Son of a Saint

Sonny

As President/Executive Director of Son of a Saint, Bivian “Sonny” Lee III has dedicated his life to enhancing the lives of fatherless boys. Since establishing the organization in early 2011, Sonny has grown Son of a Saint to reach 200 boys with an operating budget of more than $3 million. Prior to founding the organization, Sonny served as chief aide to Tom Benson, owner of the New Orleans Saints and New Orleans Pelicans. He was previously was Director of Operations for the New Orleans Zephyrs AAA baseball team and Director of the New Orleans Jazz Institute.

Sonny graduated with honors from St. Augustine High School and later earned a degree in marketing and management from the University of New Orleans. He is currently pursuing his Executive Master of Nonprofit Administration at Notre Dame. A TEDx speaker on community service, decision-making and the importance of education, Sonny’s nonprofit work has been highlighted on CNN, Al Jazeera America, NPR and local television stations and newspapers. His work on behalf of the community and the Son of a Saint organization has garnered numerous awards, including:

• 2019 "A-List" Honoree, Adore Magazine
• 2018 Homer Hits Alumnus of the Year, University of New Orleans
• 2017 Southerners of the Year, Southern Living
• 2017 Role Model Award, Young Leadership Council (YLC)
• 2017 Children's Hero Award, Children's Bureau of New Orleans
• 2016 New Orleanian of the Year, Gambit Weekly
• 2015 Angel Award, Blue Cross Foundation
• 2015 Ten Outstanding Young Americans, United States Junior Chamber
• 2014 People to Watch, New Orleans Magazine
• 2013 FBI Director’s Community Leadership Award
• 2013 Champion of Change Award, Crescent City Chapter of Links, Inc.
• 2013 Millennial Change Maker Award, Spears Consulting
• 2011 40 Under 40, Gambit Weekly

To book Sonny for speaking engagements and appearances, contact Megan Baldassari at megan@sonofasaint.org.

Partnership Profile

When it comes to local flavor and love of community, Abita Brewing Company sets the standard. For several years now, Abita has committed to leveraging its visibility and its reach in the local and regional market to enhance the lives of Son of a Saint’s mentees. Whether donating Abita Root Beer on a monthly basis for our mentees’ enjoyment, or providing in-kind beer products for our adult-facing events, the company helps alleviate our costs as an organization so we can focus funds towards holistic programming and critical support for our mentees and their families.

Beyond simply donating products, Abita joined forces with our organization’s brand and partnerships team in June 2020 to launch the Son of a Saint Series! This offering features a rotating selection of Abita brews available year-round exclusively in the Abita Beer taproom in Covington, La., which sees thousands of visitors annually. The best component of this partnership is that 100 percent of the Son of a Saint Series sales proceeds directly benefit our organization. Most recently, the Abita Beer team joined our inaugural Son of a Saint Classic golf tournament in May 2021 as the event’s exclusive beer sponsor.

"We are proud to collaborate with Son of a Saint and to sustain this impactful relationship with the entire team," says Abita Brewing Company Marketing Manager Heidi Guerra. "We know positive change happens here, in our community, and we are honored to partner with such a meaningful organization."

Abita Beer's creative spirit, innovative drive, and philanthropic priorities have inspired a unique collaboration that Son of a Saint is excited to see grow and develop in the years to come.

Partnership Profile

Advantage Capital is a venture capital firm, impact investor and small business lender, investing in companies across a diverse array of industries to help them succeed, create jobs and reinvigorate local communities and economies. The firm works with established and emerging businesses located in communities underserved by conventional sources of capital and equips them with necessary resources for their future development. Since 1992, the firm has invested more than $3.8 billion and helped support more than 65,000 jobs in Louisiana and across the country.

The firm is also an ardent supporter of Son of a Saint and continues to show its generosity and commitment to our organization's core mission and long-term growth. Over the past four years, Advantage Capital has sustained an annual level of giving to help bolster Son of a Saint's education programming, operating budget and achievement of its overall goals. In total, Advantage Capital has contributed more than $120,000, in addition to other human capital resources. The partnership includes various facets of ongoing engagement, including Advantage Capital's staff involvement in activities to support the vision and multidimensional model of Son of a Saint.

In 2020, Advantage Capital's Managing Director Michael Johnson and his wife Alicia took their commitment of support and partnership one step further, by generously pledging $100,000 in support of Son of a Saint's "A Home For Our Boys" Capital Campaign. The fundraising initiative will help construct and revitalize Son of a Saint's expertly envisioned headquarters facility, scheduled for completion in early 2022. The contribution marked a leading gift of support for our bold future at a critical time.

