Big Brothers Big Sisters of Arkansas has two primary affiliates serving communities across the state. Big Brothers Big Sisters of Central Arkansas (bbbsca.org), founded around 1969 by local churches, celebrated its 55th anniversary in 2024 and serves the Little Rock metro area through one-to-one mentoring plus an expanded portfolio including JEDI youth empowerment, academic enrichment, health and wellness, digital and financial literacy, youth leadership development, and career pathways training. Big Brothers Big Sisters of Northwest Arkansas (bbbsnwa.org) has served Benton and Washington counties since its first match in December 1995 and celebrated its 30th anniversary in 2025. For the 30th anniversary, BBBS NWA hosted Walmart CEO Doug McMillon and COO Kieran Shanahan for a fireside chat at Rogers Convention Center on April 30, with BBBSA CEO Artis Stevens as keynote speaker. In 2024, BBBS NWA received the Growth Award from Big Brothers Big Sisters of America. About 60 percent of the NWA youth served are teenagers.
Both BBBS of Arkansas affiliates match young people with caring and consistent adult mentors who walk alongside them, offering encouragement and support. The mentoring model connects every child to what they need to succeed in life. Young people are poised for greatness; BBBS serves as their champions and supporters from the moment of first contact until they enter society ready to reach their full potential.
Research consistently shows that youth who receive consistent mentoring benefit from higher aspirations, greater confidence, better relationships, avoidance of risky behaviors, educational success, and improved youth leadership and career readiness. BBBS Central Arkansas and BBBS NWA each draw on the Big Brothers Big Sisters of America national network's research base and program infrastructure while tailoring their approaches to the specific communities they serve.
Big Brothers Big Sisters of Central Arkansas was founded around 1969 by local churches in the community, making it one of Arkansas's oldest established youth mentoring organizations. The agency celebrated its 55th anniversary in 2024. It is an affiliate of Big Brothers Big Sisters of America, a network of 235 agencies that served 200,000 young people in 2020 alone.
BBBS Central Arkansas offers community-based mentoring where a volunteer and child are matched based on similarities and spend time together two to three times per month. The volunteer and child decide what activities they do and when. The goal is for the child to have new experiences, develop confidence, build a relationship, and most importantly to have fun. The school-based program has volunteers visit a child at school once a week for one hour; during that time the volunteer and child may work on classwork, play educational games provided by the agency, have lunch, or just talk. Each match is professionally supported by an assigned staff person.
BBBS Central Arkansas is committed to expanding beyond the traditional mentoring dyad into a whole-child approach. The expanded programming includes Justice, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion (JEDI) youth empowerment work, academic enrichment, health and wellness, digital and financial literacy, youth leadership development, and career pathways training. This bolder vision for mentoring makes bolder promises to youth and the community, committed to producing and communicating better results to stakeholders, donors, and volunteers.
Morris Williams, a dedicated mentor and board member at BBBS Central Arkansas, was spotlighted on FOX 16 News, showcasing his impactful mentoring sessions at Washington Elementary School in Little Rock. Williams's visibility reflects the agency's strategy of featuring mentor stories to drive volunteer recruitment. BBBS Central Arkansas has also used AmeriCorps VISTA positions (Fund Development VISTA, Mentor Recruitment VISTA) to support organizational capacity alongside direct program staff.
Big Brothers Big Sisters of Northwest Arkansas was founded in 1993 with the first match made in December 1995. The 2025 30th anniversary marks three decades of matching caring adult mentors with young people in Benton and Washington counties. The organization considers December 1995 its true founding because that was when the first match between a child and a mentor was made.
Northwest Arkansas is one of the most distinctive nonprofit environments in the country. The region is home to Walmart headquarters in Bentonville, Tyson Foods in Springdale, and a growing constellation of suppliers, technology companies, and professional services firms who serve the retail and consumer goods industries. The corporate density and community investment culture in Northwest Arkansas creates a favorable fundraising and volunteer recruitment environment for BBBS NWA.
For its 30th anniversary, BBBS Northwest Arkansas hosted a fireside chat at Rogers Convention Center on April 30, 2025. Walmart CEO Doug McMillon and Walmart COO Kieran Shanahan participated in the fireside chat. Artis Stevens, president and CEO of Big Brothers Big Sisters of America, served as the keynote speaker. About 400 attendees were expected for the event from 10 a.m. to noon.
