Big Brothers Big Sisters of Central Indiana pairs local kids with adult volunteers who show up for them, week after week, across Marion, Hamilton, and Johnson counties. The agency took its current shape in 2002, when Big Brothers of Greater Indianapolis joined with Big Sisters of Central Indiana. Darcey Palmer-Shultz has run it as CEO since 2006. The office sits at 1433 N Meridian Street in downtown Indianapolis, and the work splits into three tracks: traditional one-to-one community mentoring, school and site-based matches with family support, and the Beyond 18 program that keeps supporting young people as they head into college and work.
The model is simple and it has barely changed in a century: take one screened adult, match them with one child who could use another grown-up in their corner, and keep checking in so the relationship lasts. In Central Indiana the children are called Littles and the volunteers are Bigs. Professional staff handle the screening, the matching, and the regular support calls that keep a match on track once it starts. Most of the kids come from single-parent or low-income households, and many are referred by a parent, a teacher, or a caseworker who sees a child who would benefit from steady attention from someone outside the family.
Darcey Palmer-Shultz has been with the agency since 2006 and serves as its CEO. In 2012 the Indianapolis Business Journal named her to its Forty Under 40 list. Around her sits a senior team that has stayed fairly stable: Amy Essley as Chief Program Officer, Caitlin Bain as Chief Development Officer, Katie Shields as Chief Financial Officer, and Camille Bohall overseeing mentoring programs. That continuity matters more than it sounds, because the quality of a Big Brothers Big Sisters affiliate lives in the unglamorous work of matching and match support, and turnover at the top tends to show up later as matches that quietly fall apart.
The service area covers three counties on and around Indianapolis. Marion County holds the city itself and most of the demand, with the wide range of need you would expect in a large urban county. Hamilton County to the north is one of the wealthiest counties in Indiana, which changes the picture: there the agency leans more on the volunteer and donor base than on referrals. Johnson County to the south is a mix of suburban and small-town communities. A child or family has to live in one of the three counties to be matched, and volunteers generally need to live or work close enough to meet their Little regularly.
The classic version. A Big and Little meet on their own schedule for outings, sports, homework, or just time together. Built on the same one-to-one model the organization has used for over 100 years.
Matches meet at a school or partner site, which removes the transport and scheduling hurdles that stop some families from taking part. Family support staff stay involved alongside the match.
Support does not have to stop when a Little turns 18. Beyond 18 helps older youth navigate the jump to college, training, and work, a stretch where many young people lose their footing.
Indianapolis is a sports town, and the agency has put that to work. In 2025 it teamed up with the Indianapolis Motor Speedway on a campaign to recruit 500 new Bigs ahead of the Indianapolis 500, and the pro soccer club Indy Eleven has run a "Kick for a Cause" night with the agency as the spotlight partner. On the fundraising side, the three signature events are The Main Event, Play for Kids, and Crew for Kids. These partnerships do double duty: they bring in money, and they put the agency in front of thousands of potential volunteers at once.
Start the application at bebigforkids.org. After the form comes an interview and a background check, then staff look for a Little whose interests and personality fit yours and who lives close enough to meet without a long drive. Bigs are asked to commit for at least a year, because the whole point is consistency. If a yearlong one-to-one match feels like too much at first, the site-based program asks for less travel and a lighter schedule, and is a good way to start.
Donations go through bebigforkids.org, and the agency is a 501(c)(3), so gifts are tax-deductible. Beyond one-off donations, the budget leans on the three annual events and on corporate partners around Indianapolis, including ties to the Motor Speedway and Indy Eleven. If you want your money to stay local, this is a cleaner route than giving to a national charity and hoping some of it filters back to Indiana, because every dollar raised here funds matches here.
If you measure by sheer number of kids reached, the Boys & Girls Clubs and the YMCA branches around Indianapolis serve more children through drop-in and after-school programming. What Big Brothers Big Sisters of Central Indiana offers that they do not is the matched, one-to-one relationship: one adult, one child, tracked and supported by staff over time. For a parent who wants a specific, dependable mentor for their kid rather than a room full of activities, that is the difference. For a donor or volunteer, the three-county focus means the impact is easy to see and stays close to home.
Sources: Big Brothers Big Sisters of Central Indiana website and staff page (bebigforkids.org), the agency's GuideStar and ProPublica nonprofit filings (EIN 35-1323831), and 2025 partnership announcements from the Indianapolis Motor Speedway and Indy Eleven. We are not affiliated with Big Brothers Big Sisters of Central Indiana and receive no compensation for this listing. Spotted an error? [email protected]
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