Needham Man Joins Big Brother Big Sisters Mass. Board

From Big Brothers Big Sisters of Massachusetts Bay: Big Brothers Big Sisters of Massachusetts Bay, one of the nation’s leading one-to-one mentoring programs and the largest Big Brothers Big Sisters affiliate in New England, today announced the addition of two members to its Board of Directors: Spectrum Equity Managing Director Chris Mitchell and Kaplan Financial Services President Susan Kaplan. Both Mitchell and Kaplan will tap their extensive business and financial acumen to support the nonprofit’s strategic growth trajectory. They join the organization's 19-member Board of Directors whose variety of professional expertise and philanthropic commitment play a critical role in guiding Big Brothers Big Sisters of Massachusetts Bay on its quest to nearly double the number of youth served in the next five years.

Mitchell joined the Big Brothers Big Sisters of Massachusetts Bay Board in January 2018. As the Managing Director of Spectrum Equity – a growth equity investor with $7 billion of cumulative capital commitments – Mitchell leads the fund’s Boston office and focuses on the information services, financial technology and data analytics industries. He joined Spectrum in 2001 and has been investing in growth companies since 1995, previously at TA Associates and Monitor Clipper Partners. Mitchell serves, or has served, on the Board of Directors of numerous public and private growth technology businesses, including CBOE (Chicago Board Options Exchange), Definitive Healthcare, ITA Software, RiskMetrics, Verafin and World-Check. Additionally, he serves as a Charter Trustee of The Roxbury Latin School. In addition to serving on the Board, Mitchell also volunteers with Big Brothers Big Sisters of Massachusetts Bay and has been a Big Brother to his Little Brother Adam since 2000.

Named one of the country’s top financial advisors by Barron’s, Forbes, Medical Economics and Worth Magazine, Kaplan joined the Big Brothers Big Sisters of Massachusetts Bay Board in March 2018. She founded Kaplan Financial Services, a noted investment advisory firm that manages over $2 billion in client portfolios. Kaplan was previously the president and chair of the Institute of Certified Financial Planners in Boston and is currently a trustee for Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center. She also serves on the Board of Overseers for the Boston Museum of Science.

“The support, guidance and strategic insights provided by our Board of Directors is critical to the success of our organization, and we could not be more thrilled to tap the expertise that both Chris and Susan offer,” said Wendy Foster, President and CEO of Big Brothers Big Sisters of Massachusetts Bay. “Despite serving more than 3,200 children annually, there are more than 1,500 children on our waiting list, so we are grateful to Chris and Susan for their contributions to our Board. Their collective experience will help to propel our organization forward as we seek to serve even more children in Eastern Massachusetts.”

For more information on Big Brothers Big Sisters of Massachusetts Bay and to view a complete list of the Board of Directors, visit www.bbbsmb.org/about/leadership.

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