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Scholarship America® and Big Brothers Big Sisters of the Greater Twin Cities
Announce Strategic Partnership to Improve the Lives of Youth
Minneapolis/St. Paul (June 30, 2009)—Scholarship America, the nation’s premiere scholarship and educational support organization, and Big Brothers Big Sisters of the Greater Twin Cities (BBBS) have forged an important partnership in support of Twin Cities’ youth.
This partnership will link the services that both organizations currently provide to youth, to assure that a greater number of Twin Cities students have access to a continuum of services that will help them succeed from elementary school through postsecondary education and beyond.
“This partnership is an important step in providing holistic services to youth as they make their way from secondary education to postsecondary education and beyond,” says Dr. Clifford L. Stanley, President & CEO of Scholarship America. “Working together, we can assure that students understand that they, too, have access to postsecondary education.”
The partnership increases the effectiveness and reach of a program created by Gloria Lewis, President & CEO of BBBS, nearly three years ago: the Education and Enrichment Program. “We always talk about what mentoring does. It changes lives. But what are the tangible things you can put your hands on and say, ‘out of this, comes this?’ If we have all these kids in our hands, shouldn’t education be one of the great outcomes of mentoring?” says Lewis.
Stanley concurs. “Scholarship America’s mission is to assure a postsecondary education is possible for all students. In order to help us meet our mission, we recently launched a strategic vision that we call the 4Gs: Get Students Ready, Get Students In (postsecondary education), Get Students Through (graduate); and Give Back. There is incredible synergy between Scholarship America’s mission and strategic vision, and the work of Big Brothers Big Sisters of the Greater Twin Cities,” he said.
Through this partnership, the Big Brothers Big Sisters mentees (Little Brothers and Little Sisters, or “Littles”) and high school-age mentors (High School Big Brothers and Big Sisters, or “HS Bigs”) will have greater access to information about scholarship opportunities in the Twin Cities. And Scholarship America will encourage its scholarship recipient alumni as well as its local volunteers to support “Littles” as program mentors. The two organizations will also explore other options for collaborative efforts such as the creation of new scholarships and new educational support services.
About Scholarship America®
Through Scholarship America’s programs and services, nearly 2 million students have received more than $2 billion in scholarship aid since 1958. Through our college access programs, more than 400,000 students have gained skills and motivation to go on to college. In fiscal year 2008, Scholarship America awarded more than $219 million in scholarships to more than 123,000 students.
About BBBS
For nearly 90 years, BBBS has been enriching young people’s lives through one-to-one friendships. In 2008, the organization served approximately 3,500 matches. BBBS is a non-profit 501(c)(3) organization that serves 10 counties in the Twin Cities metro region, including Anoka, Carver, Dakota, Hennepin, Ramsey, Scott, Washington and parts of Chisago, Isanti and Wright Counties.
BBBS offers programs to meet the needs of a wide variety of volunteer interests. Community-based mentors meet their Little Brother or Sister two to four times per month at the locations of their choice. School-based mentors meet with their Little Brother or Sister once per week at the young person’s school. Park Buddies meet every other week at the St. Paul Park and Recreation Center in the Dayton’s Bluff neighborhood. | 
