Partnership with Children (PWC) was founded in 1908 as Big Sisters, Inc. by Anne Harriman Vanderbilt, Irene Langhorne Gibson, Louisine Havemeyer, Lillie Skiddy Parker, Blanche Ittleson, and a group of New York women philanthropists. Their mission was progressive for its time: to improve the lives of girls brought before Manhattan’s Children’s Court. Volunteers visited homes, provided food and clothing, and acted as mentors for children growing up in under-resourced communities.
Throughout the 20th century, the organization continually adapted to meet the evolving needs of New York City’s children and families. The work expanded from volunteer mentoring into professional social work, counseling, and family support. By the 1970s, PWC was serving primarily young people impacted by poverty and systemic inequities, and began embedding staff directly in schools. In the 1990s, it launched school-based mental health programs that addressed the profound link between trauma and learning, and in 1998 adopted the name Partnership with Children to reflect its broader mission.
Over the past two decades, PWC has deepened its school-based mental health model. In 2014, it became an early partner in New York City’s Community School strategy, embedding social workers, family engagement staff, and program directors in schools across all five boroughs. In 2021, recognizing the healing power of creativity, PWC merged with the Center for Arts Education, integrating healing arts into its trauma-informed, whole-child approach.
Today, PWC is one of the city’s largest school-based mental health providers and Community School partners. With licensed clinical social workers, youth development professionals, and teaching artists working daily in public schools, the organization carries forward a 117-year tradition of evolving alongside the children it serves—demonstrating that when schools address the intersections of poverty, racism, and mental health, young people don’t just cope, they thrive.