"At Advantage Capital, we have chosen to be very direct in how we give back to our communities, focused on investing, mentoring and fostering growth in the youth of today," says Johnson. "These same young people will become the entrepreneurs and workers of tomorrow—those very individuals we work with every day to help positively impact communities. Alicia and I care deeply about Son of a Saint’s mission and are honored to support this organization."

As the partner relationship continues, Son of a Saint and Advantage Capital will explore further ways to work together. Key initiatives and activities include internships or job-shadowing opportunities for Son of a Saint mentees, welcoming program participants to its local office for business tours and educational opportunities, and continued sponsorship and involvement in mentor and volunteer recruitment events.

Son of a Saint thanks Advantage Capital and its leadership team members for the continued partnership and generosity.

Partnership Profile

Bill Jones and Richard Horner, owners of Blue Giant, have achieved well-deserved recognition for their new restaurant and have set a new standard for how mentorship drives success for Son of a Saint's mentees. They have prioritized a commitment to enriching the lives of Son of a Saint's mentees, through creative and strategic initiatives and have established a lasting and meaningful partnership, ultimately defining a better future for our mentees and their families.

Since 2020, Blue Giant has featured a specialty cocktail on their menu, proceeds of which are driving revenue to support our mission. They also host mentee etiquette meals as needed to introduce mentees to new dining experiences and provide key culinary instruction, helping each mentee create a balanced and informed nutritional lifestyle. Blue Giant has also committed to offering job shadowing and potential hiring opportunities for mentees who meet age requirements.

Beyond mentee engagement, Blue Giant facilitates fundraising dinners and mentor recruitment and appreciation mixers, providing in-kind food and beverage for guests, while also advocating for the entire organization to its network of patrons and industry constituents.

"Son of a Saint should make you feel confident about the future of our youth in New Orleans. Sonny has created a program that will have a positive impact on our young men without fathers forever," says Blue Giant Owner Bill Jones. "They are creating an environment that will give them an opportunity they wouldn't have otherwise. If you can, you should too."

Partnership Profile

Byron Kantrow Slosar joined Son of a Saint’s Board of Directors in 2019 after meeting Sonny Lee, Founder/CEO, over coffee at SoHo House in New York City. They didn’t know it at the time, but it was a pivotal moment for both Byron and Son of a Saint.

Byron, who continues to support the fundraising and undergraduate career efforts at his alma mater, Tulane University, was also incubating a new company – HIVE DIVERSITY. HIVE is an innovative virtual recruitment platform, but it represents something much deeper -- the simple yet often overlooked insight that bringing your authentic identity into the workplace is just as powerful as your qualifications on paper. HIVE connects employers with an ever-evolving diverse community of next generation talent, and propels undergraduate students and recent graduates to be proud of and bring their authentic selves into their professional pursuits.

"My experience on the Son of a Saint Board is representative of what I am trying to create for my 'kids' at HIVE. The organization embraced me, the diversity of experience that I bring to the table, and my unique value." He adds, "The common thread between HIVE and Son of a Saint is that we create a space where students are encouraged to discover their value and bring their authentic selves into their environment - professional and otherwise."

While Byron was on the cusp of phenomenal personal and professional growth with HIVE Diversity, Sonny and the Son of a Saint team were also on the edge of major growth and transition. The then-grassroots nonprofit, whose mission is to transform the lives of fatherless boys through mentorship, was moving into a period of intense growth and transformation. Since that time, we have doubled the number of young men served by our organization (nearly 200 mentees in total), acquired a permanent building to serve as "a home" for our boys, and demonstrated our impact through a program evaluation.

Many people in New Orleans know Son of a Saint as a mentorship program, but the real power of what we do comes in our celebration of individuality. We provide critical services such as scholarships, tutoring, and therapy sessions; but we also attend basketball games, celebrate birthdays, take seniors on college visits, and advocate for boys in school. Through these acts, Son of a Saint demonstrates how we truly care and empower our boys to embrace their authentic selves and understand their unique value in the world.

Son of a Saint marked Byron's first experience joining an organization's Board of Directors, and his rationale for involvement was straightforward and direct. Every action that Byron has taken through his career has been driven by a desire to help young adults become self-actualized humans first, and successful professionals second. He made the same commitment to Son of a Saint and our young mentees. He understood that Son of a Saint's commitment to nurturing our young men’s individuality prepares them, not only for the workforce, but also for a meaningful life. This is the same understanding that inspired him to launch HIVE.

