The results are here! Over three years of preparation and hard work in evaluating the Big Brothers Big Sisters School-based Mentoring program culminated on August 2, 2007 with the issuing of "Making a Difference in Schools: The Big Brothers Big Sisters School-Based Mentoring Impact Study".

Click here for a one-page summary of the report.

Click here for the Executive Summary.

Big Brothers Big Sisters' Nationwide Leadership Council honored Big Brothers Big Sisters of South Texas with its Gold Standard Award for achievement. Big Brothers Big Sisters of South Texas is one of 24 agencies selected from a nationwide network of over 400 to receive this prestigious award. As a Gold Standard Award winner, Big Brothers Big Sisters of South Texas is in the top 6% of Big Brothers Big Sisters across the country.

The Gold Standard award recognizes Big Brothers Big Sisters agencies that have demonstrated pace setting performance throughout the year. Agencies that have shown a revenue growth of 10% or more, a 10% increase in the number of children served in mentoring relationships, matches, and that meet a quality standard are considered to be top performing.

The Board of Directors of Big Brothers Big Sisters of South Texas (BBBS) announced the selection of Denise Barkhurst as Chief Executive Officer of the 30-year-old organization effective August 1, 2008. She replaces Elizabeth Myers who had been with the organization for more than 11 years.

"We performed a thorough and extensive search for our CEO. We launched the search in April and interviewed numerous qualified professionals in our area," says Scott Duffy, Board Chair. "Denise has been a major contributor to our past success, and has a great vision for the future. We are extremely confident that Denise is the right person for the job."

Denise first became involved with Big Brothers Big Sisters in 1995 in Oklahoma City where she worked as a case manager. She began her work with the south Texas affiliate as Vice President of Programs 1999, and was promoted to Executive Vice President in 2002.

"Passion for the organization''s mission, combined with her outstanding experience and leadership credentials are what pushed Denise to the top of the list when making our decision," says Duffy. "Denise really understands the positive impact of our organization in the community, and cares about maximizing the mentoring outcome for each one of our matches. She also understands what is required to help us serve more children in the future."