Atlantans will soon have the chance to bid for an hour of time with some of the city’s biggest corporate and sports leaders through the fourth Big Brothers Big Sisters of Metro Atlanta (BBBSMA) Iconic Mentor Auction.
Leaders like Derek Schiller, president and CEO of the Atlanta Braves; Melonie Parker, Chief Diversity Officer at Google; and Paul Brown, co-founder and CEO of Inspire Brands (the Atlanta-based parent company of restaurants like Arby’s and Buffalo Wild Wings), are volunteering their time to the highest bidder to benefit the mentorship programs of BBSMA. Winners will meet virtually or in-person with the leader.
In 2020, BBBSMA was forced to pivot away from in-person fundraisers to virtual benefits, which is how the Iconic Mentor Auction was born. That year, basketball legend Shaquille O’Neal, Falcons owner Arthur Blank and UPS CEO Carol Tomé were some of the mentors on auction.
“Having some of those big names really made [the fundraiser] take off,” Kwame Johnson, BBBSMA president and CEO, told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
The bidding for the one-on-one meetings typically starts at $1,000, though some people like Shaq start at $5,000. Over the past three auctions, the nonprofit has raised more than $300,000, according to Johnson.
The bidders are sometime fans of the person, sometimes business owners who want to get face time with a corporate leader to pitch their company. And some of the auction winners have turned their one meeting into more. Roz Brewer, the former CEO of Walgreens, decided to become the mentor of the entrepreneur who won her time, Johnson said.
This year, around 20 mentors will be part of the auction, which starts Jan. 16 and runs until Jan. 31 at bbbsatl.org/ima.
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