Friends Beyond Boston

Friends Beyond Boston (FBB) is a grassroots, member-led social community group for adults, founded in Waltham, Massachusetts in 2017. For more than 9 years, we've created opportunities for adults to meet new people, build genuine friendships, explore shared interests, and find community closer to home.

Our mission is to help combat the isolation many adults experience and make real-life connection more accessible. Making friends and finding community as an adult can be surprisingly difficult, especially when people move, friendships change, life gets busy, or there simply aren't many social opportunities nearby. FBB creates welcoming, low-pressure opportunities for adults to socialize, build meaningful relationships, and connect with others in the communities where they live, particularly outside major cities and metropolitan areas, where local social opportunities can be harder to find.

FBB is built around the belief that community should be about more than simply attending events. Members can bring ideas to life, help shape activities, welcome others, contribute behind the scenes, and take on leadership roles. There is no single way to participate.

We serve adults looking for friendship, connection, and community, including people who may be new to an area, looking to expand their social circle, or simply wanting more opportunities to connect locally.

Creating inclusive spaces is an important part of FBB. We organize LGBTQIA+ community initiatives and events, including Bi+ Coffee Socials, and create opportunities for LGBTQ+ members to connect, build community, and find welcoming spaces.

Our values include genuine connection, inclusion, respect, low-pressure participation, community ownership, and building sustainable local communities. We're working to expand FBB beyond Waltham and bring this model of member-led community building to more communities across Massachusetts.