Jonathon Nesemeier

Big Brothers Big sisters of Metro Milwaukee is an affiliate of Big Brothers Big Sisters of America, the oldest and largest youth mentoring organization in the United States. Our mission is to create and support one-to-one mentoring relationships that ignite the power and promise of youth.

Since 1975, Big Brothers Big Sisters of Metro Milwaukee has been providing professionally supported one-to-one mentoring services to youth facing adversity in Milwaukee and Waukesha counties. Our mentoring program makes a positive impact in the lives of youth by creating and supporting strong, long-lasting one-to-one relationships between children and volunteer adult mentors that consistently lead to positive youth outcomes. Big Brothers Big Sisters’ programming and our dedicated mentors empower youth to reach their full potential by succeeding in school, making healthy and responsible choices, growing socially and emotionally, developing positive relationships, building confidence, cultivating interests, and growing aspirations.

Mentoring Programs
Big Brothers Big Sisters offers three one-to-one mentoring options. In each, volunteers make a minimum two-year commitment to mentoring youth and engage with their mentee 3-4 times per month. These mentoring options are:
1) Community-based mentoring: Youth and volunteer mentors meet weekly throughout the community and spend time together engaged in activities they choose based on mutual interest. Through Community-based mentoring, a child experiences a wide range of new, fun, and educational activities; builds confidence; and gains a new perspective.
2) mentor2.0: Mentors with college and/or career experience are matched with first-generation college students from a partner high school, interacting weekly online and monthly at school promoting high school graduation, post-secondary readiness, post-secondary enrollment, and post-secondary success. Mentor2.0 combines in-person mentoring with safe, secure online communication and a comprehensive weekly curriculum focused on college readiness.
3) School-based mentoring: Students meet with volunteer mentors weekly during or after the school day at one of 10 partner elementary or middle school locations in Milwaukee and Waukesha counties for educationally-focused mentoring. Through the support of their mentors, youth develop positive attitudes toward school, achieve higher grades, become more confident, and improve relationships with adults and peers.

*Due to COVID-19, we’ve shifted our volunteer recruitment, enrollment, screening, training, and matching to virtual. For Community-based, we’re starting to allow matches to meet in-person if comfortable and match participants must follow our protocol and guidelines. mentor2.0 and School-based will remain virtual for now.