Our Mission
Impacting generational change by empowering youth who are facing the greatest obstacles through relationships with professional mentors – 12+ years, no matter what.
Impacting generational change by empowering youth who are facing the greatest obstacles through relationships with professional mentors – 12+ years, no matter what.
Our values guide us to achieve our mission. Each value applies not only to our youth, Friends and program teams, but also applies to all Friends of the Children employees, volunteers and partners. We use our values to make informed decisions; to hire, coach, manage; and most importantly, we use our values to change the way the world treats and views the youth and families we serve.
We intentionally serve youth who are facing the greatest obstacles. To help our youth discover their limitless potential, we foster their internal resiliency. We listen to our youth and base decisions on each youth’s needs and dreams. We prioritize self-care so that we bring our best selves to our work and focus on our youth.
We nurture long-term relationships from a foundation of love and acceptance. Our practice is rooted in the wisdom of communities, tailoring support to honor each youth’s unique identity and shared heritage. We don’t give up easily and take a no matter what approach to our work. We intentionally develop collaborative relationships over time with trust, empathy and healthy communication. We build community through one-on-one connections that are authentic, respectful and meaningful.
We leverage personal strengths to take ownership of our futures. We build relationships within the communities of our youth and families to strengthen social networks and provide bridges to new opportunities. We consistently inspire possibility through empathy, hard work and fun. We model all of this for our youth, families and each other.
We celebrate all achievements, big and small. We are disciplined in our commitment to goals, while innovative in how we reach them. We believe that the definition of success requires intentional reflection and adjustment over time. We work together and hold ourselves accountable with data to achieve short and long-term outcomes.
We believe everyone deserves the chance to reach their full potential, because where you start shouldn’t decide how far you go. We advocate to ensure every child, regardless of historical and present challenges, has the resources, support, and voice needed to thrive. We amplify and listen to the hopes and dreams of the children, families, and communities we serve. We harness different perspectives to overcome barriers and drive measurable change for every child. Together, we work to challenge and remove obstacles so potential isn’t limited by any circumstance.
Based on the success of the Portland program, Friends of the Children–Boston (Friends–Boston) was founded in 2004 as the first organization established by the GreenLight Fund.
Co-founded by John Simon and Margaret Hall, the GreenLight Fund is a venture philanthropy firm that identifies innovative nonprofits from around the nation and provides seed funding to bring them to Boston. After vetting hundreds of organizations to select as its very first investee, the GreenLight Fund selected a high impact mentoring organization named Friends of the Children.
Under the leadership and vision of John Simon and Margaret Hall, in 2004, Friends–Boston welcomed its first class of 16 Achievers; in 2016 and 2017, they graduated from high school, and five are now in college!
A dedicated champion and supporter of Friends–Boston ever since, John still serves on the Board of Directors. We call the children we serve Achievers to demonstrate our belief in their potential to succeed.
Unique to our work is our focus on serving the families of our achievers; we reach over 500 siblings and caregivers through our family engagement efforts. Our lifetime retention rate for Achievers is 75 percent!
Today, Friends–Boston serves over 140 children in over 60 schools throughout Boston, and we honored to now have program graduates!
Friends of the Children was established in 1993 by entrepreneur Duncan Campbell and his wife, Cindy Campbell, in Portland, Ore. The Campbells purchased a school building in the same Northeast Portland neighborhood where Duncan experienced a challenging childhood. After finding business success, Duncan wanted to help kids who grew up in an environment like his. In 1992, the Campbell Institute for Children, conducted extensive research to determine the most effective program model to help young children overcome adversity and realize their inherent resilience and potential. The research clearly indicated that the strongest protective factor a child can have is a long-term, nurturing relationship with a consistent and caring adult.
Friends of the Children began with just three salaried, professional mentors called Friends and 24 children. Friends of the Children has grown to employ hundreds of Friends who serve thousands of children across the nation. You can view the full list of locations on our national website.