Byron sprang into action through his board participation, making key connections to donors and partners. He also embraced and enhanced Son of a Saint's travel program, curating a unique and eye-opening, four-day trip to New York City, where mentees toured NYU, saw a Broadway show, talked with professionals from diverse industries, and toured companies such as NBA Headquarters, Bloomberg News, and Viacom. He is now planning a similar trip to Los Angeles to occur in Spring 2022. Travel is a difficult-to-quantify aspect of Son of a Saint's program. The experience of seeing a new city and being immersed in a different culture, something that some take for granted, can spark individual inspiration and motivation in a way that nothing else can.

The through line between Son of a Saint, HIVE, and the many individuals who touch both organizations, is authenticity. Diversity – not just our visual identities, but the experiences behind those identities (like growing up without a father), provide skills and perspectives that give us depth. In a world overridden with technology, advertisements, political division, and special interests, we maintain that every person is capable of extraordinary things. Son of a Saint and HIVE exist to move the needle for every young person we encounter – by showing up authentically through both word and action, and inspiring others to do the same.

Partnership Profile

Son of a Saint and the team from Felipe's Taqueria and Pinkberry New Orleans share a long history that is deep, meaningful, and mutually impactful. For more than half a decade, Felipe's Taqueria and Pinkberry New Orleans have partnered with Son of a Saint in a myriad of ways, to not only provide immediate opportunities to the program's young mentees, but also to set them up for long-term success in their bright futures.

The partnership actually dates back to 2015, when the first of Son of a Saint's mentees began working for the company. A number of Son of a Saint's young men continue to be employed by Felipe's and Pinkberry year over year. Even prior to that professional connection, the original link between Son of a Saint and Felipe's started with Felipe's co-owner Lon Nichols and Son of a Saint Founder + CEO Bivian "Sonny" Lee III, who maintain a close personal friendship to this day and worked together to build and grow Son of a Saint since the organization's year of inception. Lon in fact went on to be named Son of a Saint’s 2014 Mentor of the Year.

Beginning in 2020, the partnership evolved further and took on another facet, this time to provide college scholarship resources to those mentees participating in Son of a Saint while also working for Felipe's and Pinkberry. The $10,000 yearly college scholarship is a recurring award that is given to a chosen Son of a Saint mentee who's been employed at Felipe's or Pinkberry, then goes on to study at a four-year university. The mentee must also maintain at least a 3.0 GPA during his academic years to continue receiving the yearly scholarship amount. In total, the mentee who goes on to advance in his college career with qualifying academic performance has the potential to earn up to $40,000 through the scholarship program.

Javier Castellon was the first recipient of Felipe's $40,000 Son of a Saint scholarship in August 2020, as he entered his senior high school year at New Orleans Center for the Creative Arts (NOCCA) and enrolled as a Posse Scholar at Case Western Reserve University in Ohio. Felipe's and Pinkberry will continue selecting the next Son of a Saint mentee to take part in the scholarship program over the coming semesters and years. This is more evidence of the long-term commitment from Felipe's to the Son of a Saint team and the way the organization is modeled intentionally to stick with its young men for the long haul and walk with them through their journey into adulthood.

More recently, Felipe's has remained a loyal supporter and advocate of Son of a Saint's organizational and programming events. From providing weekly catering for Son of a Saint staff lunches, to hosting key events for the organization and its partners, to helping to launch a national fundraising initiative in collaboration with Jose Cuervo for major financial support, the Felipe's team is there to champion Son of a Saint's work and progress.

Son of a Saint’s gratitude to Felipe's and Pinkberry team runs deep, particularly for the sustained commitment to the young men of the organization and the community of Greater New Orleans.

Partnership Profile

Longtime Son of a Saint supporters, Goss Advisors and the Goss family have shown steadfast support to our organization since day one. Their level of giving and additional support has grown along with the young men who participate in the program.

In 2021, Son of a Saint received a $500,000 donation from the Goss family supporting Son of a Saint Scholars, the organization's state government-authorized School Tuition Organization (STO), which collects and uses taxpayer donations to provide scholarships to students that meet the program's income requirements to attend nonpublic schools. Son of a Saint Scholars is one of only three STOs approved by the Louisiana Department of Education to provide critical funding aid to students attending the tuition-based schools throughout the state.

