About Us
Our Mission
The Phoenix Club of Birmingham provides a developmental opportunity for young professional men to become social, business, and philanthropic leaders. It supports the mission of the Boys & Girls Club and further seeks to impact the direction of our community’s youth through fund-raising and interaction.
Who We Are
The Phoenix Club of Birmingham, which supports the Boys & Girls Club of Central Alabama, is a social and philanthropic organization exclusive to young professional men in the Birmingham area. It provides an opportunity for members to build a network of business and personal relationships, while allowing them to impact the direction and future of our city’s youth.
The Phoenix Club gathers in a variety of settings, whether for lunch, happy hour, or more formal events. The group frequently hosts guest speakers that are in business or government leadership positions. Events take place at venues throughout the city of Birmingham.
Fundraising efforts consist of signature events throughout the year including the Annual Phoenix Ball held in early spring and the Annual Phoenix Club Charity Golf Tournament held each summer. Members also work directly with the Boys & Girls Club to raise funds for specific needs such as Send-A-Kid-To-Camp, the Great American Duck Race, a new bus, upgraded security systems, and scholarship programs. Perhaps most important, The Phoenix Club frequently visits Boy’s & Girl’s Clubs to interact with the youth and provide an opportunity for mutual personal growth.
Our History
The Phoenix Club of Birmingham was founded in 2004 by several Phoenix Club of Nashville members that relocated to Birmingham. After living in the City for a brief time they saw the need for a men’s only social club that could serve as a platform to both build relationships in the business community as well as serve the greater good of Birmingham. Sticking to what they knew, it was decided the Phoenix Club model currently used in Nashville and Memphis, Tennessee could be duplicated in Birmingham. As could be imagined, the Boys & Girls Club was more than happy to have a group of young businessmen working on their behalf. So was born the Phoenix Club of Birmingham.
Long before the Phoenix Club was planted in Nashville, it was initially established in Memphis during September of 1955 by nine young men fresh out of college or recently returned from the Korean War. Together they felt led to perform service to their community and a suggestion to work with juvenile delinquents took hold. Shortly thereafter, the group of men affiliated with an organization in California called the 20-30 Club and received their charter as a local chapter in February 1956. The eager 20-30 Club began its activities in the basement of Calvary Episcopal Church in Memphis and worked from a model similar to the Big Brother System of today. In June 1958, with enthusiasm waning and funds depleted, the 20-30 program at Calvary was closed. In the fall of 1958, the local group severed its ties with the 20-30 Club; a committee was appointed to pick a new name for the group and they decided upon The Phoenix. The name of The Phoenix Club evolved from the mythological Phoenix bird which, after being destroyed, arose again from its own ashes – thus The Phoenix, Inc. was born out of the defunct 20-30 Club.
The newly formed Phoenix Club identified the Boys Club of America as their philanthropy and set out to raise the necessary funds to establish the first Boys Club in Memphis. Young men were invited to join when they could meet two basic requirements: a sincere interest in furthering the goals of the Phoenix Club, and potential for future leadership in the community.