Carol Cone:
I'm Carol Cone, and welcome to Purpose 360, the podcast that unlocks the power of purpose to ignite business and social impact. In today's conversation on Purpose 360, it is such a delight, because I'm going be chatting with Artis Stevens, and he's the president and CEO of Big Brothers Big Sisters of America. I have known Artis, probably, over about 20 years. Artis Stevens is one of those non-profit leaders, that he's found his personal purpose. He's the son of a preacher. And his father said, "Well, you need to find your ministry son." And you'll hear how Artis, with such great commitment, has found the perfect alignment between his personal values and the values of Big Brothers Big Sisters. We're going to learn so much about mentorship and about he's evolving the organization, and also a sneak peek.

So let's get started. And I woke up this morning a little depressed because the Olympics are over, but then I went, "I get to interview one of my dear friends, Artis Stevens, who was the president and CEO of Big Brothers and Big Sisters of America." And I got all excited again. So welcome to the show, Artis.

Artis Stevens:
Carol, how are you doing, my friend? It's so great to be here. Let me tell you, we are going to go for the gold on this call. How about that?

Carol Cone:
Oh, you know what? I think that's perfect. So share with our listeners your background and why are you so passionate about this field?

Artis Stevens:
Yeah, so listen, my background really comes from... I always say that I felt like I was born in youth development in some ways. Literally, my dad was a preacher, and a very community-oriented preacher. And I come from along lines of preachers as well. But my family was always, I come from a large family, we had a house of eight, and I was the youngest.

Carol Cone:
Oh, the baby. Oh, boy.

Artis Stevens:
I was the baby.

Carol Cone:
Okay.

Artis Stevens:
But we always had this idea of community. It was always connected. Both of my parents were very engaged in the community, very engaged in the Civil Rights movement as well. So there was always the civic-minded sense of our organization, of our family, and very much so, was really focused on young people and youth empowerment. But what I remember the most is when everyone was saying to me, "Hey, you got to be a preacher just like your dad." And I'd never forget, I went to my dad, Carol. I said, "Hey, everybody's saying that I'm going to be a preacher like you." And I was seven years old at the time. And I remember what my dad said that has really been the principles for my life. And he told me that everyone has their ministry in this world, you have to find yours.

And it just stuck with me. It stuck with me. It was a God-impressible in my life. And it's been so that North Star, if you will, finding my ministry, and my ministry has really become about empowering young people to change the world. And I learned that at a very early age and growing up, but it stuck with me no matter where I went. So it became my compass, if you will. I did always know that I was going to be doing this role, doing this type of work, but it always led me there in some interesting way because I was always attracted to work, collaboration, community, even hobbies that connected into helping young people. I'm glad to be in this role, proud to be serving the community in this way, but it all starts from the origin of my family in an incredible group and village of mentors who've helped and pushed me and challenged me and inspired me along the way.

Carol Cone:
So let's talk about mentoring, because mentoring is at the center of Big Brothers Big Sisters. So first let's just start about Big Brothers Big Sisters. You joined in 21, and it's evolved a lot in the last three years, but just talk about why did you join, what enticed you to join? And then what's happened a little bit from 21 to 23, and then we're going to really focus on the big things that you've been doing.

Artis Stevens:
Yeah. What inspired me was it was what I just mentioned, and I would say to all your listeners, and I think a lot of people who are listening are going get this, when I interviewed for this job, it felt like I was looking in the mirror. I saw myself. I saw myself in an organization, a mission that had 120 years worth of history. And that history had gotten started because they were an alternative innovation to the juvenile justice system. So it wasn't founded on the sense of just saying, "Hey, we're here to even just serve kids. It was here. We were here to serve young people who needed us the most at the time." And from that, that idea was born, this idea of how do we create a better justice for kids, to create more equity in this world, bringing diverse communities together, ensuring that every kid feels included for opportunity and a better life.

