Big Brothers Big Sisters of Connecticut (BBBS of CT) is the result of a 2022 merger between Nutmeg Big Brothers Big Sisters and Big Brothers Big Sisters of Southwestern Connecticut, creating a single unified statewide mentoring organization. Andy Fleischmann serves as President and CEO; he had been CEO at Nutmeg Big Brothers Big Sisters since 2011. Fleischmann is a West Hartford resident and a former 12-term Connecticut state Representative who served as House chairman of the Education Committee. The combined organization operates under a new agreement with Big Brothers Big Sisters of America and makes meaningful, monitored matches between adult volunteers (Bigs) and children (Littles) ages five through young adulthood across the entire state. The website is ctbigs.org. The Designing Big Futures Gala is the organization's annual signature fundraiser. Notable match stories include a 10-year match featured on WFSB-TV and a 20-year match where the Big Sister attended her Little Sister's wedding. Shasity Rios serves as Director of Site and School-based programs. Ted Cutler serves as Emeritus Board Chair and was the 2024 recipient of a gala award.
With more than 100 years of Big Brothers Big Sisters mentoring success as a service template, BBBS of Connecticut invests resources to create enduring, life-enhancing experiences for volunteers and the children they mentor. The organization's mission is to create and support one-to-one mentoring relationships that ignite the power and promise of youth.
The level of anxiety and depression among young people has gone up considerably in recent years. For children who have been through childhood challenges and trauma, the need for mentoring is especially acute. Andy Fleischmann has noted that many families don't realize that Big Brothers Big Sisters is still creating one-to-one mentoring support for kids, and that the organization wants to get the word out that despite whatever stage of the pandemic, BBBS kept adults matched with kids and continues to serve families across Connecticut.
In early 2022, Nutmeg Big Brothers Big Sisters and Big Brothers Big Sisters of Southwestern Connecticut merged to form Big Brothers Big Sisters of Connecticut. The merger created a single, unified statewide organization expected to ramp up the amount of outreach and matching of kids with mentors compared to what the two regional organizations could accomplish separately.
Fleischmann framed the merger rationale: "We were two separate organizations doing the best we could in our regions. But now that we're a single, unified statewide organization, we're expected to ramp up the amount of outreach and matching that we're able to do of kids with mentors." The combined organization operates under a new agreement with Big Brothers Big Sisters of America, the nation's oldest, largest mentoring network.
The merger reflects a national trend in the BBBS network of regional affiliates consolidating into larger geographic entities to achieve operational efficiency and scale. The Connecticut merger brought together Nutmeg's central and northern Connecticut presence with Southwestern Connecticut's Fairfield County and surrounding area operations.
Andy Fleischmann serves as President and CEO of Big Brothers Big Sisters of Connecticut. He had been CEO at Nutmeg Big Brothers Big Sisters since 2011, building the organization to a level of dynamic, forward-thinking impact that earned substantial community recognition. Before joining Big Brothers Big Sisters, Fleischmann was Chief Operating Officer of SpeedReading People.
Fleischmann's political background is distinctive among BBBS affiliate CEOs nationally. He served as a 12-term Connecticut state Representative, serving as House chairman of the Education Committee. The legislative experience in education policy gives Fleischmann a different lens for understanding the school-based programming, youth development policy context, and state government relationship that shapes BBBS of CT's operating environment. He is a West Hartford resident.
Fleischmann is also known for his advocacy work. He wrote about Connecticut's need to do more to help children who have made mistakes to get back on track, such as through providing mentoring and opportunities for productive roles in communities. The advocacy lens aligns with the BBBS of CT mission of serving children facing adversity.
Shasity Rios serves as Director of Site and School-based programs at BBBS of CT. Site-based programs match Bigs with Littles at the Little's school or after-school program rather than in the community. The school-based format removes some of the transportation and scheduling barriers that limit community-based mentoring access for some families. Rios appeared on NBC Connecticut's CT Live program in September to discuss the impact of BBBS site-based programs and the need for volunteers to mentor at-risk students.
Site-based programming is particularly relevant in Connecticut given the state's geography: Connecticut has both dense urban areas (Hartford, New Haven, Bridgeport, Waterbury, Stamford) and suburban and rural areas. The site-based program allows BBBS of CT to serve urban school populations during school hours, tapping into the corporate volunteer base in cities like Hartford and Stamford whose employees can mentor during the workday.
BBBS of CT has featured several exemplary long-term match relationships. Big Brother Alex Beck of Orange, Connecticut, is a longtime BBBS of CT board member who has been matched with his Little Brother Mekhi for ten years. The match was featured in a WFSB-TV segment, bringing public visibility to the 10-year relationship and the depth of commitment that long-term matches represent.
A separate 20-year match was featured on the front page of the Willimantic Chronicle. In this match, the Big Sister attended her Little Sister's wedding during the summer, a milestone that illustrates what happens when a mentoring relationship becomes a lifelong bond extending decades past the formal BBBS match period. The wedding attendance story is the kind of human outcome that communicates the long-term impact of early mentoring investment more vividly than any outcome metric.
The Designing Big Futures Gala is BBBS of CT's annual signature fundraising event. The March 2024 gala generated coverage in the bi-monthly Valley Press newspaper and the North Central News magazine. Ted Cutler, Emeritus Board Chair at BBBS of CT, was honored as the 2024 recipient of a major award at the Gala. Hudson Insurance Group was one of the local sponsors of the annual event.
