Big Brothers Big Sisters of New Mexico

Big Brothers Big Sisters has served New Mexico children since 1969. Today, Big Brothers Big Sisters of New Mexico (BBBSNM) is an independent organization, one of the largest Big Brothers Big Sisters agencies in the country by geographic reach, serving more of a single state than nearly any other affiliate in the national network.

BBBSNM connects young people ages 5 through 18 (“Littles”) with carefully screened, caring adult mentors (“Bigs”) who provide consistent friendship, guidance, encouragement, and positive role modeling. We envision a world where every young person, regardless of zip code, family circumstances, or background, has access to a caring adult who believes in their potential.

The core role of Big Brothers Big Sisters of New Mexico (BBBSNM) is to empower local youth and strengthen communities through professionally supported, one-to-one mentoring relationships that ignited the highest potential in every youth. By pairing children ages 5 to 16 (known as "Littles") with caring adult volunteer mentors ("Bigs") through our evidence-based mentoring programs, we help young people across the state build confidence, achieve educational and economic success, and avoid risky behaviors. 

Today BBBSNM operates in 18 of 33 counties, with programs in 81 schools, serving more than 2,825 children and providing over 65,000 hours of mentoring annually. BBBSNM pairs 254 youth in Rio Arriba and Los Alamos Counties with screened and trained mentors in long-term, professionally supported one-to-one relationships. Mentors complete a full background screening process before meeting a child. Each match receives consistent professional support from a program specialist throughout its life, and each child has a Youth Outcome Development Plan that tracks individual progress toward building the skills and relationships needed to thrive. 

Ultimately, we help young people build the relationships, confidence, networks, and opportunities they need to navigate adulthood. Our goal is to ensure that geography, socioeconomic circumstances, or other barriers do not determine whether a young person has access to a trusted adult who believes in their potential and helps them develop the skills, connections, and confidence needed to thrive.

Accountability: We partner with parents/guardians, volunteers and others in the community to hold ourselves accountable for each child in our program achieving:

• Higher aspirations
• Greater confidence and better relationships
• Avoidance of risky behaviors
• Educational and Economic Success