And 120 years later, that has been the focus and the anchor of this organization in connecting positive adults with young people all across this country, and that's millions of kids. So what attracted me was this idea that my mission, my ministry, as I just mentioned, was truly aligned with the idea of how do we empower young people that have connectivity relationships in their lives and mentorship in their lives, that create access and opportunity for them to be able to thrive in whatever they choose to do in life. So that attracted me. The other part of this was, it was during a time where, as you mentioned, a lot was going on, you had the pandemic, but you had also social unrest. For me, it was very personal because right before this job opportunity came about was when the name Ahmaud Arbery was in news headlines all across the country. Ahmaud Arbery was murdered on the streets of Brunswick, Georgia for being black. Brunswick, Georgia is my hometown, it's where I grew up.

Carol Cone:
Oh, I didn't know that.

Artis Stevens:
Yeah. And I'll tell you, Carol, it is like there was so much going on, but that just stuck with me more than anything because it was so personal, being in my hometown. The street he was murdering on the street, I walked on many times as a kid. So I knew in that moment that something was calling. I didn't know what it was, I didn't know how I get to it or how I gotten to the idea of what was intended for me to try to create solutions. And that's really what I was mistaken about was how do I contributed to create solutions in this world, even more than where my journey had taken me. And it was a few weeks later that Big Brothers Big Sisters reached out, and then the journey started.

So what we've been focused on the last three years to say is how do we grow this mission to accelerate and to reach more young people across this country who need positive mentorship? And when you look at this country, you're talking about 10 million kids, 10 million kids who don't have access to a positive mentor, but face some of the greatest challenges and navigate in their communities and their lives, whether it's educational gaps, mental health and trauma, things that have to do with how they support and survive in terms of their own world.

Carol Cone:
Oh, that's wonderful. That's great. So for our listeners who don't know the process, can you talk about littles and bigs?

Artis Stevens:
Yeah. So it really quite simple, and if you think about, anyone who's listening, you think about the people in your life that you've had as a mentor, if you serve as a mentor for anyone else, what we do is make it intentional. We make it intentional for young people and volunteers who may not have that or seeking that in their lives. So what we call the positive adult who gets involved in our mission, we call them a big, we call the young people littles. So our littles range from the ages traditionally of five to 18. However, our fastest growing population, that a lot of people don't even know about, is 18 to 25 young adults. And that's because bigs are staying with their littles in terms of college, the next step in their lives, career, first jobs, military, you name it. So it's really five to 25 in terms of serving young people.

We serve communities all across the country, 5,000 communities, that we do this kind of work in. And this is simple as this. If you raise your hand to say, "I want to be a big," you go to one of our local agencies, we've got 230 local agencies across the country. What they do is take you through a screening process. And that screening process is one to make sure that we're matching and matching you and the little with as a right match, your interests, your needs, opportunities and connections. We go through a process to make sure that it's safe for both the volunteer and for the young person as well. And then what happens when you're matched is one of the most beautiful things. You meet up, you have a match support specialist. So this is the person who stays with you as your professional staff, ensure you got all the resources, all the things you need to do the job well, you meet, typically about two times a month.

It's an hour per visit. But here's what happens since Carol, most of the adults get into it and they start off with, "Hey, we're going to meet two times a month." They want to meet more. The little is like, "Hey, we can only meet twice a month." It gets so engaged into it. And here's what I'll tell you. On average, our commitment, our commitment is you commit to a year on average. Most on average, our formal mentorship programs last about three and a half years, just formally in the program. Informally, 10, 20, 30, 40 years. We got stories of littles who started in the program around eight years old, and then the big ends up being in their wedding when they get married.

Carol Cone:
Yeah, I remember that. Yeah. That's so great.

Artis Stevens:
It's the most... It's the most surreal, incredible, magical thing. So if there's anyone who's listening and wants to get involved, you just got to go to bebignow.org, and you can put in your zip code and you can find the local Big Brothers Big Sisters nearest you.

Carol Cone:
And we're going to talk about how you are a catalyst for mentorship around the country in a minute, but talk about the results of the relationships, because you do an extraordinary job every year of measuring the impact. So let's give some of those data points to our listeners.

