Big Brothers Big Sisters of the Sun Coast is one of the largest BBBS chapters in the United States, serving 10 counties across southwest and south central Florida. As of June 2025, it was the 11th largest chapter in the national network, with 1,618 children matched with a Big. Kamala L. Martinez serves as president and CEO, having succeeded Joy Mahler, who retired in 2024 after 41 years leading the agency. Website bbbssun.org.
BBBS of the Sun Coast matches children (Littles) with vetted adult volunteer mentors (Bigs) in one-to-one relationships, supported by professional staff. The mentoring relationship gives a child a consistent, caring adult who helps build confidence, school engagement, and resilience.
Covering 10 counties from a single agency, the Sun Coast chapter reaches communities across a large stretch of Florida, from the Sarasota-Bradenton area south through Fort Myers and Naples and inland to the rural counties of south central Florida.
As of June 2025, BBBS of the Sun Coast was the 11th largest BBBS chapter in the United States, with 1,618 children actively matched. That scale is unusual for an agency covering a mix of metropolitan coastal counties and smaller rural ones.
The breadth of the footprint, 10 counties, means the agency manages mentoring across very different communities, from the growing coastal cities to agricultural inland areas, each with its own recruitment and support challenges.
Kamala L. Martinez serves as president and CEO. She succeeded Joy Mahler, who retired in 2024 after 41 years leading the organization, an unusually long tenure that helped build the Sun Coast chapter into one of the largest in the country.
Leadership continuity of that length is rare in the nonprofit sector, and the transition to a new CEO marked a significant moment for an agency that had grown steadily under a single leader for four decades.
BBBS of the Sun Coast serves Charlotte, Collier, DeSoto, Glades, Hardee, Hendry, Highlands, Lee, Manatee, and Sarasota counties. The footprint spans wealthy coastal communities and some of Florida's most rural, lower-income inland counties.
That mix shapes the agency's work: coastal counties offer a larger base of potential corporate and individual donors, while the inland counties often have the highest need for mentoring and the fewest local resources.
To become a Big, visit bbbssun.org. Volunteers complete an application and screening process, then are carefully matched with a Little and supported by agency staff throughout the relationship.
Because the agency covers a large, mixed area, it continually recruits volunteers in both the coastal cities and the inland counties, where the gap between children waiting and available Bigs is often widest.
Donations can be made at bbbssun.org. The chapter is a 501(c)(3) organization, so gifts are tax-deductible. Corporate partnerships, foundation grants, and individual giving fund the agency's mentoring work across all 10 counties.
Gifts that fund match support, the professional staff time behind each match, help the agency keep relationships safe and effective over the long term.
Florida has several large BBBS chapters and many other youth-serving organizations. For one-to-one, professionally supported mentoring across southwest and south central Florida specifically, BBBS of the Sun Coast is the dominant agency and one of the largest BBBS chapters in the country, with 1,618 children matched as of 2025.
Group-based programs like Boys and Girls Clubs reach more children overall through after-school programming; BBBS of the Sun Coast is distinct in its focus on sustained one-to-one relationships.
Last updated June 2026. BBBS of the Sun Coast as the 11th largest BBBS chapter (June 2025) with 1,618 children matched, 10-county service area (Charlotte, Collier, DeSoto, Glades, Hardee, Hendry, Highlands, Lee, Manatee, Sarasota), CEO Kamala L. Martinez succeeding Joy Mahler (retired 2024 after 41 years) from BBBS Sun Coast (bbbssun.org) and BoardWalk Consulting leadership profile; EIN 59-1361826 from ProPublica Nonprofit Explorer. We are not affiliated with Big Brothers Big Sisters of the Sun Coast and receive no compensation for this listing. Spotted an error? [email protected]
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