Big Brothers-Big Sisters of San Luis Obispo County
Change their world, change the world.
Programs and results
What we aim to solve
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
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.
School Based Mentoring
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.
Where we work
Awards
Gold Standard 2021
Big Brothers Big Sisters of America
External reviews

Our results
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
Learn 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?
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
What are the organization's key strategies for making this happen?
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.
What are the organization's capabilities for doing this?
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.
What have they accomplished so far and what's next?
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
Seeking feedback from people served makes programs more responsive and effective. Here’s how this organization is listening.
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Who are the people you serve with your mission?
All parent/guardians, volunteers and children are surveyed about their experiences.
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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 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
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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
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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
Want to see how you can enhance your nonprofit research and unlock more insights? Learn More about GuideStar Pro.
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-Big Sisters of San Luis Obispo County
Board of directorsas of 02/22/2023
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
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
Disability
We do not display disability information for organizations with fewer than 15 staff.
Equity strategies
Last updated: 02/22/2023GuideStar 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 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.
- 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.