Artis Stevens:
When you look at just our young people alone, we know that 90% of our young people, as compared to their peers, are on track to graduate. We know that 91% of the young people that we serve have stronger self-esteem and self-confidence in themselves and what they do. One that I take a lot of pride in too, is about 93% of our young people are committed to contribute back to their society. And the other side of it also connects too. We know both anecdotally and through data, that over 90% of our bigs say that the young person made more impact in their lives than they made in theirs.

Carol Cone:
That's surprising. That's interesting. It's great.

Artis Stevens:
It's reciprocal, right? It's a reciprocal model. So then when people get involved, yes, you know you're making a difference in someone else's lives, but you also know everything you're getting out of it when you get connected, because you become better, you become more engaged, you become one in the world because you are connected to someone who may come from a very different background, very different experience with you, but comes together to create this community, this connection, which I think is so needed in our world with everything that's going on today.

Carol Cone:
Well, that's wonderful. And I know you have other data, which I think is incredible, which is, this is from your materials, 46% use less drugs, 27% are not starting to drink alcohol, 52% less likely to skip school, 37% less skipping classes, and then you have 16% growth in their emotional regulation, and 20%, and this goes back to the impact of social media today on kids that just are depressed, 20% reduction in depressive syndrome... Depressive symptoms. 

So let's talk about being a catalyst for mentorship in this country. And I have to say to our listeners that you received, in 2022, it may have been the largest or one of the largest Mackenzie Scott grants. It was $122.6 million, and it was aimed at transforming mentoring in this country. First of all, when you got that, what was that moment like when you got that news, and then when you picked yourself up off the floor, probably, then how have you, it's been a while now, almost a couple of years. How have you moved mentorship forward?

Artis Stevens:
Yeah. Well, I will tell you, when we first got the news, when I first got the call, I wasn't picking up myself up the floor. I was dancing on the floor, Carol.

Carol Cone:
Okay, dancing, great. Love that.

Artis Stevens:
Yeah. In fact, my two girls came downstairs and saw me dancing. They went back upstairs and called out to their mom, said, "Mom, something's wrong with dad downstairs."

Carol Cone:
That's great. That's great.

Artis Stevens:
It was surreal, a surreal moment. And then it was interesting because the surreal moment was, okay, finding out $122.6 million. The national office and 38 of our local agencies had received that funding, and then you're excited. It's real. It's amazing. And then there's the reality that sits in, okay, it's like, "What's next? Now how do we apply this?" Yeah, that's where the "Uh-oh" comes, was like, okay, now how do we apply this to make sure that we are making a difference? And also that we are doing the right intent to what McKenzie Scott had trusted us with, and trusted us with this trust-based philanthropy to say, "We believe in you as an organization, what you've been, we've seen your leadership, your local agencies." And how do we deliver on that?

So I'll tell you what we did, and it was a little bit different, I think from everything I've heard for a lot of other organizations, did we absolutely ensure that we were going to make sure that we were being financially savvy and smart, investments, ensuring that this money was going to sustain itself, to be able to support kids years beyond the next couple years to years out? Absolutely. But here was the issue. I mentioned 38 of our agencies were invested in. However, we got 230 agencies, right?

Carol Cone:
How did you deal with that?

Artis Stevens:
So that's 200 agencies who didn't receive the funding. So we had to figure out a way, there was no way we're going to be able to give every agency money. That just was not realistic. But what we did think about was, well, how do we lift all agencies up with this funding? So we created something called the Bigger Together Fund. And the Bigger Together Fund was an original idea by us to say, "We're going to invest." We're already had the development of a strategic plan, which was great. The timing couldn't have been better. So what we did is we said, "Okay, we're going to take the pillars of our strategic plan, create a Bigger Together Fund, and say we're going to invest in the most strategic pillars that help to sustain and accelerate our agencies as a whole." So volunteer acceleration was a big one. How do we expand our programs for more accessibility in our programs?

