Big Brothers Big Sisters of Greater Birmingham is the leading one-to-one mentoring agency serving central Alabama. The agency was founded in January 1973 and celebrated its 50th anniversary in January 2023. Today, BBBS Birmingham operates in six counties (Jefferson, Shelby, Blount, Walker, Chilton, and St. Clair) and offers six different mentoring programs, helping over 700 children annually. Sue Johnson serves as President and CEO; she has been with the agency since 1991 and CEO since 1999 (originally agreeing to serve as interim CEO for six months and remaining at the helm 25+ years later). Johnson has been named Birmingham Business Journal CEO of the Year. The agency has received the Gold Standard Award from BBBS of America, the Parents Choice Award from the Birmingham Business Alliance, the Alfred P. Sloan Award for Business Excellence in Workplace Flexibility, and the 2023 and 2024 BBBS of America Growth Awards. The agency recently implemented Big Futures, which extends the mentoring relationship until age 25 for Littles who are gainfully employed, going to the military, going to a trade school, or going to college. Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Alabama produces the agency's annual Bigs and Littles of the Year videos.
BBBS Birmingham matches caring mentors with children facing adversity in the Greater Birmingham area. The agency's mission is to create and support one-to-one mentoring relationships that ignite the power and promise of youth. With humble beginnings of a small team, limited resources, and a sincere passion for serving the youth of Birmingham, the agency has grown to operate in six counties offering six different programs, with dedication that has helped over 700 children annually.
Sue Johnson has described the mentoring impact in her years observing matches: she has seen children come in being pressured to join gangs, do drugs at school, or get into other trouble, then matched with Bigs and watched the transformation begin once they start spending time together. Johnson has watched Littles in the program go on to become doctors, serve in the military, and pursue any number of other accomplishments. Many of the matches turn into lifelong friendships, and they all change lives for the better, both for the Big and the Little.
BBBS Birmingham opened its doors in January 1973. The agency celebrated its 50th anniversary in January 2023 with sustained programming, community recognition, and continued growth. The 1973 founding date makes BBBS Birmingham one of the established BBBS affiliates in the Deep South region. Over 50 years, the agency has accumulated institutional history, family relationships, corporate partnership infrastructure, and a deep network of alumni Littles who have become Bigs themselves.
Sue Johnson serves as President and CEO of BBBS Birmingham. Her background is in social work: she worked as a counselor in a battered women's shelter in Montgomery and as a medical social worker at Jackson Hospital before moving to Birmingham. When she moved to Birmingham, she wanted to work at something preventive, which led her to BBBS Birmingham.
Johnson joined the agency in 1991 as Program Director. When she stepped away from that role to be a stay-at-home mom, she remained involved by serving on the BBBS Birmingham Board of Directors. Later, she was asked to return as interim CEO and agreed to serve for six months in 1999. 25+ years later, she is still at the helm of the agency. The unusual depth of Johnson's institutional knowledge and CEO tenure is one of BBBS Birmingham's distinctive operational characteristics compared with peer BBBS affiliates that have had less continuity in CEO leadership.
Johnson has framed the mentoring relationship simply: "It's a friendship that you form; you don't have to be the wisest person in the world; you just go and hang out with a kid. It's through that time together that the mentoring and relationship evolve. Once we match a child with a mentor, we have a whole department to support that match. They're never alone. There's always somebody there to give them advice, get free tickets, and give them ideas for outings. They have their own match support specialist."
BBBS Birmingham operates in six Alabama counties. Jefferson County (which contains the City of Birmingham itself) is the population core of the service area. Shelby County is the suburban county south of Birmingham, including Pelham and Alabaster. Blount County is north of Birmingham, including Oneonta. Walker County is northwest of Birmingham, including Jasper. Chilton County is south of Birmingham, including Clanton. St. Clair County is east of Birmingham, including Pell City.
The six-county service area covers much of central Alabama. Kiranda Robbins serves as the Walker and Winston County Program Director with 19 years at the agency (interned in 2006, hired shortly after). The Walker County programming expansion reflects the agency's commitment to serving smaller cities and rural counties beyond just the Birmingham urban core. The diversified six-county geography requires sustained Program Director staffing across multiple service areas.
BBBS Birmingham offers six different mentoring programs, allowing the agency to meet families and youth where they are rather than requiring a one-size-fits-all approach. The community-based program is the traditional one-to-one friendship-style mentoring with Bigs and Littles meeting outside structured program settings. The site-based corporate program matches local corporations with schools, where employee Bigs are matched one-to-one with a student from the partner school and the matches meet in a group setting twice a month at the partner corporation.