The Walmart CEO and COO participation reflects the depth of the BBBS NWA's relationship with Walmart, the dominant employer in the Northwest Arkansas ecosystem. The event's scale (400 attendees, Rogers Convention Center, national BBBSA CEO as keynote) positions BBBS NWA as one of the region's most significant nonprofit fundraising events.
In 2024, Big Brothers Big Sisters of Northwest Arkansas received the Growth Award from Big Brothers Big Sisters of America. The award recognized the organization's recent growth in match count relative to the national average. The Growth Award parallels similar recognitions received by BBBS Colorado and other affiliates in 2024, and confirms BBBS NWA's trajectory of expanding service delivery in Northwest Arkansas alongside the regional population growth driven by Walmart, Tyson Foods, and their supplier ecosystems.
BBBS NWA serves youth ages 6-18 in Benton and Washington counties. About 60 percent of the youth served are teenagers, reflecting the organization's emphasis on mentoring through the high school years and the critical college and career decision period. The organization offers multiple match formats: individual Big (one adult with one youth), Big Couple (two adults matched with one youth), Big Family (a whole family matched with one youth), and Big Colleagues (workplace-based group mentoring).
BBBS NWA is driven by community partners and support. Changing the life of a child in Benton or Washington county is surprisingly simple whether you choose to become a Big or donate to support mentorship of local children.
For Central Arkansas (Little Rock area): visit bbbsca.org to start the volunteer application process. Community-based matches meet two to three times per month; school-based matches visit once a week for one hour. For Northwest Arkansas (Benton and Washington counties): visit bbbsnwa.org. NWA offers individual, Big Couple, Big Family, and Big Colleagues formats for youth ages 6-18. Both organizations screen volunteers carefully before matching and provide ongoing professional Match Support Specialist case management throughout the relationship.
For BBBS Central Arkansas: donate at bbbsca.org. The agency accepts donations and hosts annual fundraising campaigns including the Giving Tuesday 55th Anniversary Campaign. For BBBS Northwest Arkansas: donate at bbbsnwa.org. The Walmart CEO fireside chat at Rogers Convention Center serves as the organization's major annual fundraising event. Both organizations are 501(c)(3) tax-exempt. The BBBS NWA corporate partner base (Walmart ecosystem employers) provides a sustained corporate giving channel.
Both BBBS of Arkansas affiliates represent the primary one-to-one structured mentoring channels in their respective service areas. The BBBS Central Arkansas whole-child approach (expanding beyond traditional 1:1 mentoring to JEDI work, academic enrichment, digital literacy, and career pathways) is positioning the agency for broader impact across the Little Rock metro. BBBS NWA's Walmart ecosystem access, 2024 Growth Award, and 30-year milestone place it among the stronger mid-sized BBBS affiliates nationally.
Last updated May 2026. BBBS Central Arkansas founded approximately 1969 by local churches, 55th anniversary in 2024, BBBS of America affiliate network of 235 agencies serving 200,000 youth in 2020, community-based mentoring 2-3 times/month volunteer and child choose activities, school-based once a week one hour with classwork educational games lunch or talking, whole-child vision expanding to JEDI youth empowerment academic enrichment health and wellness digital and financial literacy youth leadership development and career pathways training, Morris Williams mentor and board member spotlighted on FOX 16 News at Washington Elementary School, AmeriCorps VISTA positions (Fund Development and Mentor Recruitment), from the BBBSCA homepage (bbbsca.org) and BBBSCA LinkedIn page. EIN 71-0407117 from the ProPublica Nonprofit Explorer BBBS Central Arkansas page. BBBS NWA founded 1993 first match December 1995, 30th anniversary 2025, serves Benton and Washington counties youth ages 6-18 with 60 percent teenagers, individual Big Couple Big Family Big Colleagues formats, 2024 Growth Award from BBBSA, from the BBBS NWA About page (bbbsnwa.org/about) and the Talk Business and Politics March 19 2025 article. Walmart CEO Doug McMillon and COO Kieran Shanahan fireside chat April 30 2025 at Rogers Convention Center 10am to noon with ~400 attendees, BBBSA President and CEO Artis Stevens as keynote speaker, 30th anniversary celebration, from the Talk Business and Politics March 19 2025 article. We are not affiliated with Big Brothers Big Sisters of Arkansas and receive no compensation for this listing. Errors: [email protected]
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