487

NTEE code info

Adult, Child Matching Programs (O30)

Children's and Youth Services (P30)

Single Parent Agencies/Services (P42)

IRS filing requirement

This organization is required to file an IRS Form 990 or 990-EZ.

Sign in or create an account to view Form(s) 990 for 2020, 2019 and 2018.
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Communication

Programs and results

What we aim to solve

SOURCE: Self-reported by organization

Most children in our programs come from low-income, single parent households. Some have experienced significant trauma, including abuse and neglect resulting in foster care, being drug-exposed at birth, and having a parent incarcerated. For example, Tyler, age 9, was removed from his home due to substance abuse exposure and neglect and now lives with his elderly grandparents. It's hard for him to trust others, he struggles with appropriate boundaries, and he lacks a strong male role model. Angelina, age 7, lives with her mom and younger sister. Her mom works long hours for low wages and did not graduate from high school; she wants Angelina to have more positive adult influences in her life so she will stay in school and go to college. Children such as these are most at risk to continue in a cycle of poverty created by low self-confidence and limited aspirations, unhealthy relationships, risky behaviors, and a low level of education.

Our programs

SOURCE: Self-reported by organization

What are the organization's current programs, how do they measure success, and who do the programs serve?

Community Based Mentoring

Our Community Based Program creates strong and enduring relationships by connecting vulnerable local youth with adult volunteers. We thoroughly screen and professionally train volunteers in order to insure child safety. Volunteers and children spend at least 6 hours a month exploring shared interests and developing positive, stable relationships. Volunteers enrich children’s lives by modeling healthy choices and providing connection with their community. Our professional staff provides individualized case management to each match relationship and hosts educational and enriching group activities for all program participants. The agency conducts regular baseline and follow-up surveys to ensure long-term positive results.

Population(s) Served
Children and youth

Our School Based Program allows us to double our impact, serving two children with every mentor relationship. A group of carefully selected high school and college students travel to their partner elementary school once each week for the entire school year. Older and younger students are paired for ongoing relationships built upon one-to-one interactions and occasional group activities such as doing homework, playing sports or making crafts. The younger students gain confidence while the older students build leadership skills. They learn that as individuals they can shape the world and have a positive effect on their community. The exposure to new ideas and opinions offered by both the mentors and elementary students from differing backgrounds expands both groups’ horizons.

Population(s) Served
Children and youth
Families

Where we work

Awards

Gold Standard 2021

Big Brothers Big Sisters of America

Our results

SOURCE: Self-reported by organization

How does this organization measure their results? It's a hard question but an important one.

Number of youth service participants who have involvement in juvenile justice system

This metric is no longer tracked.
Totals By Year
Related Program

Community Based Mentoring

Type of Metric

Outcome - describing the effects on people or issues

Direction of Success

Holding steady

Number of groups/individuals benefiting from tools/resources/education materials provided

This metric is no longer tracked.
Totals By Year
Related Program

Community Based Mentoring

Type of Metric

Outcome - describing the effects on people or issues

Direction of Success

Decreasing

Context Notes

Number of volunteer applicant's directly affect this metric.

Number of youth mentored

This metric is no longer tracked.
Totals By Year
Type of Metric

Outcome - describing the effects on people or issues

Direction of Success

Increasing

Context Notes

The number of volunteer applicants directly affect this metric.

Goals & Strategy

SOURCE: Self-reported by organization

Learn about the organization's key goals, strategies, capabilities, and progress.

Charting impact

Four powerful questions that require reflection about what really matters - results.

We partner with parents/guardians, volunteers and others in the community and hold ourselves accountable for each child in our program achieving:
• Higher aspirations, greater confidence and better relationships
• Avoidance of risky behaviors
• Educational success

We have two programs, both designed to build developmental assets in vulnerable children through role models and mentor friendships.

Our School Based Program allows us to double our impact, serving two children with every mentor relationship. A group of carefully selected high school and college students travel to their partner elementary school once each week for the entire school year. Older and younger students are paired for ongoing relationships built upon one-to-one interactions and occasional group activities such as doing homework, playing sports or making crafts. The younger students gain confidence while the older students build leadership skills. They learn that as individuals they can shape the world and have a positive effect on their community. The exposure to new ideas and opinions offered by both the mentors and elementary students from differing backgrounds expands both groups' horizons.