The Big Futures program extends the mentoring relationship until age 25 for Littles who are gainfully employed, going to the military, going to a trade school, or going to college. Big Futures addresses the critical post-high-school transition period when many young adults make significant decisions about career, education, and family. Other programs include school-based mentoring, specialty programs, and additional formats that capture specific subpopulations of youth.
BBBS Birmingham has received substantial recognition for its programming and operations. Sue Johnson has been named Birmingham Business Journal CEO of the Year. The agency has received the Gold Standard Award presented by Big Brothers Big Sisters of America (the recognition for top performing BBBS agencies based on outcomes metrics).
The Parents Choice Award presented by the Birmingham Business Alliance recognizes employer-friendly nonprofit organizations. The Alfred P. Sloan Award for Business Excellence in Workplace Flexibility recognizes the agency's workplace policies. The 2023 and 2024 Big Brothers Big Sisters of America Growth Awards recognize BBBS Birmingham's recent expansion in match numbers and program reach. The combination of awards across CEO leadership, organizational quality, workplace excellence, and growth makes BBBS Birmingham one of the most recognized BBBS affiliates in the Southeast.
The 2025 Bigs and Littles of the Year videos featured Andrew and Kristian and Sarah and Jalisha. The 2024 Bigs and Littles of the Year videos featured Kyle and Bradley and Franai and Alyssa. Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Alabama produces the annual Bigs and Littles of the Year videos, providing high-quality recognition for exemplary matches.
The Bigs and Littles of the Year recognition is part of the agency's broader programming including annual fundraising events like A Night of Big Stars. The matches recognized each year represent the long-term, consistent relationships between Bigs and Littles that drive positive outcomes including the school improvements, drug avoidance, and family relationships that BBBS research has documented.
BBBS Birmingham programming is made possible in part by funding through the Alabama Department of Child Abuse and Neglect Prevention. The state agency funding reflects the recognition that structured mentoring serves as a child abuse and neglect prevention tool by providing children with additional caring adult relationships and reducing the isolation that can contribute to abuse and neglect risk.
The Alabama state funding integrates BBBS Birmingham with the broader child welfare system in Alabama. The agency's social work background (Johnson's social work training, the long Match Support Specialist case management infrastructure) aligns with child welfare professional practice. The Birmingham Housing Authority President and CEO was recently named to the BBBS Birmingham Board of Directors, reflecting expanding connection with public sector partners.
Shannon Belmont serves as Chief Operating Officer of BBBS Birmingham. Belmont joined the agency in 2005 and maintains accounts payable, accounts receivable, personnel documentation, meeting minutes, grant reporting, and many other operational duties of the nonprofit. Kasey has worked for BBBS Birmingham since September 2022 (after three years with BBBS of Snohomish County in Washington State), with a Bachelor's degree from the University of Alabama and a Master's degree from Florida State University, both in Social Work. Kiranda Robbins serves as the Walker and Winston County Program Director with 19 years at the agency.
To become a Big with BBBS Birmingham, visit bbbsbhm.org. The screening process includes application, references, background check, interviews, and orientation. The agency makes meaningful, monitored matches between adult volunteers and children across the six-county central Alabama service area.
The community-based program offers maximum flexibility with Bigs and Littles meeting outside structured program settings. The site-based corporate program offers structured workplace mentoring during business hours. Big Futures extends the relationship for Littles transitioning to employment, military, trade school, or college. The six program options allow the agency to match volunteer Bigs with the program format that fits their availability and goals.
Families can enroll children in BBBS Birmingham programming. Visit bbbsbhm.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.
Many BBBS Birmingham Littles are referred by Alabama schools, social workers, faith communities, or the Alabama Department of Child Abuse and Neglect Prevention through its funded programs. Family self-referrals are also welcomed. The Match Support Specialist team identifies a Big whose background, interests, and availability best match the Little's profile.
Donations can be made at bbbsbhm.org. BBBS Birmingham is a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt organization. Donations are tax-deductible. The agency runs Casual Day workplace fundraising events ("dress down" or wear jeans to work in exchange for a small donation) and welcomes corporate staff presentations about being a Big (as short as 15 minutes).