The Tuition Donation Credit Program, a system established by the Louisiana Legislature, allows for STOs and also empowers Louisiana families with the financial resources to choose the school that best prepares their child for college and careers. Based on the program's criteria, all STOs are tax-exempt, not-for-profit organizations with 501(c)(3) status. Taxpayers then earn a significant 95 percent credit toward their Louisiana state tax liability for the year in which they make a donation to a particular STO.

"The Goss family and our firm, Goss Advisors, are proud to be longtime supporters of Son of a Saint. They are making a real difference in the lives of young men, which in turn, makes an incalculable difference in our world," says longtime Son of a Saint supporter Alex Goss. "Few organizations have such a direct impact in our community, and the results of Son of a Saint speak for themselves. Now, more than ever, we need young men becoming leaders in their communities. If you have the opportunity, please support this wonderful organization."

In addition to the $500,000 donation, the Goss family also contributed $150,000 in support of Son of a Saint’s "A Home For Our Boys" Capital Campaign, the development initiative to renovate and optimize the organization's permanent home. The master plan and design for Son of a Saint’s A Home For Our Boys, scheduled for completion in early 2022 within its Mid-City headquarters building.

Son of a Saint is immensely grateful for the Goss Advisors and the Goss Family’s belief in our leadership, our organizational model and, most importantly, in our young men and their limitless futures.

Partnership Profile

Hancock Whitney has a long history of investing in community initiatives and creating positive impact within the Greater New Orleans area. Part of this community investment is reflected in the bank’s continued partnership with Son of a Saint and its lasting commitment to create a better future for our mentees and their families.

For years, Hancock Whitney has stepped up as a generous supporter of Son of a Saint, ranging from sponsorship of the 2019 Gala to providing programmatic support to a recent multi-year pledge of $150,000 to support Son of a Saint’s “A Home For Our Boys” Capital Campaign. Within the newly envisioned Son of a Saint headquarters building, Hancock Whitney will have the Counseling and Education wing of the facility named in its honor. The bank’s support of Son of a Saint has also gone beyond funding with the development and implementation of a financial education program for mentees.

Financial education is a vital tool that when taught at an early age that can make a difference in a young person’s future. Through the Son of a Saint Financial Education Program, Hancock Whitney is providing an invaluable learning foundation for Son of a Saint’s young men, offering them the knowledge and financial know-how they will need to make smart financial decisions throughout their lives. This program shows the mentees the basics of money management, credit cards, credit scores, financing higher education, and other important money matters.

In addition to valued financial support and the financial education opportunities provided to Son of a Saint, Hancock Whitney’s associates have also become personally vested in the program. Executive Vice President & Chief Banking Officer, Chip Knight, sits on the Son of a Saint Board of Directors and Vice President & Corporate Portfolio Manager, Brian King, recently joined the Executive Mentor Council. Both gentlemen believe that being actively involved with the program is important in their mission to create positive impact in the community that they both live and work in.

“Like Hancock Whitney, Son of a Saint is committed to making a difference here in the New Orleans community,” says Chip Knight. “We share a vision dedicated to the future of the young men in this program and will work to ensure Son of a Saint is able to continue to inspire and shape young minds.”

As a proud partner of Son of a Saint and member of the Executive Mentor Council, Brian King says, “Hancock Whitney is a reliable, longstanding financial and community partner committed to creating opportunities for people in the places we call home. We are proud to work with Son of a Saint and the mentees in the program.

For Chip Knight, Brian King and Hancock Whitney, the continued partnership of Son of a Saint is reflective of the company as well as their own personal values. Collectively, there exists a strong belief in building a stronger community together, centered on transforming the lives of the promising young men of Son of a Saint.

Partnership Profile

Bill Hines is the Managing Partner of Jones Walker LLP law firm and also serves as the Son of a Saint Board of Directors Vice Chair. Hines has been a legal, business, and civic leader for nearly four decades, taking an enthusiastic altruistic approach to his philanthropic involvement over the years. He believes his firm's partnership with organizations like Son of a Saint will serve to create a lasting, positive impact for the Greater New Orleans community.

Bill's introduction to Son of a Saint occurred during the inception of the organization, through his work on other civic matters with the its founder, Bivian "Sonny" Lee. Hines says, "I was very impressed with Sonny and believed in his idea of 'paying it forward' based upon his own experiences as a boy who lost his father at a very young age. The mission was both visionary and inspiring."

