When Big Brother Randall told Little Brother Henry he would be graduating with his MBA, Henry gave him a big high five and asked if he could attend. Randall immediately said yes. “I knew this was a moment that would be a giant seed in his mind, and if he could see the graduation and I could give him a high five there, it would be a huge positive influence in his life,” Randall says. Randall’s plan worked perfectly. He gave Henry a high-five after the ceremony, and Henry told him that he wanted to graduate high school and college — just like his Big Brother.

Big Sister Portsha grew up with a very busy single mother. Her mom didn’t really have time to craft or read, or to be silly with Portsha and try to touch the tip of her nose with her tongue, as Portsha liked doing. She was devoted to working and providing for Portsha and didn’t have a lot of spare time. Because of this, Portsha felt she was missing a mentor in her life, so she made mentors for herself out of pop culture icons. “My mentors and role models were the powerful and brave girls and women I would read about in books, like Scout in ‘To Kill a Mockingbird’ or see in movies, like Disney’s ‘Mulan,’” Portsha says. “And of course, Oprah. Everybody loves Oprah.” By the time she was an adult herself, she knew she wanted to be a real-life mentor for someone, and signing up to be a Big Sister gave her the perfect opportunity.

When Little Brother Marcus was just 3 years old, his aunt took full custody of him because neither of his parents were in a place to raise him. One of his parents was struggling with opioid addiction and the other was not a consistent presence. Marcus has lived with his aunt and four female cousins since then, and he has struggled with dealing with his anger. Marcus often found himself called down to the school office for an outburst in the classroom or on the playground. When he was in first grade, his family received a letter in the mail about a program called “Big Brothers Big Sisters,” and Marcus’s life changed forever.

From a young age, Little Sister Sky felt her life spinning out of control. She grew up in a house with drug use and physical abuse, witnessed her house raided by police, and at one point was physically abused herself. It was then she knew that she couldn’t live there anymore. She moved in with a friend before finding a stable guardian in a different part of town. She found even more stability when she was matched with her Big Sister Jess.