Big Brothers Big Sisters Vice President, Michael Watson, alongside Broward College Associate Dean of Criminal Justice, Rudy Jean-Bart, joined Inside South Florida to share their personal mentoring journeys through the non-profit organization. Together, they emphasized the transformative impact of mentorship on both youth and adults.
Big Brothers Big Sisters has been instrumental in reshaping children’s perspectives, giving them the opportunity to reach their potential.
“Our representation in government, our representation when it comes to senior leadership, is not as high as our population. And yet, on the flip side, our representation in prisons and incarceration, right, is more definitely representative than our actual population,” says Jean-Bart. “And so, what Big Brothers Big Sisters allows for some of us to do is to say, ‘look, a lot of the negative stereotypes you may see on television or on social media, we're not a monolith that isn't all true.’ And so, allows for me, for example, to continue the legacy that my father and my uncle set for me and I'm doing that with my little.”
In their ongoing commitment to provide positive role models for youth, Big Brothers Big Sisters of Broward County is reaching out to the community, seeking more mentors to support the 98 children currently on their waiting list.
“You can actually donate, or you can share our message on social media platforms to kind of let us be a part of your community to share our message to sort of share with everybody how important it is mentoring,” says Watson. “Right now, we have 98 kids on the waiting list, black males that are waiting to be mentored. So, we just need a call to action. And I thank Rudy for being a part of the team to kind of help us get the message out and tell everybody that we need more mentors, because our kids and our communities need us.”
For more information, visit BBBSBroward.org
