Mentorship as a Pathway to Opportunity: A Conversation With Artis Stevens

A Leader Shaped by Com­mu­ni­ty and Mentorship

Stevens’ lead­er­ship jour­ney began in Brunswick, Geor­gia, as the youngest of eight chil­dren in a fam­i­ly led by a preach­er father. Sur­round­ed by exam­ples of com­mu­ni­ty empow­er­ment, Stevens was encour­aged to forge his own path ear­ly in life. His father’s advice, ​“Every­one has their min­istry in this world. You’ve got to find yours,” became a guid­ing principle.

Through­out his career, Stevens has focused on men­tor­ing as a tool for empow­er­ing young peo­ple. Whether it was becom­ing the first in his fam­i­ly to grad­u­ate from col­lege or work­ing with youth in com­mu­ni­ties, Stevens cred­its men­tors with shap­ing his deci­sions and dri­ving his com­mit­ment. In 2021, this ded­i­ca­tion led him to BBBSA.

Chal­lenges Fac­ing America’s Youth

Stevens high­light­ed the crit­i­cal issues young peo­ple face today, many of which were exac­er­bat­ed by the COVID-19 pan­dem­ic. More than 55% of the youth served by BBB­SA live in house­holds in or near pover­ty, a fac­tor that often lim­its access to oppor­tu­ni­ties. In addi­tion to eco­nom­ic chal­lenges, young peo­ple are grap­pling with ris­ing men­tal health con­cerns, social iso­la­tion and a lack of guid­ance as they nav­i­gate key life transitions.

One alarm­ing sta­tis­tic Stevens shared was that 10 mil­lion young peo­ple across the coun­try do not have access to a pos­i­tive, sus­tained men­tor. Dur­ing the pan­dem­ic, BBB­SA observed that near­ly 20% of the youth it serves lost con­tact with a trust­ed adult, fur­ther empha­siz­ing the urgent need for mentorship.

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