Big Brothers & Sisters of The Bay Area

Our History

Big Brothers was founded in New York City in 1904 by Court Clerk Ernest Coulter. Appalled by the suffering and misery of the thousands of children who came through his courtroom, he appealed to civic and business leaders to take on the role of a “Big Brother”. By 1916, BBBS had spread to 96 cities across the country. Today there are more than 450 Big Brothers Big Sisters agencies operating in all 50 states … and in 12 countries around the world.

Big Brothers Big Sisters has been providing Bay Area youth with professionally supported one-to-one mentoring relationships in San Mateo, Santa Clara, San Francisco, Alameda, and Contra Costa Counties since 1958.

In March of 2006, three separate Bay Area agencies, (BBBS of San Francisco & Peninsula, BBBS of the East Bay, and BBBS of Santa Clara County) merged to form Big Brothers Big Sisters of the Bay Area (BBBSBA), in order to more efficiently serve the community and be positioned for growth to meet the increasing demand for services. Followed by the North Bay agency, which merged in 2017 to included Marin, Solano, Napa, and Sonoma.

Our Administrative headquarters are in San Francisco, with additional program offices in the East Bay (Oakland), South Bay (Milpitas), and North Bay (San Rafael). In addition to maintaining the dedicated services of more than a thousand volunteers who serve as mentors, BBBSBA employs 24 staff members who make and support our matches in all nine counties.