Big Brothers Big Sisters of Kentuckiana is the leading one-to-one mentoring organization serving the Louisville metro area and Southern Indiana (Jeffersonville, Clarksville, and New Albany). Gary Friedman serves as CEO. During his tenure, the organization has earned three straight national awards for excellence from Big Brothers Big Sisters of America. BBBSKY has more than 200 young people on the waitlist for its services. The average length of community-based mentor relationships is 3 years. Friedman was selected by Louisville Mayor Craig Greenberg to serve on the city's new Community Safety Commission in September 2025, reflecting community safety and violence prevention being central to the BBBSKY mission. Louisville Metro Government formed a partnership with BBBSKY encouraging 5,000 Metro Government employees to become mentors to prevent violent crime through proactive youth mentoring. The Emerging Leaders Council is a young professionals program for leadership development. Friedman brings 26 years of college athletics administration experience including 10 years at the University of Louisville plus prior work at Kentucky Venues, Learfield Sports, and St. Joseph Children's Home. Jess Wells serves as Chief Development Officer. The headquarters is at 1519 Gardiner Lane, Louisville KY 40218, phone (502) 753-3764.
BBBSKY is transforming the Louisville community through professionally supported, one-to-one mentorship matches that empower young people to achieve their full potential. What sets BBBSKY's youth mentoring services apart is the intentional matching process, ensuring every Big and Little has common interests and each match is set up for long-lasting success. The professional Match Support staff provides high-quality support throughout the entirety of every mentor relationship.
The process works: the average length of community-based mentor relationships at BBBSKY is 3 years. Longtime Little Jazmin shares how the BBBSKY program has impacted her life. The breadth of Louisville and Southern Indiana communities BBBSKY serves reflects the cross-state metropolitan character of the Kentuckiana region, where many residents live in Indiana and work or socialize in Kentucky and vice versa.
Gary Friedman serves as CEO of Big Brothers Big Sisters of Kentuckiana. Friedman spent 26 years working as a college athletics administrator, including ten years at the University of Louisville. He also worked locally for Kentucky Venues (Chief Revenue Officer at Kentucky Venues owns the Kentucky International Convention Center and the Kentucky Expo Center in Louisville), at the KFC Yum! Center with Learfield Sports and building manager AEG, and at St. Joseph Children's Home.
Friedman has extensive expertise in all areas of the nonprofit industry, including childcare agencies, college athletics, and leading external units for several universities with strong expertise in revenue generation. His passion for seeing that all youth in the Louisville metro and Southern Indiana area realize their full potential drives his BBBSKY leadership. During his tenure, BBBSKY has earned three straight national awards for excellence from Big Brothers Big Sisters of America.
Friedman serves nationally on the Big Vision committee, which consists of over 20 CEOs from BBBS affiliates across the nation looking at best practices and visionary concepts to help youth. Locally, he also serves on several committees, including the Louisville Metro Government's Community Safety Commission.
In September 2025, Louisville Mayor Craig Greenberg announced the members of the new Community Safety Commission as part of his Safe Louisville crime plan. BBBSKY CEO Gary Friedman was selected to serve on the Commission, which aims to create a safer, stronger, healthier Louisville.
The commission is comprised of three groups: nine citizen representatives (one from each of Louisville's police divisions, and one representing home rule cities), eight community organization representatives, and seven government representatives. Mayor Greenberg: "In Louisville, we're fortunate to have so many people committed to the work of public safety, and this is an amazing opportunity to tap into that resource and collaborate."
Friedman on being selected: "It is truly an honor to be selected to the new Community Safety Commission. This work is mission critical for the communities we serve at Big Brothers Big Sisters of Kentuckiana. Youth mentoring is proven to be one of the most proactive, effective tools to create positive change in the community, and I look forward to working alongside all of these community leaders to advance meaningful strategies that reduce violence and build trust across the Louisville Metro area."
Louisville Metro Government formed a partnership with BBBSKY to curb youth violence. The partnership encourages 5,000 people who work for Metro Government to become mentors, with hopes of preventing violent crime through the proactive impact of youth mentoring. The partnership reflects Louisville local government's recognition that mentoring is a preventive anti-crime tool as well as a youth development investment.
The 5,000-employee-mentor target is ambitious. For reference, BBBSKY has 200+ children on its current waitlist. If even a fraction of the 5,000 targeted Metro Government employees become active Bigs, the program could substantially close the gap between match supply and Little demand. The Metro Government partnership provides BBBSKY with access to a large pool of potential Bigs drawn from the city's stable government employment base.
BBBSKY has more than 200 young people on the waitlist for its services. Many of the youth waiting for a mentor are young Black boys, and BBBSKY has seen firsthand how powerful it is when they are matched with a Big who shares their lived experiences. Friedman and marketing and communications manager Bryce Shreve appeared in a January 2026 Spectrum News 1 segment to discuss National Mentoring Month and the waitlist urgency, holding up two fingers to represent that "it takes two people to create a mentorship that lasts."
