(c) 2004 - Boston Scholars Program, Inc. (a 501c3 nonprofit organization)
www.bostonscholars.org

Note: As of March 2007, Big Brothers of Mass Bay is now Big Brothers Big Sisters of Massachusetts Bay.

Press Release - June 6, 2004

Big Brothers of Massachusetts Bay Partners with Boston Scholars Program to Deliver Educational Advocacy

BOSTON, MA -- Big Brothers of Massachusetts Bay (BBMB) and The Boston Scholars Program (BSP) have entered into a partnership whereby BBMB will provide mentoring to students selected for the merit-based Boston Scholars scholarship award. This new partnership was kicked-off with a cookout on June 6 honoring the award winners and introducing the scholars and their families to the program.

John Pearson, President and CEO of Big Brothers of Massachusetts Bay, said that "Educational Advocacy is one of our key initiatives and we are proud to have partnered with the Boston Scholars Program to deliver on this for the ultimate benefit of our Littles. The Boston Scholars Program may be a much younger organization than we are, but we are confident that they are fulfilling a needed mission and expect this partnership to grow in the future."

The Boston Scholars Program is one of the most exciting local non-profits in Boston. What began just a year ago has already conducted outreach with hundreds of students. BSP's mission is to "open doors through educational opportunity". It achieves this mission by granting scholarships to rising high-school students, and matching these "Boston Scholars" with qualified mentors - these mentors will now be matched and managed as part of Big Brothers of Massachusetts Bay new partnership with Boston Scholars.

The Boston Scholars Program was founded by several MBA graduates of the MIT Sloan School of Management. "We felt it was our responsibility as business people to give something back to our community. That was why we founded Boston Scholars," said MBA Rob Higby, Executive Director of the Boston Scholars Program. "We felt the partnership with Big Brothers of Massachusetts Bay will complete the mission we envisioned. We deliver on our mission by providing scholarships and mentoring to our award recipients. We were ready to do this mentoring ourselves - but wanted to leave it to the experts so we could focus on our mission of finding qualified students and raising money for their scholarship awards. There is not a more qualified organization than Big Brothers and we know this partnership will deliver the absolute highest value to our Boston Scholars and by extension the Boston community."

John H. Finley, IV, Executive Director of Epiphany School in Dorchester -- where six of this year's Boston Scholars award winners attended -- said "we give our students an excellent foundation before they enter high school, but we know that additional tuition assistance and especially mentoring are essential to ensuring these students are successful and continue onto college. The Boston Scholars Program fills this critical need for our students and we are so excited that they have partnered with Big Brothers who is really the gold standard in mentoring."

About Big Brothers of Massachusetts Bay: Big Brothers of Massachusetts Bay is the largest male mentoring program in the US, with over 1500 mentoring relationships. BBMB has begun an Educational Advocacy program, helping Littles achieve more success through new educational opportunities. As part of this new initiative, BBMB has partnered with the Boston Scholars Program. Big Brothers of Massachusetts Bay, one of 471 affiliates of Big Brother Big Sisters of America is committed to the healthy development of children through the nurturing of one-to-one friendships with caring responsible adults. For more information call 1-888-412-BIGS or online at www.bigbrothersbigsisters.org.

About the Boston Scholars Program: The mission of the Boston Scholars Program is to open doors for disadvantaged youths through educational opportunity. We achieve our mission by granting tuition and stipend scholarships to meritorious Boston-area students who have demonstrated a pressing financial need, and by pairing these "Boston Scholars" with mentors from the Boston professional community who share similar academic and professional interests. The Boston Scholars Program opens the door to new educational opportunities and provides the positive influences necessary to guide our scholars through the challenges of high school and the help they need to open up a world of opportunities previously not thought possible. The Boston Scholars program board of advisors is comprised of top Boston influencers in the business and non-profit community, including Carol F. Anderson, Board of Directors, Boston Foundation; Howard Anderson, Managing Partner, YankeeTek Ventures; Carrie Maille Hickey, Executive Director, Mother Caroline Academy; John H. Finley, IV, Executive Director, Epiphany School; Rev. James F. Lafontaine, Executive Director, Nativity Preparatory School; and John B. Pearson, President and CEO, Big Brothers of Massachusetts Bay. For more information, please visit www.bostonscholars.org.

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Contact:
Mike Volpe
Director, Boston Scholars Program
617-308-9394
info@bostonscholars.org