Big Brothers Big Sisters of America (BBBSA), the largest and most experienced youth mentoring organization in the United States, has been selected as an honoree of the 2021 Holiday Impact Prize, presented by two-time Pulitzer Prize winner and former New York Times columnist Nicholas Kristof, and supported by Focusing Philanthropy.
Big Brothers Big Sisters was selected as one of two volunteer organizations highlighted for people looking to make a difference in their local communities.
“The work of Big Brothers Big Sisters is particularly important right now because for nearly two years, young people have experienced social isolation, emotional trauma, and they’ve faced realities of inequitable access to broadband, food, shelter, social and emotional support,” stated Artis Steven, President & CEO, Big Brothers Big Sisters of America. “We believe that a greater society is going to be driven by the way we create justice, equity, diversity, and inclusion in young people’s lives. We encourage anyone who is interested and believes in those values and wants to help kids to continue to thrive in their lives to engage with us.”
Big Brothers Big Sisters depends on volunteers to empower a young person’s potential. The 2021 Holiday Impact Prize will bolster the organization’s mission to create and support one-to-one mentoring relationships that ignite the power and promise of youth.
Since 2009, Kristof has written an annual “holiday gift guide” column to highlight little-known organizations working to make the world a better place. He began writing the gift guide to bridge a philanthropic gap: readers who wanted to help but didn’t know how, and heroic individuals and organizations who desperately needed resources but were off donors’ radar.
The column has helped raise the profiles of organizations that work on the very issues he covers in his journalism—health, education, human rights and women’s rights, both domestically and abroad. This year’s $100,000 Grand Prize winner was Seva Foundation, a global non-profit eye care organization that has helped restore sight to more than 46 million people. Runners-up Per Scholas and Panzi Foundation were each awarded $25,000.
Focusing Philanthropy—a 501(c)3 nonprofit that finds and funds high-impact, scalable programs here and around the world—is providing the platform for this initiative by processing readers’ contributions, monitoring and reporting on results, and replenishing credit card transaction costs of donations made on KristofImpact.org so that 100 cents on the dollar will support the winning organizations.
More information about Nicholas Kristof’s Holiday Impact Prize, this year’s winners, and Focusing Philanthropy can be found at KristofImpact.org.
