Bolder Options is thrilled to share our recently updated vision, mission and strategic framework. After celebrating our milestone 32th year of impact through mentoring, we dedicated time in the past year listening to our community’s needs and imagining how to best position our organization for the future.
Vision: We create Bolder options for youth, one future at a time.
Mission: We accomplish this by preparing youth to succeed in all of life’s races.
Bolder Options Values:
Community - we are stronger because we bring people together.
Relationships - we nurture authentic & enduring relationships.
Holistic Wellness - to do well, we must first be well.
Fun - Bolder Options is, has been, and will continue to be a vibe!
Furthermore, our young people remain at the center of everything that we do and we do not give up on them. We hold strong to our motto - “All it takes is all you’ve got!” - and we invite those who share that drive to step up and join us!
Strategic Priorities for 2025-2027:
Our conversations with youth participants and alumni revealed to us that Bolder Options is often their only out-of-school time activity. Young people also affirmed for us that 30 years later, the 1:1 relationship with their mentor is still the most important aspect of their involvement with Bolder Options. The 1:1 program is a launching pad for their connection to Bolder’s alumni programs, to our staff, and to our broader community of caring mentors. Youth and mentors want to stay with us longer, and go deeper.
We will develop a clear Bolder Options pathway that starts with 1:1 mentorship and continues all the way through to college and/or career. Our alumni programming highlights the need for ongoing connection and support for Bolder Options youth, mentors, and families. We will imagine bold ways to stay connected with our participants longer, deepen our impact, and expand their network of mentors. This commitment will go beyond our current alumni offerings (adventuring learning, I Believe & I Achieve) and create a bold, intentional, effective, sustainable, and individualized program for our alumni youth.
We are doubling down on wellness. From day one, Bolder Options has promoted physical activity as a way to build relationships, learn about goal setting, and to help young people feel better. Our young people need this now more than ever. Over the years we have expanded from a running & biking program to a holistic wellness approach that ecompasses physical, social, and emotional wellness. We get kids outdoors and moving; connect them with a caring mentor AND with their peers in the program; and through those experiences grow their self-confidence.
To achieve this, we need to be bold and creative in our pursuit of resources. We will partner with our community to ensure we have the capacity, tools, and financial resources to deliver on our promise to create bolder options for young people, one future at a time.
The framework is supported annually with key strategies and goals that our staff team - along with board & committee leaders - will tackle together. We are all excited to align around our mission and vision, and to know that in many ways we are staying the course. The biggest change is our BOLD commitment to do more for and with our amazing Bolder Options youth participants. We invite you to follow along as we grow our program and consider how you can help us move this vision forward.
All it takes is all you’ve got!
Bolder Options is an incredible organization that is vital to the communities they serve. Our youth need as much support as possible from all different directions. Bolder Options understands this. Mentors for our youth are such a valuable commodity. I've been able to follow Bolder Options from a distance living in Washington, DC., and I always smile reading the success stories, which are plentiful! Keep up the amazing work Bolder Options! I'm proud to contribute what I can to this life changing organization. Thanks to my friend Darrell Thompson for all you do!