Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley visited the William Monroe Trotter School in Dorchester on March 14 to celebrate $250,000 in new Community Project Funding that she recently secured for Big Sister Association of Greater Boston (Big Sister).

Pressley was joined by Big Sister President & CEO Annissa Essaibi George, mentors, and staff for a roundtable discussion about how the funding will support the group’s one-to-one mentoring and enrichment programs for girls.

“As a former mentor at Big Sister, I was honored to celebrate this funding and look forward to continuing my partnership and collective efforts with Big Sister,” said Pressley.

Essaibi George said the federal dollars will allow Big Sister Boston to both broaden its reach to serve more girls.

Joining Pressley and Essaibi George at the roundtable were: Trotter Principal Sarita Thomas; Ylva Duke, manager of Big Sister Site-Based Mentoring; Mai Roberts, Big Sister VP of Community Relations; Charmain Jackman, PhD., Founder, InnoPsych; Renee Spencer, EdD, Professor and Chair, Human Behavior, Research, and Policy Department at Boston University’s School of Social Work; and Holly Durso, 2022 Big Sister of the Year.