Big Brothers Big Sisters Independence, known for most of its history as Big Brothers Big Sisters of Southeastern Pennsylvania, is one of the oldest mentoring organizations in the country. It goes back to 1915, when a Philadelphia assistant district attorney named Charles Edwin Fox started the Big Brother Association. Today it matches around 1,500 kids a year with adult mentors across the Philadelphia suburbs and three counties in South Jersey. Abigail Ellis has led it as interim CEO since October 2025, taking over from Marcus Allen, who ran the agency from 2013 to 2025.
The agency matches children, its Littles, with screened adult volunteers, its Bigs, and supports each match so the relationship can last. Staff handle the recruiting, the screening, the pairing, and the regular check-ins that keep a match healthy. The Philadelphia region has some of the highest child poverty in any large US city, and the agency has put particular weight on school-based mentoring there, including a push to expand mentorship inside Philadelphia schools. Reaching roughly 1,500 young people a year, it is one of the larger affiliates in the network and one of the oldest anywhere.
The roots run unusually deep. In 1915, assistant district attorney Charles Edwin Fox founded the Big Brother Association in Philadelphia, part of the early wave of mentoring groups that would later become the national Big Brothers Big Sisters movement. The agency has held 501(c)(3) status since 1948. Its most recent chapter saw Marcus Allen lead from 2013 to 2025, the first Black CEO in the agency's century-plus history, followed by Abigail Ellis stepping in as interim CEO in October 2025. Ellis brings more than 25 years of work on mentorship access across the Philadelphia region and has been guiding the agency through the transition and a refreshed strategic plan.
The service area crosses a state line, which is part of why the agency moved away from a name tied to Pennsylvania alone. On the Pennsylvania side it covers Chester, Delaware, Montgomery, and Philadelphia counties, a mix of the city itself and its wealthier collar suburbs. On the New Jersey side it covers Burlington, Camden, and Gloucester counties in South Jersey, including the city of Camden. That spread lets the agency draw volunteers and donors from affluent suburban communities while concentrating much of the mentoring need in Philadelphia and Camden, two cities with deep, long-standing child poverty.
The traditional one-to-one match. A Big and Little meet out in the community on their own schedule, building a relationship over time.
Matches meet at a school or partner site. The agency has pushed to grow school-based mentorship inside Philadelphia, where the fixed setting reaches kids who might not otherwise be matched.
Partnerships with local employers and group formats extend mentoring to more youth and make it easier for working professionals to take part.
Start at independencebigs.org or call (215) 790-9200. The process runs through an application, an interview, and a background check before staff match you with a Little whose interests fit yours and who lives within reach. Bigs are asked to stay committed for at least a year. For someone who works full-time in Center City or the suburbs and cannot give up evenings and weekends, the school-based and workplace programs are a lower-commitment way to start, since they meet at a set time and place.
Donations go through independencebigs.org, and the agency is a 501(c)(3), so gifts are tax-deductible. In its most recent filing the agency reported about $5.2 million in annual revenue, the large majority of it from contributions rather than government contracts, which means private donors carry much of the budget. Money raised here pays for the local staff who screen volunteers and support matches across the Philadelphia and South Jersey region, so a gift stays close to the kids it is meant to help.
Philadelphia has a crowded field of youth nonprofits, from the Boys & Girls Clubs of Philadelphia to Mighty Writers and a range of after-school and college-access programs. Those mostly serve kids in groups. Big Brothers Big Sisters Independence offers the supported one-to-one match, and its history gives it something few can claim: a continuous presence in the city since 1915 and a service area that reaches across into South Jersey. For a volunteer who wants a lasting bond with one child, or a donor who wants local impact backed by a long track record, it is a natural place to start in the region.
Sources: Big Brothers Big Sisters Independence website (independencebigs.org), the agency's ProPublica nonprofit filings (EIN 23-1352034, FY2024 revenue ~$5.19M), and 2025 reporting on the leadership transition from Marcus Allen to interim CEO Abigail Ellis. Founding history (Charles Edwin Fox, 1915) per the agency and Philadelphia historical records. We are not affiliated with Big Brothers Big Sisters Independence and receive no compensation for this listing. Spotted an error? [email protected]
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