On Monday, May 8, Big Sister Association of Greater Boston, our region’s premier mentoring organization for girls, held its annual meeting at the Bruce C. Bolling Municipal Building in Roxbury. At the meeting, Boston City Councilor-at-Large, Ayanna Pressley, a former Big Sister herself, gave an impassioned speech about the need for gender-specific mentoring and lifting up girls in our community. “We often speak about self-esteem as if it is inevitable, but it is earned. Self-esteem is muscle built over time,” said Councilor Pressley. “Bigs help Littles to build that muscle. Big Sister doesn’t make our girls great, it reminds them that they are.”
Big Sister Boston also welcomed new board member, Debra Williams, Senior Vice President for Sales and Account Service at Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts. Debra, a Back Bay resident, has over 25 years of experience in national and international diversified health benefits Sales, Marketing and Product. She was appointed as Senior Vice President for Sales and Account Service in October 2016. Debra develops and executes a comprehensive sales strategy and plan that drives top line revenue and membership results for the organization. She establishes and leads new and retention sales, sales operations, account service and other customer support initiatives. Debra is a member of the Executive Management Team and represents the voice of the customer.
As a member of Big Sister Boston’s Board of Directors, Debra will be responsible for the organization’s fiscal and strategic oversight. “We are excited to welcome Debra to our engaged and energetic board,” said Deborah Re, Big Sister Boston’s President and Chief Executive Officer. “We are proud of the longstanding partnership we’ve shared with Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts, and look forward to the dynamic talents and insights Debbie will bring to our organization.”
The following slate of officers were also nominated and approved at Monday night’s annual meeting: Deborah Daccord of Mintz, Levin, Cohn, Ferris, Glovsky and Popeo, PC as Chair; Wellesley resident, Mariann Youniss, as Vice Chair; Joe Realmuto of PricewaterhouseCoopers, LLP as Treasurer; and Christina Lewis of Hinckley Allen as Clerk.
About Big Sister Association of Greater Boston
Big Sister Association of Greater Boston ignites girls’ passion and power to succeed through positive mentoring relationships with women and enrichment programs that support girls’ healthy development. Since 1951, Big Sister Boston has focused on meeting the unique needs of girls by providing them with the guidance, caring, and support of a Big Sister. Today, the organization serves more than 2,700 girls annually through professionally supported mentoring relationships with trained women mentors and enrichment activities that address the social-emotional development of girls age 7-20. Big Sister Boston is the only independently supported Big Brothers Big Sisters of America (BBBSA) agency exclusively serving girls, and was recently recognized by BBBSA as the National Agency of the Year from more than 300 affiliates across the country. For more information, please visit www.bigsister.org and follow @BigSisterBoston on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.