NEW YORK, Jan. 24, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Youth INC, a nonprofit organization dedicated to transforming the lives of New York City youth, held its Fifth Annual Partner Network Kickoff, a convening of its 80+ nonprofit partners, at Kirkland & Ellis LLC. The event also marks the start of Youth INC’s 25th year of serving youth-focused grassroots organizations and helping them achieve long-term sustainability.
Youth INC provides coaching and training at no charge to the nonprofits in its network to build their organizational capabilities to grow and maximize impact. This enables them to deliver more opportunities to NYC kids. Since 1994, Youth INC has raised more than $95 million to empower over 175 nonprofits that have collectively served over 1 million NYC kids.
The event, attended by more than 150 guests, featured a keynote address by New York State Assemblyman and the Vice Chair of the Democratic National Committee, Michael Blake. Blake spoke about the importance of building the capacity of grassroots nonprofits and shared his own experiences as a young person in New York City. “If it wasn’t for the nonprofits in my neighborhood growing up, I would not know what is possible and I would not be here today,” said Blake. “The work Youth INC and all of the members of its network are doing today will provide hope for thousands of New York City youth. You are giving them a chance to succeed that they might not otherwise have.”
Rehana Farrell, Executive Director of Youth INC, announced this year’s theme: 25 Years of Learning: Looking Back to Go Forward and welcomed the network to another year of growth, learning, and delivering powerful programs to youth who need it the most. “Building the character of young people is the common thread across all of your amazing organizations,” said Farrell. “We are thrilled to be able to support you as you all seek to level the playing field for kids who would otherwise not have access to opportunity to build their self-esteem, their confidence, their resilience, and their feeling of being able to make a difference in their own lives and the world around them.”
The highlight of the evening was a presentation by a group of four young people served by three different Youth INC nonprofit partner organizations – Girl Be Heard, Ifetayo Cultural Academy, and Minds Matter – who shared their thoughts, learnings, and hopes for the future of New York City youth. They challenged the 150+ nonprofit leaders in the room to really listen to their constituents – the young people in their programs – and adopt their proposed ‘Constitution’ with tenets of: reflection, which leads to discovery; inclusivity, which drives empowerment; and equity, which yields accountability.
The event also included a panel discussion on strategic organizational growth and dynamic learning, featuring Erika Atkins (Director of Operations and Communications & Acting Former Executive Director of Opening Act), Caroline Kim Oh (Executive Coach and Former Executive Director and President of iMentor) and Angela Dorn (Chief Operating Officer and General Counsel of Youth INC).
“We have made significant strides over the past 25 years. And yet, we recognize the unmet needs of New York City children remain significant,” said Stratton Heath, Partner at Oak Hill Capital Partners and Youth INC Board Member. “Now more than ever, Youth INC will work fervently to bolster and empower its partner network to help them build sustainable models that allow them to more effectively serve more and more kids.”
About Youth INC
Youth INC's mission is to transform the lives of NYC youth by empowering the organizations that serve them. Youth INC's network of 80 grassroots nonprofits collectively champion the lives of more than 220,000 young people across New York City. Youth INC provides our nonprofit partners with the coaching, capital and connections to achieve sustainable growth and maximize their impact. Our fundraising, governance and impact evaluation programs yield incredible results. Over the course of a partnership with Youth INC, our partners experience average growth in revenue of 173%, board size of 33%, and youth served of 157%. Using our pioneering Metrics Platform, our partners helped 80% of their young people surveyed to improve key Social and Emotional Learning (SEL) skills that scholars agree are the most predictive indicators of success in school, career and life. Since inception, our venture philanthropy model has raised over $95 million and empowered over 175 nonprofits, impacting the lives of 1 million NYC youth. To learn more visit: www.youthinc-usa.org
To learn more about Youth INC, visits www.youthinc-usa.org.
Contact:
Vanessa Marquez
vmarquez@youthinc-usa.org
(212) 401-4049