Our Mission
Impacting generational change by empowering youth, who are facing the greatest obstacles, through relationships with professional mentors – 12+ years, no matter what.
Friends of the Children Austin is part of a national network of Friends of the Children chapters across the United States. Friends of the Children connects children – all of whom have unique talents – to a paid, professional mentor called a Friend. We hire and train Friends whose full-time jobs are to support our youth to succeed, despite the extremely challenging situations most experience, from as early as age 4 through high school graduation – 12+ years, no matter what.
Our model is distinct, courageous and proven. We redefined youth mentoring by creating the first and only long-term professional mentoring program in the country. Friends are experts in building sustained and nurturing relationships with youth. Our model is evidence-informed and research-based, and we have proven long-term outcomes to show it works.
This is at the core of what we do. Each day, our Friends advocate and help amplify the voices of our youth and their families who often become voiceless in the midst of the systemic failures. By challenging the status quo, we also help shift the way institutions and systems view and treat our youth and their families. Friends also create meaningful experiences that teach youth to build life skills and make informed decisions, while exploring the child’s diverse talents and interests.
Our model is real, and it works.
Impacting generational change by empowering youth, who are facing the greatest obstacles, through relationships with professional mentors – 12+ years, no matter what.
At the core of Friends of the Children’s mission is our organizational value of putting children first—walking alongside youth who face some of life’s hardest challenges from kindergarten through high school, for 12+ years no matter what
Putting Children First as a key value for the organization means that the youth we serve are the primary focus of everything we do at Friends of the Children. We intentionally serve youth who are facing great obstacles. We listen to youth and base decisions on their needs and dreams, as they write their own stories of success. We foster a supportive, consistent relationship between each youth and professional mentor—a relationship that grows through high school, and into their adult lives.
We nurture long-term relationships from a foundation of love and acceptance. Our practice is rooted in the wisdom of communities, tailoring support to honor each youth’s unique identity and shared heritage. We don’t give up easily and take a no matter what approach to our work. We intentionally develop collaborative relationships over time with trust, empathy and healthy communication. We build community through one-on-one connections that are authentic, respectful and meaningful.
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.
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.
We believe everyone deserves the chance to reach their full potential, because where you start shouldn’t decide how far you go. We advocate to ensure every child, regardless of historical and present challenges, has the resources, support, and voice needed to thrive. We amplify and listen to the hopes and dreams of the children, families, and communities we serve. We harness different perspectives to overcome barriers and drive measurable change for every child. Together, we work to challenge and remove obstacles so potential isn’t limited by any circumstance.
More than eight years ago, Rachel Arnold and Nancy Pollard came together to bring Friends of the Children to Austin, compelled by the impact of the national program model and the need in our community to provide this intervention to children who are facing the greatest challenges. With the support of 50 local individuals and families who contributed $1.7 million in seed capital, the Austin chapter of Friends of the Children launched in 2017. Friends Austin began enrolling youth in our program in 2018, with an inaugural cohort of 32 kindergarteners.
Since then, as a result of the strong, continued partnership of our community, Friends Austin has gone from a dream to a well-established reality. Our program has grown to serve more than 220 youth, spanning grades pre-K through eighth grade. What started with a single staff member now includes a team of more than 40 dedicated, compassionate individuals, 34 of whom serve at least one youth as a Friend.
After serving as the Founding Board Chair for four years, Rachel Arnold continues to serve on the Board of Directors. In 2024, Nancy Pollard joined her on the Board after serving as Friends Austin's Founding Executive Director for seven years. Nancy now leads Friends of the Children Texas, an entity created to launch chapters across our state and scale our proven model to more children who are facing the greatest challenges.
Building on this strong foundation, Friends Austin entered a new chapter in 2024 with Marilyn Manzo-Dawson stepping in as the organization's second Executive Director. Her journey with Friends Austin began in 2017 as the Founding Program Director, where she helped shape every phase of our growth and established a gold standard program within the national Friends network. She continues to serve one of the children from our first cohort of kindergarteners as a Friend.
Guided steadily by our Board of Directors and with the partnership of the many foundations, businesses, organizations, families, and individuals who generously support Friends Austin, we remain committed to our mission. We will continue growing, sustaining the high quality of our program across all ages, and maintaining a standard of excellence. Thank you for your partnership on this journey.
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.
Friends of the Children began with just three salaried, professional mentors called Friends and 24 children. Friends of the Children has grown to employ hundreds of Friends who serve thousands of children across the nation. You can view the full list of locations on our national website.