About
Friends of the Children is an international nonprofit organization that selects and invites youth – all of whom have unique talents, interests and dreams, and face multiple systemic obstacles – to be paired with a paid, professional mentor called a Friend. We hire and train Friends to support our youth from as early as age 4 through high school graduation – 12+ years, no matter what.
Our model is distinct, courageous and proven. We revolutionized the youth mentoring field by creating the first and only long-term professional mentoring program in the country. We are experts in building sustained and nurturing relationships with youth.
This is at the core of what we do. Each child gets a dedicated, one-on-one Friend who listens to their hopes and dreams. Friends empower our youth to set – and achieve – their goals. Friends also create meaningful experiences that empower youth to build life skills and make healthy choices while exploring the child's diverse talents and interests.
Our model is real, and it works.
Our Mission
Impacting generational change by empowering youth who are facing the greatest obstacles through relationships with professional mentors – 12+ years, no matter what.
Values
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, and manage; and most importantly, we use our values to change the way the world treats and views the youth and families we serve.
Put Children First
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.
Build Relationships on Love
We nurture long-term relationships from a foundation of love, acceptance and culturally-informed practice. We don’t give up easily and take a no matter what approach to our work. We commit for the long-term. We intentionally develop collaborative relationships over time with trust, empathy and healthy communication. We believe that we build community through one-on-one connections that are authentic, respectful and meaningful.
Commit to Empowerment
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.
Pursue Goals Relentlessly
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.
Demand Equity
We acknowledge the historical and present injustices impacting marginalized communities. We demand equity from ourselves and from our community. We insist that all people have the necessary support to achieve all of their hopes and dreams. We amplify the voices of our children, families and communities. We bring together different experiences, skills and backgrounds to provide opportunities to overcome personal, systemic and institutional barriers.
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2020
- The Friends of the Children–Southwest Washington becomes an independent chapter.
- The Friends of the Children–Lane County Oregon chapter was established.
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2019
- Four new Friends of the Children chapters were established: Fargo-Moorhead, Tacoma, Detroit and Utah.
- The Friends of the Children–Portland chapter expands to a third location in SW Washington.
- The Friends of the Children–Los Angeles chapter expands to a second location in Antelope Valley, Calif.
2018
- The Friends of the Children–Tampa Bay chapter was established.
- The Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Program (OJJDP) awards $2 million to Friends of the Children to serve youth.
- Michael Jordan grants a multi-million dollar gift to Friends of the Children.
2017
- Four new Friends of the Children chapters are established: Central Oregon, Austin, Chicago and Los Angeles.
- Friends of the Children welcomed another affiliate in Charlotte, N.C., embedded within Thompson Child and Family Focus.
- Preliminary findings from the longitudinal study are published in Prevention Science.
2016
- The Friends of the Children–SF Bay Area chapter was established.
- The Social Innovation Fund, a program of the Corporation for National and Community Service, awarded Friends of the Children a $4 million challenge grant.
- The Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Program (OJJDP) awards $2 million to Friends of the Children to serve youth.
- Russell Wilson began investing in Friends of the Children through the Why Not You Foundation; wife Ciara joins the partnership later.
2015
- We launched the Program Performance Scorecard System, where Friends record every meeting and interaction with our participants into our shared Efforts to Outcomes database management system. Friends input academic data (school records and results), their contacts with families and information about support during crises and challenges in the home, in addition to their own assessments of youth progress.
- The Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Program (OJJDP) invests $500,000 to support the expansion of service to youth in foster care.
- Friends of the Children–Portland expands to a second location in Gresham, Ore.
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2014
- Friends of the Children wins the Social Impact Exchange's National Business Plan Competition in New York City.
- Eckerd Connects in Tampa Bay, Fla., embeds the Friends of the Children model within its program with a specific focus on serving children in foster care, officially becoming an affiliate.
- The first network summit was hosted in Portland, Ore., bringing leadership and Friends from each location together to share best practices.
- Friends of the Children–New York expands to its second location in the South Bronx.
- Friends of the Children began selecting youth directly from foster care.
2013
- The National Endowment was established through a $5 million gift from Bob and Dottie King, ensuring there will always be a National office.
2012
- Trelya, based in Cornwall, United Kingdom, secures $1 million in public juvenile justice prevention funding from Britain's Big Lottery to embed Friends of the Children's model within its program, officially becoming an affiliate.
2010
- The Harvard Business School Association of Oregon conducts a Social Return on Investment Study and determines that every $1 invested in Friends of the Children returns over $7 in benefits to the community.
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2009
- Duncan Campbell is awarded The Purpose Prize.
- We launched a centralized database called Efforts to Outcomes to track program data and outcomes across all locations.
2008
- The National Institutes of Health awarded Friends of the Children $3 million to start the longitudinal randomized-controlled trial of the effectiveness of our model.
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2004
- The Friends of the Children–Boston chapter was established.
- Friends of the Children–Portland celebrated its first graduating class.
2001
- The Friends of the Children–New York was established in Harlem.
2000
- The Friends of the Children–Seattle chapter was established.
- The Friends of the Children–Klamath Basin chapter was established.
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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.