The recruitment of Black male Bigs is a sustained BBBSKY focus. The national BBBSA data showing a 7 percent increase in Black males volunteering (cited at the Greater New Orleans relaunch) reflects a positive national trend, but the specific waitlist demographics at BBBSKY mean sustained local recruitment effort remains necessary.
BBBSKY launched the Emerging Leaders Council (ELC), a young professionals group offering nonprofit leadership experience. Applications are open for the ELC where young professionals are invited to help shape the future of mentorship in Louisville and Southern Indiana. The ELC serves both as a leadership development vehicle for young professionals and as a pipeline for future BBBSKY board members, donors, and community ambassadors.
BBBSKY's March fundraising campaign called Match Madness aligns with the NCAA basketball tournament. The campaign allows supporters to support local youth in multiple ways: signing up to become a mentor, entering to win tickets for a Final Four experience, or dining at participating restaurants in Dine to Donate events that give back to BBBSKY. The Louisville area's deep basketball culture (University of Louisville, nearby University of Kentucky, the NBA-level excitement around college basketball) makes March a natural fundraising hook.
To become a Big, visit bbbsky.org to start the volunteer application process. The screening process includes application, references, background check, interviews, and orientation. BBBSKY serves Louisville metro and Southern Indiana (Jeffersonville, Clarksville, and New Albany across the Ohio River). BBBSKY offers several flexible mentorship programs designed to fit different lifestyles. The intentional matching process ensures every Big and Little has common interests and each match is set up for long-lasting success.
The average length of community-based mentor relationships at BBBSKY is 3 years. Mentoring in Louisville and Southern Indiana doesn't take much time, but it makes a lifetime of difference. Each Big and Little match is built on friendship, trust, and shared experiences that support growth and connection.
Donations can be made at bbbsky.org. BBBSKY is a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt organization with EIN 61-6057856. Donations are tax-deductible. Jess Wells serves as Chief Development Officer at (502) 753-3764. The Match Madness campaign (March), Dine to Donate restaurant events, and the Final Four Raffle provide supplemental fundraising. Corporate partnerships, foundation grants, and individual giving make up the broader fundraising mix. BBBSKY as Kentuckiana's leading youth services nonprofit is powered by donors who believe in the life-changing power of mentoring.
BBBSKY files its own Form 990 separately from Big Brothers Big Sisters of America. Match Support Specialist staffing represents a significant share of operating costs. The 200+ waitlist count reflects the demand-supply gap that requires ongoing investment in Bigs recruitment alongside Match Specialist staffing. Three straight national excellence awards from BBBSA reflect the program quality that sustained funding enables.
For pure scale of youth-serving nonprofit infrastructure in Louisville, Boys and Girls Clubs of Kentuckiana reaches more children annually through after-school programming. For one-to-one structured mentoring specifically, BBBSKY is the largest single agency in the Louisville and Southern Indiana region with the depth of intentional matching, professional Match Support, and average 3-year relationship length that distinguishes structured mentoring from other youth program formats.
BBBSKY's specific advantages: the three straight BBBSA national excellence awards, Gary Friedman's 26-year college athletics administration background (revenue generation, relationship building, institutional management), the Louisville Metro Government 5,000-employee-mentor partnership, Friedman's Community Safety Commission appointment by Mayor Greenberg, the Big Vision national committee participation alongside 20+ BBBS CEOs, the Emerging Leaders Council young professionals program, and the Match Madness fundraising creative that leverages Louisville's deep basketball culture.
Last updated May 2026. Gary Friedman as CEO, 3 straight national awards for excellence from BBBSA, 200+ young people on waitlist, quote about it taking two people to form a mentoring relationship, from the Spectrum News 1 January 2026 article with Friedman and marketing manager Bryce Shreve. Friedman background (26 years college athletics admin including 10 years University of Louisville, Kentucky Venues Chief Revenue Officer owning KY International Convention Center and KY Expo Center, KFC Yum! Center Learfield Sports and building manager AEG, St. Joseph Children's Home, Big Vision national committee 20+ BBBS CEOs), from the BBBSKY Team page (bbbsky.org/team). Headquarters 1519 Gardiner Lane Louisville KY 40218-4519, phone (502) 753-3764, EIN 61-6057856, Jess Wells as Chief Development Officer, from the GuideStar BBBSKY profile. Louisville Mayor Craig Greenberg Community Safety Commission appointment of Friedman September 2025, commission comprising nine citizen representatives plus eight community organization representatives plus seven government representatives, Friedman quote about mission critical work and proactive effective tools to create positive change, from the BBBSKY September 2025 blog post. Louisville Metro Government partnership encouraging 5,000 Metro Government employees to become mentors to curb youth violence, average community-based match length 3 years, many youth waiting are young Black boys, Emerging Leaders Council young professionals group applications open, from the BBBSKY homepage and Be a Big page. Match Madness March fundraising campaign with Final Four Raffle and Dine to Donate events, from the BBBSKY homepage. We are not affiliated with Big Brothers Big Sisters of Kentuckiana and receive no compensation for this listing. Errors: [email protected]
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