How do we develop and build our people? So this was capacity training, career development, professional tracks, those types of things. And here was the really cool thing about it. It wasn't just the national office, the 38 agencies who received funding from Mackenzie Scott all reinvested back into this fund. So we basically created a fund with investment that now impacted 230 agencies with resources and capacities that they needed. And Carol, it has been a big reason why our network as a whole, one, culturally has been able to walk this journey together since that investment, but also operationally, because we've been able to support things that we would have never been able to support in the upfront if we wouldn't have had this investment that supported all agencies at once when we started this initial strategic plan.

Carol Cone:
It sounds like, dare I say, the current, I don't want to get politics into this podcast, but bringing groups together, and instead of the agencies fighting, or the 200 that didn't get it, per se, how did you get them to all work together and to create the fund and say, "The rising tide for all is what we really need?"

Artis Stevens:
Yeah. I think the, one, it was the idea of what is the belief of who we are. For me, it was starting at values. What have we always been as an organization? So what I had to do was really start with our history, start with our values, start with that. When we have grown as an organization, at the moments that we've grown, it was both sacrifice and opportunity and contribution. That were values that we... And the values was being selfless in our ways, knowing that if we did certain things, that we were all going to benefit. It was a rising tide to lift all boats. It was first starting with values. And then it was also starting with ROI. And the ROI was, when the agency that's next to you, that's in the community next to you is getting better and growing, it makes your agency better because of the brain and the [inaudible 00:25:16]

It makes your agency more secure, because when that agency is successful and not running on fumes, then you risk less challenges or child protection, or the various things that happen in organization with transitions from CEOs, and things being delivered in organizations to be successful. And then the third part for me was the idea of how do we build this matrix style in terms of collaboration and building. So those same agencies, those 38 agencies, then became, what we call, mentor agencies, ambassadors, to go out. So it wasn't just a national office going out and saying, "Hey, here's how we train, here's how we develop." Oh, we said, "Let's use the agencies who've gotten this funding and use their capacity and give them the platform to go out, so that that way their colleagues see them as shining lights on the hill to be able to support and elevate their work that we're doing." So they then became more incentivized-

Carol Cone:
Brilliant.

Artis Stevens:
... to do it because they got some skin in the game as well.

Carol Cone:
Oh, that's brilliant. That's absolutely brilliant. That's great. I want to talk about some of the other partners that you have, and I'd like to talk about one that we, I think had a little bit of a role in making an introduction, and that's Macy's. And for our listeners, Macy's came to Carol Cone purpose, and this is a number of years ago, and they said, "We need to evolve our holiday giving campaign," which is their largest campaign. Macy's does amazing campaigns every single month of the year that corresponds to what's happening the month. And I went, "Oh my God, that's so exciting. I love Macy's. I shop at Macy's. I've known them forever." And I knew that you'd be an amazing partner. So can you talk a little bit about your relationship with Macy's. And then I'm so excited that you actually were featured in the parade last Thanksgiving.

Artis Stevens:
Yes. Yeah. It was so cool. The reason why we're selected is because our values aligned, first and foremost. And you talked about Mission Everyone. And so this bold declaration about empowerment and inclusion, opportunity, and access for young people in so many communities that Macy's is committed to. And they wanted a partner that aligned with that, who had that same type of belief, that same type of attitude, and lean into creating those types of bold experiences and moments for young people. And that's our mission. That's what Big Brothers Big Sisters does. 

Absolutely the opportunity to do some incredible things in store. So we became their official holiday partner, and we're running two years in a row on that, raising over, both years, raising close to $5 million in both years, which is extraordinary. So these are people coming and shopping at Macy's, and being asked if they would like to donate to Big Brothers Big Sisters, and really leaning in. And it's been some of the biggest traction that Macy's has reported that they've had. But I will tell you even about why that's so successful. The reason it's so successful is because of the grassroots natures of this relationship. So you have everything from local stores to local Big Brothers Big Sisters who connect to do career mentoring programs together, kids who do visits in Macy's. We had shopping ornaments where kids are actually designing ornaments. Our kids are showing up in Macy's advertising in terms of empowerment with fashion and design.

