Big Brothers Big Sisters of Northwestern Ohio

Our mission is to create and support one-to-one mentoring relationships that ignite the power and promise of youth.

We are a non-profit agency positively impacting children’s lives in Lucas and Wood counties. Big Brothers and Big Sisters programs were operated independently in Toledo from 1937 to 1961. By January 1980, the programs had merged to become Big Brothers Big Sisters of Northwestern Ohio. Our agency provides service consistent with the standards of Big Brothers Big Sisters of America.

BBBSNWO offers two main programs; Empowering Future Leaders Program & One-to-one mentoring program.

Empowering Future Leaders (EFL) is a BBBSNWO program focusing on four primary youth development areas (aka Pillars): Life Skills, Leadership Development, Cultural Competence, and Career Development. The program service youth ages 5-18. This data-driven program started as an after-school program and evolved into an in-school and summer program.

BBBSNWO’s mission is to support children to succeed in school, avoid risky behaviors such as getting into fights and using drugs and alcohol, and help them improve their self-confidence. Our unique brand of one-to-one mentoring, in which a child facing adversity or needing support is carefully matched with a caring adult mentor in a relationship supported by a highly trained professional specialist.