Friends of the Children

Friends of the Children was founded in 1993 in Portland, OR with just three Friends—salaried, professional mentors—and 24 children. Today, we are a national network with 21 locations across the U.S. and in the U.K. We are a $33 million network, with the goal of expanding to 25 cities by 2025.Friends of the Children was founded by Duncan Campbell, a successful business entrepreneur whose own troubled childhood inspired him to found the organization. Our innovative model pairs children who are in foster care or in high-poverty schools with a Friend. Each child selected for the program has a Friend by their side from kindergarten through high school graduation—12+ years, no matter what.Research has shown that to break the cycle of generational poverty, children need long-term, relationship-based support to graduate from high school, remain free from involvement in the criminal justice system, wait to parent until after their teen years, and pursue opportunities through post-secondary education, serving our country or finding living-wage employment.Third-party evaluation of program graduates shows that:• 83% of our youth graduate with a high school diploma or a GED;• 93% remain free from juvenile justice system involvement;• 98% wait until after their teen years to become parents; and• 92% go on to enroll in post-secondary education, serve our country, or enter the workforce.Our successful model is now in 21 locations, including four sites in Oregon (Portland, Gresham, Klamath Basin and Central Oregon); three sites in California (Antelope Valley, Los Angeles, and San Francisco); three sites in Washington (Tacoma, Seattle, and Southwest Washington); Austin, TX; Boston, MA; Charlotte, NC; Detroit, MI; Fargo, ND and Moorhead, MN; Harlem and the South Bronx, NY; Salt Lake City, UT; Tampa Bay, FL; and Cornwall, United Kingdom.