Hines and Jones Walker have been generous supporters of Son of a Saint for several years, most recently stepping up and committing a $125,000 multi-year gift to the program, as well as a $150,000 multi-year commitment to the organization's "A Home For Our Boys" capital campaign. In June of 2020, Jones Walker also sponsored and participated in a Juneteenth Celebration for Son of a Saint mentees. The Juneteenth Celebration was a defining moment for Hines, his firm and Son of a Saint, to support causes benefiting racial justice, equity and diversity in our community.

Hines and Jones Walker have had a number of proud moments during their involvement with Son of a Saint, most of them involving direct participation or observation of the program's interactions with its mentees. When asked what was one of the proudest moments with the organization, Hines says that, "As Managing Partner of Jones Walker and a longstanding board member of Ochsner Health, being involved with and observing the exceptionally large financial commitments made by these two organizations, in the case of Ochsner including not just the largest financial gift in SOAS history, but creating a partnership providing ongoing case workers and mental health specialists, in 2020 during a pandemic was certainly a highlight." Hines was in fact a lead advocate in helping to establish a relationship between the leaders of Son of a Saint and Ochsner Health, which helped lead to the unprecedented major partnership collaboration.

Despite entering its tenth year in the New Orleans community, Hines believes there is still an opportunity to address a common misconception about Son of Saint and the organization’s impact on the community. He believes many people, including a number of potential donors, may lack a true understanding of the scope and holistic nature, and measurable successes, of Son of a Saint in fulfilling its mission.

Hines says, "I truly believe that if more people completely understood its current impact, and much greater potential impact, to transform the lives of fatherless boys, most of the boys coming from the most underserved segments of our community, that Son of a Saint could become the most important and transformative social service, social justice, and crime preventative organization in our community."

Both Hines and the team at Jones Walker look forward to a long-lasting relationship, focused on a continued positive path of growth for Son of a Saint in 2021 and beyond. Bill shared that his goal for Son of a Saint in 2021 is to see it significantly grow its cohort of boys participating in the program and further grow its community and philanthropic support so as to allow it to have an even greater impact in the future.

Photo: Hines (R) is pictured with Son of a Saint founder Sonny Lee.

Partnership Profile

The dynamically talented team at Trapolin-Peer Architects is helping Son of a Saint build lives and literally so much more. Paula Peer, principal of the architecture firm, was initially introduced to Son of a Saint in 2019 through a common associate of both organizations, revered philanthropist, and longtime Son of a Saint supporter, Mr. Bobby Merrick.

That key introduction led to a meeting between Paula and Son of a Saint's Founder + CEO Bivian "Sonny" Lee III, where the concept of reimagining and revitalizing a centralized headquarters for the organization sprang to life. Eventually, the concept would officially take shape as Son of a Saint's "A Home For Our Boys," also known as The Ochsner Health Bivian Lee Jr. Son of a Saint Center. The building, a 100-year-old icehouse in the heart of Mid-City New Orleans, is named after Sonny Lee's father.

Trapolin-Peer's team, led by Paula and including Associate Architect Gabriel Virdure, as well as Architectural Designers Matthew Buyer and Hannah Berryhill, officially began working on the Son of a Saint project in early 2020, and the relationship continues full steam ahead to present day. The firm generously provides Son of a Saint with full pro bono concept, design, coordination, and lead permitting services for the upcoming facility, which is currently under construction and slated for completion in early 2022. Trapolin-Peer's design approach aims to create a balanced space that is not only welcoming and playful for Son of a Saint's young mentees, but also displays the professionalism and importance of the organization’s mission: to transform the lives of fatherless boys and invest in the future of New Orleans.

A further testament to the heart and the ethos of the company, Trapolin-Peer even allowed Son of a Saint's mentees and staff to work lockstep with the architecture team to provide direct design input, collaboration, and recommendations since the start of the partnership. This included multiple sessions of the mentees visiting the Trapolin-Peer office to explain the functionalities and amenities they wanted to see in their future headquarters space.

Subsequent design and brainstorming sessions with key Son of a Saint staff members are held on a weekly, if not daily, basis further the conversation and the spirit of working together to build a major, state-of-the-art centralized home for the Son of a Saint, which will become a resource for so many young men and their families throughout the Greater New Orleans community. The members of Son of a Saint's entire network are staying tuned with high anticipation for what is yet to come from the buildout of the new space, all under the direction and expertise of the Trapolin-Peer team.