Major corporate partnerships include Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Alabama (annual Bigs and Littles of the Year videos), the Birmingham Business Alliance member network (Parents Choice Award), and the Birmingham Business Journal corporate community (CEO of the Year recognition). The Alabama Department of Child Abuse and Neglect Prevention provides state government funding for specific programming. Foundation grants and individual giving make up the remainder of the fundraising mix. The agency hosts A Night of Big Stars as a signature fundraiser.
BBBS Birmingham files its own Form 990 separately from Big Brothers Big Sisters of America. Match Support Specialist staffing across the six-county service area represents a significant share of operating costs. The 700+ children helped annually generate substantial professional case management workload.
The decentralized six-county geography requires Program Directors and Match Support Specialists in multiple locations, including the Walker and Winston County Program Director position. The state government funding from the Alabama Department of Child Abuse and Neglect Prevention helps offset programming costs, particularly for at-risk youth referrals that overlap with child welfare system needs.
For pure scale of youth-serving nonprofit infrastructure in central Alabama, Boys and Girls Clubs of Central Alabama reaches more children annually through after-school programming, the YMCA of Greater Birmingham operates extensive community programming, and many other youth-serving nonprofits operate at scale. For one-to-one structured mentoring specifically, BBBS Birmingham is the largest single agency in central Alabama with 700+ children annually across the six-county service area.
BBBS Birmingham's specific advantages: the 50-year institutional history with Sue Johnson's 25+ year CEO continuity, the six-county central Alabama service area, the six different mentoring programs, the BBBS of America Gold Standard and 2023 and 2024 Growth Awards, the Birmingham Business Journal CEO of the Year and other corporate recognition, the Alabama Department of Child Abuse and Neglect Prevention state funding, the Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Alabama corporate partnership, and the recently implemented Big Futures program extending mentoring until age 25.
Practical framing: for parents looking for a structured mentor for their child in Jefferson, Shelby, Blount, Walker, Chilton, or St. Clair County, BBBS Birmingham is the largest and most established one-to-one mentoring agency. For adults looking to mentor a young person in central Alabama, the agency offers six program options. For donors interested in central Alabama youth mentoring, BBBS Birmingham represents the largest channel.
Last updated May 2026. BBBS Birmingham 50th anniversary January 2023 (founded January 1973), 6 counties (Jefferson Shelby Blount Walker Chilton St. Clair), 6 different programs, 700+ children annually, from the BBBS Birmingham LinkedIn page and the Birmingham Christian Family Magazine 50 Years article. Sue Johnson as CEO since 1999 after joining agency 1991 as Program Director (originally interim CEO for 6 months staying 25+ years), background in social work (counselor at battered women's shelter Montgomery, medical social worker Jackson Hospital), from the StyleBlueprint FACE of Birmingham Sue Johnson July 2024 article and the Birmingham Christian Family 50 Years article. Big Futures program allowing Littles staying until age 25 if employed, military, trade school, or college, from the StyleBlueprint article. Awards (Birmingham Business Journal CEO of the Year for Johnson, Gold Standard Award presented by BBBS of America, Parents Choice Award from Birmingham Business Alliance, Alfred P. Sloan Award Excellence in Workplace Flexibility, 2023 and 2024 BBBS of America Growth Awards) from the BBBS Birmingham Our Team page. Shannon Belmont as COO joining 2005, Kasey from University of Alabama Bachelor's and Florida State Master's both in Social Work joining September 2022 (with 3 years prior at BBBS of Snohomish County WA), Kiranda Robbins as Walker and Winston County Program Director with 19 years (intern 2006), from the BBBS Birmingham Our Team page. Sue Johnson 1,400 girls and boys matched comment plus Bigs and Littles spending several hours each month together plus pizza basketball car ride activities reference from the Alabama News Center March 2020 social distancing article. Programming partly funded by Alabama Department of Child Abuse and Neglect Prevention, 2024 Bigs and Littles of Year videos featuring Kyle and Bradley plus Franai and Alyssa, 2025 videos featuring Andrew and Kristian plus Sarah and Jalisha both produced by Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Alabama, plus Birmingham Housing Authority President and CEO recently named to Board of Directors, from the BBBS Birmingham homepage. Site-based corporate program matching local corporation with school plus employee Bigs one-to-one with student from partner school meeting in group setting twice a month at partner corporation, plus Casual Day workplace fundraising option, plus 15-minute staff presentations on being a Big, from the BBBS Birmingham Corporate Partners page. We are not affiliated with Big Brothers Big Sisters of Greater Birmingham and receive no compensation for this listing. Errors: [email protected]
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