At the 2012 National Leadership Summit on Mentoring, Little Sister Jhoselin, 15 years old, of BBBSNCA's Hermanos y Hermanas Mayores Latino Outreach Initiative, proudly sang the national anthem a cappella. She finished to rousing applause!

Mayor Vincent Gray of the District of Columbia welcomed 500 representatives of Big Brothers Big Sisters' agencies from around the U.S. He lauded Big Brothers Big Sisters of the National Capital Area for the years of successful program outreach to DC's vulnerable children and their families through life-changing mentoring programs.

At the Awards Gala, Michael Ventura, 12 years old, was a standout saxophone player in the Fred Foss Quartet, which provided a musical interlude of jazz music. Michael is the son of BBBSNCA staff member Aristide Ventura and showed great stage presence as he also played a sax solo.

When the gala concluded, the Littles anxiously sought Ryan Potter to get his autograph and appear in photos with him!

The conference, hosted by Big Brothers Big Sisters of the National Capital Area, was held in Washington, DC, June 12-13 and sponsored by Comcast NBCUniversal.

Photos credits: Melanie Pack and Ken Cedeno