Big Brothers Big Sisters of Metropolitan Chicago (BBBSChi) is an affiliate of Big Brothers Big Sisters of America. The agency provides high-quality one-to-one mentoring services to nearly 2,000 children and their families in Metro Chicago across four counties (Cook, DuPage, and Lake counties in Illinois plus Lake County in Indiana). BBBSChi has provided high-quality, measurable, outcome-based services to high-needs children and families across the entire metropolitan Chicago area for nearly 50 years. Jeremy Foster serves as President and CEO. In 2024 the agency delivered 71,600+ hours of mentorship and invested $5.6 million in mission delivery, averaging two new matches every day. The agency expanded with four new neighborhood offices in early 2024 (North Chicago, Merrillville Indiana, Auburn Gresham in South Chicago, and Homewood in southern Cook County), plus a DuPage County office opened later in 2024. Private corporate, foundation, and individual contributions provide approximately 90 percent of the revenue base. As Metro Chicago and Northwest Indiana's largest donor and volunteer-supported mentoring network, BBBSChi makes meaningful, monitored matches between adult volunteers and children from age seven through high school graduation.
The core program is professional one-to-one mentoring across the four-county service area. Bigs are matched with Littles ages seven through high school graduation in structured relationships supported by Program Managers at each office. The Big Brothers Big Sisters Youth Outcomes Survey substantiates that BBBSChi mentoring programs produce proven, positive academic, socio-emotional, and behavioral outcomes for youth.
The agency offers community-based mentoring (Bigs and Littles meet for outings across Chicagoland and Northwest Indiana), workplace mentoring (corporate partners host on-site programming during business hours), and group mentoring formats. Long-term, impactful mentoring relationships between mentors and their mentees help promote understanding, provide new perspectives, and provide stability for youth in difficult yet formative times.
BBBSChi serves four counties. Cook County (the central county containing the City of Chicago) is the largest service area; the agency's headquarters at 560 W. Lake Street is in the West Loop area of central Chicago. DuPage County (the western suburbs) is served through a regional office opened in 2024. Lake County Illinois (the northern suburbs including Waukegan and North Chicago) is served through the North Chicago office at 1801 Sheridan Road Suite 100. Lake County Indiana (Northwest Indiana including Gary, Hammond, and Merrillville) is served through the Merrillville Indiana office.
The four-county service model is one of the larger geographic service areas in the BBBSA national network. The cross-state coverage (Illinois plus Indiana) requires coordination with separate state social services systems and educational systems, but allows BBBSChi to serve the natural Metropolitan Chicago commuting and population zone rather than artificial state boundaries. Northwest Indiana families regularly commute into Chicago for work, education, and social services; the BBBSChi model recognizes this reality.
Throughout January and February 2024, BBBSChi opened four new neighborhood offices as part of its strategic plan to invest in communities where there is a high need for youth mentorship. The agency prioritized physical locations in North Chicago, Merrillville, Auburn Gresham, and Homewood as central regions to reach underserved communities and ensure every child has equitable access to positive mentors and opportunities.
The North Chicago office at 1801 Sheridan Rd Suite 100 was inaugurated with a ribbon cutting on February 15, 2024 with Jeremy Foster (CEO), community partners Steans Family Foundation, and Illinois State Senator Javier Cervantes. Funding for the Lake County Illinois expansion came in part from the Illinois Department of Human Services to support BBBSChi's North Chicago outreach. The Merrillville office serves Northwest Indiana. The Auburn Gresham office serves the South Chicago community area. The Homewood office serves Southern Cook County.
A fifth regional office opened in DuPage County in 2024 to complete the strategic plan. The five-office network plus the central headquarters allows BBBSChi to maintain in-person community presence across the entire metropolitan service area rather than asking families to travel into downtown Chicago for program participation.
Jeremy Foster serves as President and CEO of BBBSChi. Under Foster's leadership, the agency executed the 2024 strategic plan for community-based office expansion, scaled the matching pace to two new matches every day on average, grew the program portfolio across community-based and workplace mentoring models, and built the corporate and foundation partnership base that provides approximately 90 percent of BBBSChi revenue.
