Programs

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Bigger and Better Business became the first national program of Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity. It was first introduced to the fraternity at the Tenth Anniversary Conclave held in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in December 1924. When Bigger and Better Business was adopted as a national program, special emphasis was placed on work with negro businesses. The main purpose at the time was to encourage negro business to improve their business acumen, efficiency and service to the public in order to favorably compete with other businesses. 

Phi Beta Sigma has from its very beginning concerned itself with improving the general well-being of minority groups. In 1934, a well-defined program of Social Action was formulated and put into action. Elmo M. Anderson, then president of Epsilon Sigma Chapter (New York) formulated this program calling for the reconstruction of social order. It was a tremendous success. It fit in with the social thinking of the American public in those New Deal years. In the winter of 1934, Sigma brothers Elmo Anderson, James W. Johnson, Emmett May and Bob Jiggets presented the Social Action proposition to the Conclave in Washington, D.C. 

The basis of the Education program lies in the traditional emphasis that the Fraternity places on education. During the 1945 Conclave in St. Louis, Missouri, the Fraternity underwent a constitution restructuring which led to the birth of education as an international program. The program focuses on programming and services to alumni and collegiate in the Fraternity. Programs such as scholarships, lectures, college fairs, mentoring and tutoring enhance this program on local, regional and national levels. 

Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity, Inc., an international organization comprised of 150,000 college-educated men, focuses on issues that impact the youth and our communities. Through our national mentoring program for males ages 8-18, the organization provides opportunities for the development of young men as they prepare for college and the workforce. The organization’s partnerships with the American Cancer Society, March of Dimes, Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Boy Scouts of America and the Thurgood Marshall College Fund speak to its mission to address societal ills including health disparities and educational and developmental challenges for young males. 

Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity, Inc. is proud to serve as a sponsor of The John Lewis Documentary Project, a story of our own Sigma Brother John E. Lewis. This is the first of two major fund raising campaigns, along with The Smithsonian Institute’s National Museum of African American History & Culture, that the Fraternity is excited to support.

John Lewis’ life as a preeminent and highly influential Civil Rights activist, Congressional leader and international icon of human rights has never before been captured on film. Bro. Lewis is acknowledged by historians as having been a major force for positive change over the past half century. 

In 2014, Phi Beta Sigma began a new initiative to support and reach out to the membership in more meaningful ways. The goal of this new initiative was to let brothers know that they have the support and love of “The Brotherhood”, in times of need and of celebration. Sigma Cares for its Own is designed to give spiritual support to brothers. Regardless of faith or religious background; whether you worship in a church, synagogue, masjid or otherwise, brothers can find a connection to the richest tradition of Phi Beta Sigma — one that binds all brothers together — “I am my brother’s keeper.”