The Gala brings together corporate partners, major donors, and community leaders to celebrate BBBS of CT's mentoring work and raise funds for ongoing programming. The annual spring timing (March) allows the gala to serve as a capstone to the organization's fundraising year while the new spring volunteer class is being recruited.
Thea Montañez is a proud Latina leader whose dedication to the BBBS of CT mission spans over 20 years. In honor of Hispanic Heritage Month, BBBS of CT celebrated Montañez's commitment and contribution to the organization. Her two-decade connection to BBBS reflects the deep individual roots that anchor successful nonprofit mentoring organizations in their communities.
To become a Big in Connecticut, visit ctbigs.org to start the volunteer application process. The screening process includes application, references, background check, interviews, and orientation. BBBS of CT makes meaningful, monitored matches between adult volunteers (Bigs) and children (Littles) ages five through young adulthood across the entire state. Community-based and site/school-based program options provide flexible volunteer commitment models.
Community-based matches plan activities of their own choosing on their own time across Connecticut communities. Site-based matches meet at the Little's school or after-school program during the school year. The statewide reach of the merged organization allows BBBS of CT to match Bigs and Littles across a broader geography than the pre-merger regional organizations could achieve.
Families can enroll children ages five through young adulthood in BBBS of CT programming. Visit ctbigs.org to start the enrollment process. The enrollment process includes information about the child, the family situation, the child's interests and needs, and any specific mentoring goals. The program is free for families.
The statewide reach of BBBS of CT means that families across Connecticut, from Fairfield County in the southwest to the Willimantic Chronicle coverage area in the northeast, can access BBBS mentoring services. The post-merger organization has a larger service footprint than either predecessor organization had individually.
Donations can be made at ctbigs.org. BBBS of CT is a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt organization with EIN 06-0850379. Donations are tax-deductible. The Designing Big Futures Gala is the largest single fundraising event. Corporate sponsors including Hudson Insurance Group support the Gala and ongoing programming. Foundation grants and individual giving make up the remainder of the fundraising mix.
BBBS of CT files its own Form 990 separately from Big Brothers Big Sisters of America. Match Support Specialist staffing represents a significant share of operating costs because each Big and Little match requires ongoing professional case management. The statewide post-merger footprint requires Match Support Specialists placed across Connecticut's multiple major population centers rather than clustered in a single regional hub.
For pure scale of youth-serving nonprofit infrastructure in Connecticut, the YMCA associations across Connecticut reach more children annually through after-school programming and community centers. For one-to-one structured mentoring specifically, BBBS of CT is the largest single statewide mentoring agency.
BBBS of CT's specific advantages: the post-merger statewide reach covering all of Connecticut, the 100-plus years of BBBS mentoring history as the organizational template, Andy Fleischmann's dual CEO continuity (Nutmeg BBBS since 2011, merged BBBS of CT since 2022), the Education Committee legislative background that Fleischmann brings, the long-term match stories (10-year Alex Beck and Mekhi match, 20-year Big Sister attending wedding), the Designing Big Futures Gala community fundraising infrastructure, and the site-based programs under Shasity Rios's leadership reaching at-risk students in school settings.
Practical framing: for parents looking for a structured mentor for their child anywhere in Connecticut, BBBS of CT is the largest and most established statewide one-to-one mentoring agency. For adults looking to mentor a young person anywhere in the state, the merged organization offers the broadest geographic reach. For donors interested in Connecticut youth mentoring, BBBS of CT represents the largest unified channel.
Last updated May 2026. BBBS of CT formed from 2022 merger of Nutmeg Big Brothers Big Sisters and BBBS of Southwestern Connecticut creating statewide organization, with Andy Fleischmann as President and CEO (CEO at Nutmeg since 2011), from the Jewish Ledger April 2022 article and NBC Connecticut February 2022 Fleischmann interview. Fleischmann background as COO of SpeedReading People and 12-term Connecticut state Representative serving as House chairman of Education Committee, West Hartford resident, from the Jewish Ledger article. Fleischmann quote about two separate organizations doing the best in their regions now as single unified statewide organization ramping up matching, anxiety and depression among young people going up, families not realizing BBBS still here, from NBC Connecticut interview. Shasity Rios as Director of Site and School-based programs interviewed by Taylor Kinzler on NBC Connecticut CT Live in September about impact of site-based programs and need for volunteers to mentor at-risk students, from the BBBS of CT News page (ctbigs.org/news/). Big Brother Alex Beck of Orange CT as longtime BBBS of CT Board Member with 10-year match with Little Brother Mekhi featured on WFSB-TV 4:30pm news broadcast, from the BBBS of CT News page. 20-year match featured on front page of Willimantic Chronicle with Big Sister attending Little Sister's wedding, from the BBBS of CT News page. Designing Big Futures Gala March 2024 with coverage in bi-monthly Valley Press newspaper and North Central News magazine (April 2024 print edition), Ted Cutler Emeritus Board Chair as 2024 gala award recipient, Hudson Insurance Group as local sponsor, from the BBBS of CT News page. Thea Montanez as proud Latina leader with 20+ years dedication celebrated during Hispanic Heritage Month, from the BBBS of CT LinkedIn page. EIN 06-0850379 from the ProPublica Nonprofit Explorer BBBS of CT page. We are not affiliated with Big Brothers Big Sisters of Connecticut and receive no compensation for this listing. Errors: [email protected]
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