I can continue to go. And what the point is, is that what Macy's said is, "Every aspect of our business, we want to figure out a way for how Big Brothers Big Sisters can live within that." So from the stores to even meet with their C-suites, we've had our young people to actually have retreats with Macy's C-suite, their CEO, their entire C-suite team. And that's not by accident, it's about intentionality, but it's because we started at the roots of value, and value then created connection at a local level, it created connection in terms of our marketing and our PR, it created connection in terms of community giving and philanthropy, and it created connection ultimately in what you see, show up with consumers so that when consumers ultimately made choices, it felt authentic, it felt like something right. And then therefore, the results of that and raising the amount of awareness and revenue that we've raised has been because it all started in a central place, and that's two missions and brands being aligned with each other.

Carol Cone:
Oh, that's perfect. What was it like to have a float in the parade?

Artis Stevens:
All right, so this was too cool, but it wasn't just the float. Here's the cool thing about it. We were on the Christmas tree float, Carol. So we had 30, 30 bigs and little matches all come together. They came and they rehearsed for three to four days for singing the ending, the culminating song on the Christmas tree. And one, they had a blast, because this was, for a lot of our littles, it was the first time ever getting on a plane, first time ever coming to New York. So it was this beautiful moment that we were able to film and capture. Then we had NBC News to cover it, even the night before where they had a showcase on one of our bigs and littles. And then that moment, it was so exciting to see all of the celebration, all of the people at the parade. And then the culminating part of that parade with our bigs and littles singing. And when I tell you that those folks got some pipes, man, they can sing.

Carol Cone:
That's great. That's great. That's truly wonderful. I want to ask you, and I know this is really hard, do you have a favorite story brief about a big and a little?

Artis Stevens:
Listen, yes.

Carol Cone:
I know you have tons of them, but I'm asking just for one.

Artis Stevens:
I'll give you one. I'll give you one. Chris and Shane. They actually are a big and little of the year from this past year. And I'll give it to you really quick. Shane lost his dad at a very young age due to brain cancer, and Chris came along and met this very young shy boy in Shane. And one thing that Shane and Chris both enjoyed was the idea of laughter. But Shane had lost some of that when his dad had passed away. And then here comes Chris, who becomes this incredible mentor that brings out the laughter, the joy, the hope in this young boy who, for so many reasons, for obvious reasons, had lost a lot of that joy in his life. And now you look at, 10 years later, which is really incredible, that one of the culminating moments that this relationship has had, in addition to winning the bigs and littles of the year, they announced, they were the big and little announce of the NFL draft.

They got to make a draft announcement in the first round last year. And they made this big announcement on national television and it caught viral, it made headlines. I was really, this incredible place, but I will tell you the powerful moment is to see Shane up on that microphone. It was a young man who said himself, "I never thought that I would have the courage and the confidence to speak in front of a whole lot of people, to have this type of a joy and exude this. But it was the power of having a relationship and a mentor like Chris that helped bring that out in me. And Chris would feel the same way." That's the power of our mission, Carol, that it helps people to overcome the biggest obstacles in their lives and to find joy in their life to who they truly are.

Carol Cone:
Oh, that's beautiful. And that was part of the Big Draft. Can you explain a little bit? I tuned into that and went, "Oh my God, he's doing it again." Briefly explain what the Big Draft is and the goal of the Big Draft.

Artis Stevens:
Yeah, Big Draft is our partnership with the NFL. We have a long story partnership with the NFL, but we got with the NFL, and it is this simple. We said, "Hey, we got 30,000 kids on our waiting list. Most of them are waiting for men. Hey NFL, you attract a lot of men to see your mission in your brand." So we got together, we came up with this idea, while the NFL is drafting the next round of the players, doing [inaudible 00:40:20] to Superbowl, going into spring draft, they're helping Big Brothers Big Sisters to draft the next round of mentors. So as that process is going on to draft new players, there's also, every single team all across NFL Media, they're also asking men to raise their hand, to be drafted, to become mentors. And each and every year we surpass our goal to even last year that I think we hit maybe somewhere about 12,000 new mentors that came into Big Brothers Big Sisters because of the Big Draft campaigning and the partnership with the NFL. They are a wonderful and terrific partner.

