Courtesy photos.
Nonprofit Will Receive Multi-Year Grant, Leadership Training to Expand Youth Mentorship Programs in Ventura County
VENTURA — Bank of America (on Nov. 14) announced Big Brothers Big Sisters of Ventura County as the 2023 Neighborhood Champion® awardee for its work providing mentorship to youth facing adversity across Ventura County. Big Brothers Big Sisters of Ventura County will apply the Neighborhood Champion $50,000 multi-year grant and leadership training towards expanding its Mentor Academy one-to-one mentorship for at least 20 more underserved youth.
Neighborhood Champions is part of the bank’s Neighborhood Builders program — one of the largest philanthropic investments into nonprofit leadership development in the nation. As a Neighborhood Champion, Big Brothers Big Sisters of Ventura County also will receive leadership training for its executive director and an emerging staff member delivered by experts in the nonprofit sector on topics like human capital management, increasing financial sustainability, and storytelling.
Big Brothers Big Sisters of Ventura County helps marginalized and underserved youth in Ventura County overcome or navigate barriers to socioeconomic success through one-on-one mentorship. This Neighborhood Champion grant will enable the organization to scale the Mentor Academy’s Professional Mentoring Program aimed at providing high school students with life skills such as financial literacy and job skills, and use it as a future model program for the organization to share with Big Brothers Big Sisters agencies nationwide.
“The Professional Mentorship Program – now a part of our Mentor Academy – was born during pandemic shutdowns, in a time when we had to creatively collaborate to bring mentoring opportunities to youth,” said Danica Selvaggio, CEO of Big Brothers Big Sisters of Ventura County. “To see how much the program has grown over the last few years is a testament to the power of mentorship and to partnership: we have served 66 youth in this program already, and are on track to serve at least 20 more in this year’s cohort. All of these youth are learning valuable skills that will help them identify a successful path after high school, whether that’s through college, a career, the military, or supporting a family. All of those things help build stronger communities.”
The invitation-only Neighborhood Champions program is highly competitive, and nonprofits are selected by a committee comprised of community leaders and past awardees. Four nonprofits have been selected as Champions in Ventura-Santa Barbara since the program was first offered in 2019 including Habitat for Humanity of Ventura County, Women’s Economic Ventures (WEV), Many Mansions and Foodbank of Santa Barbara.
“Nonprofits are vital to solving social challenges, improving communities, and promoting economic advancement,” said Midge Campbell-Thomas, president, Bank of America Ventura-Santa Barbara. “Providing Big Brothers Big Sisters of Ventura County with flexible funding and leadership training not only positions the nonprofit for sustainable, long-term success, but demonstrates our commitment to creating real change in the places where we live and work. Big Brothers Big Sisters of Ventura County does a remarkable job of curating relationships among the community while investing in our youth.”
Bank of America
Bank of America is one of the world’s leading financial institutions, serving individual consumers, small and middle-market businesses and large corporations with a full range of banking, investing, asset management and other financial and risk management products and services. The company provides unmatched convenience in the United States, serving approximately 68 million consumer and small business clients with approximately 3,900 retail financial centers, approximately 15,000 ATMs and award-winning digital banking with approximately 57 million verified digital users. Bank of America is a global leader in wealth management, corporate and investment banking and trading across a broad range of asset classes, serving corporations, governments, institutions and individuals around the world. Bank of America offers industry-leading support to approximately 4 million small business households through a suite of innovative, easy-to-use online products and services. The company serves clients through operations across the United States, its territories and more than 35 countries. Bank of America Corporation stock (NYSE: BAC) is listed on the New York Stock Exchange.
For more Bank of America news, including dividend announcements and other important information, visit the Bank of America newsroom and register for news email alerts.