Foster has cited specific partnerships including The Service Club of Chicago technology grant that funded a new agency server and IT infrastructure improvements. The grant enabled BBBSChi to streamline communications, securely store important data, and expand its reach to more youth and families throughout Chicagoland. Foster has framed this kind of foundation partnership as evidence of what collaboration between funders and nonprofits can deliver.
Community-based mentoring is the largest program model at BBBSChi. The professional staff makes meaningful, monitored matches between adult volunteers and children from age seven through high school graduation. Matches commit to meeting regularly through the match relationship. Activities range from simple outings (parks, libraries, museums) to longer-term skill-building (homework help, college and career exploration, life skills development).
Workplace mentoring is one of BBBSChi's growing program areas. Corporate partners host on-site mentoring during business hours, allowing employees to mentor a Little without the time commitment of community-based mentoring. Group mentoring and other structured program models supplement the one-to-one approaches. The Pathways to Success framing recognizes that pathways are not the same for each youth; programming highlights the development of both academic and non-academic skills.
The Big Brothers Big Sisters Youth Outcomes Survey provides BBBSChi with measurable evidence of mentoring program impact. Long-term outcomes tracking enables the agency to demonstrate effectiveness to funders and to refine programming based on what works. The Outcomes Survey results align with broader BBBSA national research findings.
In 2024 Big Brothers Big Sisters of America launched groundbreaking research on the long-term impacts of mentorship. Rooted in 30 years of data, the study provides evidence of greater enrollment in higher education, increased salaries, reduced dependency on social services, and improved behavioral outcomes for mentored youth. BBBSChi participates in the national research framework and contributes data on its 2,000-plus children served annually to the broader BBBSA evidence base.
The 30-year longitudinal research findings provide BBBSChi (and other BBBSA affiliates) with quantitative evidence to support fundraising, corporate partnership recruitment, and policy advocacy. The Defenders of Potential brand framing reflects the data-driven case that one-to-one mentoring produces measurable lifetime benefits for youth and their communities.
The Leadership Board of BBBSChi hosts the annual BIG Bash event in celebration and support of Big Brothers Big Sisters life-changing mentoring programs. The 14th Annual BIG Bash event continued the tradition of bringing together donors, corporate partners, Bigs, Littles, and community leaders to fundraise for the BBBSChi mission. The BIG Bash is one of the larger Chicago-area youth nonprofit fundraising events each year.
Other signature events include Bowl for Kids Sake (the BBBSA-network-wide signature event format, hosted locally by BBBSChi each year), Workplace Mentoring program receptions and recognition events, and various corporate partner-specific gatherings. The events serve both fundraising and friend-raising functions: introducing potential new Bigs, donors, and corporate partners to the BBBSChi mission.
To become a Big with BBBSChi, visit bbbschgo.org and complete the volunteer interest form. The screening process includes application, references, background check, interviews, and orientation. Bigs are matched with Littles whose interests, schedules, and personalities align well. Community-based matches commit to regular meetings with their Little; workplace matches commit to corporate-host program hours.
Volunteer training and ongoing support are provided by the BBBSChi Program Manager team. Each Big and Little is supported by a dedicated Program Manager who facilitates communication, addresses concerns, and provides program resources. The professional case management distinguishes BBBSChi mentoring from informal mentoring and is part of what makes the agency's outcomes credible.
Families can enroll children ages seven through high school graduation in BBBSChi programming. Visit bbbschgo.org and complete the youth enrollment form. The enrollment process includes information about the child, the family situation, the child's interests and needs, and any specific mentoring goals. BBBSChi staff then identifies a Big whose background, interests, and availability best match the Little's profile.
Many Littles are referred by schools, social workers, faith communities, or other professionals. Schools across the four-county service area are particularly important referral sources given the site-based and workplace mentoring program models. Family self-referrals are also welcomed. The program is free for families.
Donations can be made at bbbschgo.org/donate or by mail to BBBSChi's headquarters at 560 W. Lake Street Suite 100 in Chicago. Private corporate, foundation, and individual contributions provide approximately 90 percent of BBBSChi's revenue base; the remaining revenue includes government grants (like the Illinois Department of Human Services North Chicago outreach funding) and special events.
