Kids need someone they can relate to. Sometimes there’s nothing better for an African-American boy or girl than an African-American mentor. Just by being a friend, you can be a role model!  Here are some ways you can be a mentor.  Get started today!

Alpha Phi Alpha

The Alpha Phi Alpha-Big Brothers Big Sisters Partnership began in 1989. The Alpha Phi Alpha General President Darryl Matthews just announced a call to action for 10,000 Alpha men to volunteer as Big Brothers by 2008. With each Alpha Phi Alpha chapter and Alpha Phi Alpha member responding to the General President’s call (and encouraging their friends and family to do the same) we will easily exceed the goal. 

Click here to read more about the Alpha Phi Alpha Partnership »

Amachi: People of Faith Mentoring Children of Promise

There is testimony before the U.S. Senate that claims that 70 percent of children of incarcerated parents will themselves at some point be incarcerated. Unless we do something.  That is why mentoring children of prisoners is a key component of Big Brothers Big Sisters’ goal to reach more kids, especially those who may face significant risk factors.

Amachi, a Nigerian Ibo word that means “who knows but what God has brought us through this child,” is the name of an initiative that connects children of prisoners with mentors recruited through local religious congregations.

The church, synagogue, or mosque is a community of hope. These communities have the power to positively impact a child's future, challenging and changing the findings reported in testimony before the U.S. Senate.

Click here to read more about the Amachi Program »

Essence Cares

ESSENCE Cares is a national mentoring movement. Answer Susan L. Taylor's call for 1 million for our youth. Hill Harper, CSI star and author of Letters to a Young Brother: MANifest your Destiny answered the call and has it right when he says, "A mentor is someone who makes a commitment to provide guidance, apprenticeships, internships, creative outlets and above all the motivation to dream big. The goal is to empower our young men and women with the tools and self-confidence they need to accomplish whatever they set their minds to."

Click here to read more about the Essence Cares Initiative »