PIMCO Employees Provide Professional Exposure to At-Risk Youth Through “Beyond School Walls”

When at-risk students step off of the school bus and onto the steps of a corporate building for Big Brothers Big Sisters of Orange County’s (BBBSOC) “Beyond School Walls” program, they are on their way to exposure of professional environments and new career paths they may never have dreamed of. With sixty percent of parents or guardians of children served by BBBSOC without a high school diploma, “Littles” experience what it means to work for a corporation and the educational requirements needed to achieve this professional success, of which they may not otherwise have exposure to.

Through Big Brothers Big Sisters of Orange County’s “Beyond School Walls” program, at-risk students are given exposure to professional environments and new career paths they may never have dreamed of. With sixty percent of parents or guardians of children served by Big Brothers Big Sisters of Orange County without a high school diploma, “Littles” experience what it means to work for a corporation and the educational requirements needed to achieve this professional success, of which they may not otherwise have exposure to.

Orange County executives, or “Corporate Bigs,” from companies such as Newport Beach-based PIMCO, are matched with local Orange County students facing adversity and meet with their “Littles” once a month after school through this workplace mentoring program.

“Mentorship is one of the single most important gifts you can give to youth, especially those facing adversity,” says Melissa Beck, CEO of Big Brothers Big Sisters of Orange County. “Through “Beyond School Walls” partners such as PIMCO, these mentorships bring a special level of opportunity to kids and inspire them to pursue excellence and have hope for their futures.”

Through “Beyond School Walls,” matches work on financial literacy, career development, and college planning, as well as skill building activities such as goal setting, academic achievement, self-esteem, and effective communication, while overall building strong and lasting relationships. 

PIMCO’s recent Big Brothers Big Sisters of Orange County’s “Beyond School Walls” session on Thursday, February 20 featured an arts awareness workshop, where “Littles” thrived creatively. Segerstrom Center for the Arts theater and mime group The Chameleons explored how to use the body to express imagination and depict imagery, character, emotion and story. “Littles” along with their “Corporate Bigs” had the chance to act out scenes The Chameleons gave them, such as pulling a rope, “mime in a box,” and sneakily getting ice cream from the freezer. 

Big Brothers Big Sisters of Orange County kicked off “Beyond Schools Walls” in January 2013, which has made 100 matches over the past year, with 40 matches at PIMCO alone. PIMCO employees even honored Big Brothers Big Sisters of Orange County’s “Beyond School Walls” program as their favorite volunteer opportunity of the year in January 2014.

“Littles” George and Lesly, of El Sol Academy in Santa Ana, credit “Beyond School Walls” with helping them to realize their dreams of going on to college and becoming professionals.

Twelve-year-old “Little” Lesly has been matched to her “Corporate Big” Katy, Institutional Business Group associate at PIMCO, for one year. They enjoy spending one-on-one time together through “Beyond School Walls” and working on Lesly’s goals to improve her grades in order to help her make her dream of becoming a veterinarian a reality.

Thirteen-year-old “Little” George has been matched to his “Corporate Big” Bransby, senior vice president at PIMCO, for one year, and they work together to improve George’s grades to help him reach his goal of one day studying technology engineering at USC and becoming an FBI agent.

Matching Orange County business professionals with at-risk youth creates possibilities to give back to the local community through the motivation and empowerment of local youth, our future leaders.

For more information on Big Brothers Big Sisters of Orange County and its programs, visit www.BigBroOC.org.