Major corporate partnerships drive much of BBBSChi's fundraising success. Workplace Mentoring Program corporate partners contribute both volunteer hours and financial support. Foundation grants from the Steans Family Foundation, the Service Club of Chicago, and other Chicago-area philanthropies have supported strategic initiatives including the Lake County Illinois expansion and the technology infrastructure upgrade. The Leadership Board coordinates major donor cultivation.
Planned giving, donor-advised fund gifts, and major gift opportunities are coordinated through the BBBSChi Development team. David Gee serves as Chief Development Officer. Workplace mentoring partnerships, corporate engagement, board placement, foundation grants, in-kind donations, and special event sponsorship are all available partnership pathways.
BBBSChi files its own Form 990 separately from Big Brothers Big Sisters of America. The 2024 investment of $5.6 million in mission delivery represents the agency's program services spend. Approximately 90 percent of BBBSChi revenue comes from private corporate, foundation, and individual contributions; the remaining 10 percent includes government grants and special event revenue.
The program-services-heavy spending pattern reflects the high-touch professional mentoring model. Program Manager staffing represents a significant share of operating costs because each Big and Little match requires ongoing professional case management. The 71,600+ hours of mentorship delivered in 2024 reflects both the volunteer-hour scale and the supporting Program Manager time required to make those volunteer hours productive.
For pure scale of youth-serving nonprofit infrastructure in Chicago, Boys and Girls Clubs of Chicago serves substantially more children annually through after-school and summer programming. For one-to-one structured mentoring specifically, BBBSChi is the largest single agency in Metropolitan Chicago with nearly 2,000 active matches. Other youth-focused Chicago nonprofits operate with different program models: After School Matters offers paid teen apprenticeships, Chicago Scholars offers cohort-based college access mentoring, the Network for Teaching Entrepreneurship offers entrepreneurship education.
BBBSChi's specific advantages: the four-county geographic reach including Northwest Indiana, the five-office network (Chicago + DuPage + North Chicago + Merrillville + Auburn Gresham + Homewood) providing in-person community presence, the integration with the broader BBBSA national network for affiliate support and research, the long institutional history (nearly 50 years of Chicago-area operations), and the corporate partnership infrastructure that drives the workplace mentoring program model.
Practical framing: for parents looking for a structured mentor for their child in Chicagoland or Northwest Indiana, BBBSChi is the largest one-to-one mentoring agency in the region. For adults looking to mentor a young person in Chicago, BBBSChi offers the deepest infrastructure of vetted matches, ongoing support, and program quality. For donors interested in youth mentoring in Chicago, BBBSChi represents the largest and most established channel for that giving.
Last updated May 2026. BBBSChi description (affiliate of BBBSA, mission-driven performance-based organization, high-quality 1:1 mentoring to almost 2,000 children and families in Metro Chicago across four counties Cook DuPage Lake IL and Indiana, nearly 50 years of service, 90 percent private corporate foundation individual revenue) from the BBBSChi About page (bbbschgo.org/about/) and the Project World Impact BBBSMC profile. Jeremy Foster as President and CEO from the BBBSChi LinkedIn page. 2024 Annual Report metrics (71,600+ hours of mentorship, .6M+ invested, averaging two new matches every day) from the BBBSChi homepage (bbbschgo.org). 4 new neighborhood offices January-February 2024 (North Chicago at 1801 Sheridan Rd Suite 100, Merrillville Indiana, Auburn Gresham, Homewood) plus DuPage County office 2024 from the Lake County News Dispatch February 2024 article. Steans Family Foundation as community partner and Illinois Department of Human Services funding for North Chicago outreach plus IL State Senator Javier Cervantes attending February 15 2024 ribbon cutting from the same article. The Service Club of Chicago technology grant for new agency server enabling streamlined communications and secure data storage from the BBBSChi LinkedIn post. David Gee as Chief Development Officer from his LinkedIn profile. 14th Annual BIG Bash event from BBBSChi homepage. EIN 36-2681212 from the GuideStar BBBSChi profile and the ProPublica Nonprofit Explorer page. BBBSA Long-term Impacts of Mentorship 2024 research (30 years of data showing greater enrollment in higher education, increased salaries, reduced dependency on social services, improved behavioral outcomes) from the BBBSChi homepage announcement. We are not affiliated with Big Brothers Big Sisters of Metropolitan Chicago and receive no compensation for this listing. Errors: [email protected]
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