CLIENT EXAMPLE

Big Brothers Big Sisters of Metro Atlanta

CHALLENGE

Big Brothers Big Sisters of Metro Atlanta (BBBSMA) is a national leader, continuing to provide one-to-one youth mentoring through volunteers while designing innovative ways to expand their impact through site-based programs and creative mentoring approaches.  Greenway Strategy Group was engaged in 2022 to develop a strategic plan that will align this evolving work while addressing strategic challenges to the core service delivery model which relies on one-to-one, long-term, in-person mentoring relationships between a volunteer Big and a youth Little.  The organization sought to expand their impact by effectively serving more Littles without losing the powerful mentoring focus of the program.

OUR APPROACH

  • Conducted interviews with community leaders and funders

  • Facilitated focus groups with key stakeholders including families, youth and partners

  • Engaged all staff through interactive tools and exercises

  • Reviewed data on past performance

  • Through a Steering Committee of board and staff members, facilitated the design of a strategic plan framework

  • Facilitated staff teams to develop strategic initiatives and create implementation plans

IMPACT

The BBBBSMA strategic plan has been broadly shared to engage new donors, volunteers and partners.  The plan centers on six outcomes for Littles, which are achieved through objectives and initiatives in four strategic themes:

  • The portfolio of service delivery models

  • Quality programming

  • The volunteer mentoring experience

  • Internal capacity

Through the strategic plan implementation BBBSMA has continued to serve more Littles through traditional, one-to-one mentoring while expanding their innovative service models resulting in a 43% increase in number of youth served during the first year of strategic plan implementation. Examples of these innovative models include Level Up, a large-scale mentoring program that utilizes paid mentors embedded full-time in middle schools. Launched in September of 2022, this program grew to serve more than 800 students at five schools in 2023.  The Beyond School Walls program, which pairs corporations with high schools to promote workforce development for students, also saw significant growth in workplace mentoring partnerships. The Big Futures program was redesigned and relaunched in 2023, providing opportunities for career exposure and exploration for the 577 high school students enrolled in any BBBSMA programs.

Overall, 97% of the seniors in the program graduated from high school on time and 91% had plans for education, employment, enlistment or entrepreneurship following graduation. 99% of BBBSMA youth avoided the juvenile justice system.

In 2024, BBBSMA expanded their geographic footprint beyond metropolitan Atlanta to include Columbus, Georgia and the surrounding communities.