Our Community Based Program creates strong and enduring relationships by connecting vulnerable local youth with adult volunteers. We thoroughly screen and professionally train volunteers in order to insure child safety. Volunteers and children spend at least 6 hours a month exploring shared interests and developing positive, stable relationships. Volunteers enrich children's lives by modeling healthy choices and providing connection with their community. Our professional staff provides individualized case management to each match relationship and hosts educational and enriching group activities for all program participants. The agency conducts regular baseline and follow-up surveys to ensure long-term positive results.

Since opening for service in 1995, we have created more than 3,400 mentor relationships. In 2018, we served 394 mentor pairs in San Luis Obispo County. We have been recognized by Big Brothers Big Sisters of America four times for outstanding performance and growth, putting us in the top 2% of agencies nationwide, in addition to being selected as the Agency of the Year in 2016. The honor of both Big Brother and Big Sister of the Year for the State of California was awarded to local volunteers in 2014.

We regularly measure our impact and consistently find that children who participate in our programs improve their academic performance, relationships with peers and other adults, and ability to make positive decisions for their future. The following Local Youth Outcomes data are from combined Community and School based programs in 2018.

Children in our programs achieved positive outcomes in the following areas:
82% Attitude Toward Risk (tobacco, drugs, alcohol, skipping school, truancy, rule breaking)
85%-90% Academic Expectations
70%-73% Grades
75% Parental Trust
90% In One Major Category of Risk, Academics and Trust
75% In Two Major Categories Risk, Academics and Trust
0% Entered the Juvenile Justice System

How we listen

SOURCE: Self-reported by organization

Seeking feedback from people served makes programs more responsive and effective. Here’s how this organization is listening.

done We shared information about our current feedback practices.
  • Who are the people you serve with your mission?

    All parent/guardians, volunteers and children are surveyed about their experiences.

  • 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

  • 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 engage the people who provide feedback in looking for ways we can improve in response, We act on the feedback we receive, We ask the people who gave us feedback how well they think we responded

  • What challenges does the organization face when collecting feedback?

    It is difficult to get the people we serve to respond to requests for 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

Big Brothers-Big Sisters of San Luis Obispo County
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Operations

The people, governance practices, and partners that make the organization tick.

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Connect with nonprofit leaders

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Connect with nonprofit leaders

Subscribe

Build 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-Big Sisters of San Luis Obispo County

Board of directors
as of 02/22/2023
SOURCE: Self-reported by organization
Board chair

Karen Colombo

Retired Financial Analyst

Term: 2022 - 2023

Monique Carlton

Haven Realty

Carol Florence

Oasis Associates

Hal Sweasey

Re/Max Del Oro

Christie Clemons

Fidelty National Title

JED Nicholson

Attorney at Law

Phillip Sullivan

Claire Vollmer

Agency Advocate 20+ years

Karen Colombo

Retired Financial Analyst

Erin Nagle

Glenn Burdette

Steve Yamaichi

CA State Parks, Retired

Jackie Tovar Diaz

Little Sister and Youth Leader

Nicole Hoffman

Coldwell Banker, Premier RE

Amity Faes

Pacific Premier Bank

Ritchie Bermudez

Cuesta College

Heather Mariani

Pacific Western Bank

Devin Mikulka

Carmel & Naccasha LLP

Board leadership practices

SOURCE: Self-reported by organization

GuideStar worked with BoardSource, the national leader in nonprofit board leadership and governance, to create this section.

  • 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

SOURCE: Self-reported; last updated 2/22/2023

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
White/Caucasian/European
Gender identity
Female, Not transgender (cisgender)
Sexual orientation
Heterosexual or straight
Disability status
Person without a disability

Race & ethnicity

Gender identity

 

Sexual orientation

Disability

We do not display disability information for organizations with fewer than 15 staff.

Equity strategies

Last updated: 02/22/2023

GuideStar 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

Data
  • We review compensation data across the organization (and by staff levels) to identify disparities by race.
  • 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 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.
Policies and processes
  • 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 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.