Carol Cone:
Oh, that's great. That's great. Since everyone's talking about AI and AI is going to replace people in this and that, I'm just curious, what is the role of purpose in an AI driven world?

Artis Stevens:
Yeah. Here's what I would say is when you think about AI, and I've been in a number of conversations around it in my circles, one of the things that I feel that any use of technology is it is only as good as how people choose to use it. And it can be as bad as how people choose to use it. And then when we look at AI, we've seen some things in terms of course, fears about replacement, but also fears about discrimination, and how AI can be used. I think AI can be used in some beautiful ways, and I think it's going to be for the world of purpose to think about the intentionality of how it can impact and how it can create more opportunities. I'll tell you this really quickly, Carol, we're even exploring AI in our business and in our world. We're already seeing some of the dividends of it about how we even expedite and accelerate matches.

The matches between bigs and littles. How do you even define qualifications that make the matching process even more easy? Does it take away the human touch? But can we apply it in a way that allows our matches to be much more accelerated so that we can increase the number of volunteers that quickly come through our mission? To me it's a point and an opportunity of use. And I think in AI, the world, the purpose and cause, I think we're going to have to have a big voice in a conversation about use and about purpose and show end of the likes and opportunities of what AI can be in this world, and hopefully helping to navigate some of the negative uses of it.

Carol Cone:
That's great. That's a very good explanation. As we are winding down, I always like to give the last few words to our guest, and obviously I'm sure all of our listeners are going to go, "Wow, this guy is so smart, he's so passionate. But what do you want to just leave our listeners with?

Artis Stevens:
Yeah, probably the thing I would say the most is how we go out in the world. I think we're in a period of time that how we show up in the world is so important. Polarization, the things that cause a dissension, not just in our country, but across our world. How do we want to show up? How do you choose to show up? And I think this is an opportunity for ourselves, but also for so many young people who are watching. I tell my girls every single day before we go out in the world, whether they're going out in school or going out to an activity, to be smart, to be strong, to be kind, to be you, to be smart, the decisions you make, to be strong in your character, to be kind, in terms of not just yourself, but also how do you treat those other people.

And to be you. Being you means being your authentic self. Not sacrificing that, but also being compromising to allow other people to come into space and be who they are as well. If we can remember some of those basics in terms of how we show up in the world, I believe this world can be a better place, and we can create much more harmony and much more connection to how we accelerate and how we accelerate things in our country, and how we change the world for the better.

Carol Cone:
I think you're preaching, I think you found your ministry. You know that, Artis. This has been such an enjoyable conversation. So many words of wisdom. And is there anything that we should be looking forward to? Is there anything you want to tease in terms of what's going to happen this holiday or 2025?

Artis Stevens:
I would just say, stay on bebignow.org or follow me on LinkedIn. There's going to be some really exciting announcements coming. And remember the term Big Vision 120, as we celebrate our 120th anniversary. Come this December and going into 2025, there's going to be a lot happening that we're really excited about.

Carol Cone:
Super. Well, we will look forward to that, and thank you so much for the fantastic conversation.

Artis Stevens:
Thank you, my friend. Thank you for having me.

Carol Cone:
This podcast was brought to you by some amazing people, and I'd love to thank them. Anne Hundertmark and Kristin Kenney at Carol Cone On Purpose. Pete Wright and Andy Nelson, our crack production team at TruStory FM. And you, our listener, please rate and rank us, because we really want to be as high as possible as one of the top business podcasts available, so that we can continue exploring together the importance and the activation of authentic purpose. Thanks so much for listening.

This transcript was exported on Aug 14, 2024 - view latest version here.



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