Phillips Brooks House Association

In 1900, Harvard College students established Phillips Brooks House in recognition of the late Reverend Phillips Brooks, a graduate of the university. Four years later, six Harvard student organizations organized themselves as the Phillips Brooks House Association (PBHA). More than a century later, PBHA is an independent nonprofit organization run by students and the largest public service organization affiliated with Harvard. PBHA is comprised of more than 1,500 volunteers and 86 student organizations that collectively serve more than 10,000 low-income youth and adults in Greater Boston and beyond. The organization's programs include adult services, advocacy, afterschool and in-school, health, housing, mentoring, and summer enrichment services. Though diverse in focus, these programs are bound by their shared commitment to a community-based approach, social justice, and diversity. PBHA alumni have gone on to found their own nonprofit organizations, including the American Civil Liberties Union.