January 2018 Issue

From the President and CEO

Dear friends,

For several years we have used the hashtag #Girls2Great. Make no mistake, we will continue to get #Girls2Great in everything we do this year, and there's a new hashtag in town. 

In an opinion piece I wrote that was recently published in the Boston Herald, I explored the idea that 2017 was the year of the woman. From the Women's Marches around the globe, to the Fearless Girl on Wall Street, to Wonder Woman on the big screen, and of course #metoo, women made headlines. How can we make 2018 the year for all women? Which brings me back to that new hashtag: #womensupportingwomen. Together, we will continue the momentum that began last year (and in the late 19th century...and in the 1960s...) as we work to ensure that all women's voices are heard and valued. How do we do this?

In the season for making (and keeping) resolutions, we can all resolve to take small steps that can have a big impact: invite a younger female colleague out to lunch, think twice before saying you'd rather work for a man than a woman, speak up to ensure that gender and racial diversity have a seat at the table. Maybe you start with the next generation and become a Big Sister to a girl in our area. It is National #MentoringMonth after all, what better time than now to help get #Girls2Great?


With gratitude,




NMM
Celebrate #MentoringMonth With Us!

Why support youth mentoring? Just ask our 2017 Believe In Girls honoree, Secretary Hillary Rodham Clinton.



Top Three Ways You Can Support Mentoring in January and Beyond
  1. Share your experience on social media: Are you a Big Sister? Maybe you mentor a younger woman in another capacity? Sharing your experience with photos or a quick post on social media spreads the word that mentoring matters! Be sure to tag @bigsisterboston on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, or LinkedIn and use #MentoringMonth. Your message can be as simple as: I support Greater Boston's girls through mentoring because______________. @bigsisterboston #MentoringMonth 
     
  2. Connect Big Sister to your network: Do you belong to a book club, sports team, or networking group whose members might be interested in learning more about Big Sister? Is your company interested in supporting volunteerism? Contact Kristina Desir at kdesir@bigsister.org with your suggestions. (And, if your company or a foundation you're involved with might be interested in funding our work, please contact Ari Brickman at abrickman@bigsister.org.)
     
  3. Become a Big Sister! Is your New Year's resolution to get more involved in your community or broaden your horizons? You know you've been thinking about it, now is the time! You can schedule a brief phone call with one of our Recruitment Specialists today by simply clicking here.
sisspotSister Spotlight: BS Courtney & LS Keilyn

In the new year, many of us likely have resolutions on our minds. Perhaps one of them is to disconnect more from technology--put down the phone, take a break from scrolling the Instagram feed, and resist the urge to check email for a few hours--while nurturing more face-to-face connections. At the beginning of 2016, Big Sister Courtney was happy in her career and her newly adopted city of Boston. She felt like she had stability in her life, but being fully present was more of a challenge. Then, Courtney saw the Big Sister table at a volunteer fair.
 
Read more about how Courtney and Keilyn keep it in the moment 

What's Cookin' at Big Sister? 

What better way to welcome in a new year than a fun, accessible, and tasty approach to healthy cooking? So many of our Big and Little Sisters tell us that they want to learn how to cook together or that they love to try new foods. Food is a great way to share cultures and learn about different ones. Cooking itself is often simply a science experiment that you can eat!  So, we were excited to start 2018 with two opportunities for our Big and Little Sisters to get in the kitchen and learn some new skills from talented women alongside their Big Sisters. 

On January 7, we partnered with Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts and the KITCHEN at the Boston Public Market for a hands-on lesson that included making salad with homemade dressing, pasta with lots of fresh veggies, and sugar cookies (because sometimes you need a little something sweet).



That same day, another group of Big and Little Sisters kicked off our continued partnership with Christopher Kimball's Milk Street Cooking School. One class will be hosted quarterly and geared toward a specific age group. This month's class was aimed at Little Sisters age 8-10. They enjoyed making and taste-testing a variety of flavored flatbreads. New this year, our partnership with Milk Street will include a career coaching program where teenage Little Sisters will meet and cook with successful women from diverse professions such as nursing, law, finance and nonprofit management.


Mark Your Calendar

Save the date for Big Sister Boston's annual fashion show, Project Role Model!

Thursday, March 15
6:00 PM - 9:00 PM

Fairmont Copley Plaza
138 Saint James Avenue, Boston

Ticket sales coming soon.

Questions? Contact MK Thornton at  mkthornton@bigsister.org  or 617.236.5304.

For sponsorship inquiries, please contact 
Ari Brickman at  abrickman@bigsister.org  or 617.236.8079.


Official Media Sponsors:


Need space?   Big Sister has a large, fully furnished conference room  that can be rented for hourly or daily rates. Please contact our Administrative Specialist, Deborah Pless, at 617.236.8060 for more information. 

Proudly Supported by


Big Sister Association of Greater Boston | 617.236.8060 | bigsister@bigsister.org | www.bigsister.org
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