To acknowledge and appreciate the corps members that have taken it upon themselves to go above and beyond to provide excellent service for the students and communities they serve, corps members have the opportunity to be nominated for the Fab 5. These 5 corps members are nominated and voted on by the site, and were announced at this site-wide event! One corps member from each zone, South Bronx and South Brooklyn, East New York, East Harlem, Queens, and a Senior Corps Member is chosen!

Our Fab 5 winners have been described as innovative, dedicated, unwaveringly dependable, extraordinary, resilient, caring, and incredible leaders. Help us congratulate our Fab 5 winners!

East Harlem: Tania Alonso, PS/MS 57

East New York: Chelsea Locklear, PS 149

Queens: Katie Hahn, Newtown High School

South Bronx: Andrew Cook, PS 130

SCM: Frank Wilburn, Team Leader, PS 83, East Harlem

L-R: Frank Wilburn, Chelsea Locklear, and Andrew Cook. Not pictured: Katie Hahn and Tania Alonso

Hannah Prescott-Eberle, corps member on the Newtown High School Microsoft team in Elmhurst, Queens, shared a story about her service: "Ruddy and I sit down in class every day to review his English and Math work to make sure everything is complete, and in the past few months his attendance and coursework have improved dramatically. "

Yesterday, at our Second Annual Investment Community Breakfast, we brought together more than 100 professionals from the investment community for a morning of inspiration, and thanks to the investment from our attendees and an anonymous match, we were able to raise more that a quarter million dollars before 9am. This year’s breakfast featured two longtime friends and industry insiders, Fred Poses, Chief Executive Officer of Ascend Performance Materials and Operating Partner of SK Capital Partners, and Louis A. Simpson, Chairman of SQ Advisors, LLC, for a discussion moderated by Gerry Fabrikant, former senior writer for the business section of the New York Times.

Charlotte Twaalfhoven, CYNY '11 Alumna, joined us for this special event. Today, she supports others in philanthropic giving.

We enjoyed their take on the state of the economy, world markets, and how the tax code is influencing growth. We also discussed education reforms and the role philanthropy can play. “One of the big problems in the U.S., is that companies want to expand in the U.S. but they can’t find the workforce that is trained to do the jobs,” said Mr. Simpson, “this is basically a fault of our education system in crucial areas.” Today Mr. Simpson pledged to join our Individual Team Sponsor Program and encouraged others to do the same, “I hope all of you will join me because I think it’s [City Year] a great organization.”

“Lou wants to give money, whether it is an investment or through philanthropy, to people and organizations that are doing good things, and doing them as effectively as they could,” said Mr. Poses, as he praised Mr. Simpson for his pledge. Mr. Poses is working with a team at CYNY helping to determine the most effective way for us to grow our impact in schools. “Philanthropy is not only about giving, but giving of your skills and tools” he said, “some of our most rewarding moments are working with the people in nonprofits and seeing all that they can do to make themselves better.”

After some great discussions about education reform and the importance of giving with Louis A. Simpson and Fred Poses, Gerry Fabrikant (center) opened the floor up for professionals of the investment community to ask some of their own questions.

We would not be able to host an event like this without the dedication of our Investment Community Board (ICB). ICB member, Shreyas D Gupta from Sandell Asset Management, spoke about his first introduction to City Year and how he found himself making it a priority in his life. “If these young adults want to give one year of their life to helping the community it is incumbent on us to rise up to support them,” said Mr. Gupta. “They represent a vast ocean of potential and that is very important to me.”

We would like to thank Barclays Capital and CYNY Advisory Board Member Jeff Davis for hosting this event.

And a final thank you to our Investment Community Board (listed below) and to all of our attendees for your investment in City Year.

2012 INVESTMENT COMMUNITY BOARD

REED CARROLL Butler Capital Investments, LLC

DREW CHIN Woodson Capital Management

TOM CLARK Apax Partners

BEN FARKAS Hellman & Friedman

JUSTIN FRANKEL Wavecrest Asset Management

SHREYAS GUPTA Sandell Asset Management

WILDER HARVARD Morgan Stanley | Prime Brokerage

TYLER HENRITZE The Blackstone Group

DAVID HOBBS Tiger Eye Capital

ROB PAHLAVAN Family Equity Partners, LLC

NICK RENWICK

DOUG ROSS Normandy Hill Capital, LP

See more pictures from the event here.

Learn about last year’s breakfast here.

Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that. -Martin Luther King, Jr.

With that quote in mind, we wanted to take a break from putting away the paint brushes and tools from our MLK Day of Service on Monday to share with you some of our thoughts from the day and the media coverage we had. Here’s what we’re reading:

1. MLK Day 2012 recap: 600 volunteers, 35 service projects, and nearly 80 youth joined us for an incredible day of service. For pictures, facts, and quotes from the day, check out the recap!
2. “Serving on MLK Day: Service Equals Greatness”: Nathan Brunson, a corps member serving on the PS/MS 57 Credit Suisse team in East Harlem, shares what service means to him by reflecting on the work he does in school everyday.
3. “What Service Means to Me”: Jessica Cantey, also from the PS/MS 57 team was featured on the Harlem World Blog on Monday morning.
4. New York Daily News: We were happy to have Jennifer Cunningham at MLK Day for the second year in a row and excited to see our Advisory Board Chair, Stephanie Mudick quoted in the NY Daily News article.
5. Education: ”The Civil Rights Issue of Our Time”: This year, across the 21 City Year locations, over 2,000 corps members and 8000 volunteers served on MLK Day. Michael Brown, CEO of City Year,  joined City Year Washington, D.C. and served alongside U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan.
6. DNAinfo.com: On Monday, we were featured in two articles highlighting the “Youth for Change” Conference we hosted in partnership with Council Member Melissa Mark-Viverito’s Youth Violence Task Force. We were excited to see all the youth fully participate and share their stories:
   • “Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Celebrated By All Ages”
   • “Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s Legacy Kept Alive Through East Harlem Youth”

Alumni volunteers wore emerald green colored ribbons in memory of Emerald.

We started the day off by holding a moment of silence in honor of Emerald Padilla, an alumna from City Year New York 2009-2010 who recently passed away. Thank you to her friends and family who came from North Carolina and all over to join us.

Six corps members then kicked off the event with powerful PT and “Why I Serve” statements. Ashante Parker, 18 years old, from New Orleans, LA who proudly serves on the PS/MS 57 team in East Harlem shared:

As long as there are children who feel like they are anything besides extraordinary, I hope to be the encouragement they need to reach beyond the now.

Our opening program included inspiring speakers such as Council Member Melissa Mark-Viverito, whose office we partnered with to  host the “Youth for Change” conference. When Ms. Mark-Viverito stepped to the podium, she challenged our corps to “…ask yourself when you wake up ‘Why do I serve?’ because we need you in schools everyday.”

Corps members Dixie DuRant and Christina Gomez join Council Member Melissa Mark-Viverito as we head into service. PHOTO CREDIT: Batsheva Greenwood

Ms. Betty Lugo, the principal of PS 96, echoed Ms. Mark-Viverito’s remarks by stating, “It’s events like this that bring hope back into a school. It really does take a village.” And finally, Assembly Member Robert J. Rodriguez, climbed to the stage and encouraged volunteers, staff, and corps to serve others by stating, “We should all aspire to live up to the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.” 

After Opening Program, the sounds of service were heard over 3 blocks for 3 hours. Let’s take a look at the day by the numbers:

600+ volunteers from sponsors  Skadden, T-Mobile, Deloitte and Enterprise; members of our Advisory, Associate, and Alumni Boards; partners from Youth Build, Children’s Aid’s Society, Barnard College, Fordson High School; proud supporters and City Year Alumni; and our corps member’s family & friends.

78 youth participated in the “Youth for Change” conference and learned about Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr’s workings through anti-violence workshops and discussions led by CYNY and facilitators from the office of Council Member Melissa Mark-Viverito. This conference’s goal was to encourage all to know their rights and understand how the power of youth can make a difference.

40 children participated in our Kids Service Program where they completed:

• 100 decorated brown paper bags by children in our Youth Program benefiting Citymeals on Wheels
• 70 care packages filled with handmade bracelets, coloring books and small panel murals made by children in our Youth Program for St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital
• 5 ”no-sew” blankets for Encore Community Services

35 total service projects where service volunteers completed:

• 108 wall murals
• 35 care packages for Senior Citizen’s at the Wagner Houses
• 21 bookshelves
• 18 benches
• 15 cubbies
• 14 garden planter beds and tables
• 7 panel murals
• 4 storage closets cleaned and reorganized
• 2 offices re-painted
• 1 kitchen and 1 community room painted

We asked some of our volunteers why they volunteered to serve and we were inspired by what they had to say:

We are excited to particpate in a program that lets us support the community in a way that is consistent with Dr. King’s dream that brings people of different backgrounds together. -Eric Friedman, Executive Partner of Skadden, Arps.

It is important to come back and serve. This event is unlike any other in that it gives alumni an opportunity to connect and network with the corps. -Trude Goodman, our current CYNY Alumni Board Chair and alumna from City Year Boston ’99

Thanks to all who supported and served on MLK Day 2012. To see more pictures from the day, check out our Flickr page here.

Photo credits: Tania Alonso, Batsheva Greenwood, Christopher Hamm, Jonathan Pomboza, and Sarah Shutt

“Everybody can be great because everybody can serve.” I doubt this is the first time you’ve read these famous words of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and I know I’m not the first service-based non-profit volunteer to quote the revered activist whose life we commemorate on Monday, January 16^th.

But even if King’s words have been belabored to the point of redundancy, we can never overemphasize his simple message: service equals greatness. This is why I choose to spend MLK Day by serving in East Harlem with City Year New York.

As a tutor and mentor at PS/MS 57 in East Harlem, I often find myself telling the students I work with that they can do something great with their lives. That’s not just something I say lightly; these kids are truly special.

Jalen is one of the fifth graders in our after school program. He is a great athlete. Sometimes at recess we play basketball together and of course I have to let his classmates score on me every once in a while. But when it’s just me against Jalen, there are no deliberate bricks; I try my hardest and he still beats me.

Tony is another of the gifted students I work with. He has a great mind. When his fourth grade class was studying haikus, most other kids were stuck counting syllables on their fingers while Tony was analyzing the poet’s word choice and conceptualizing ideas like tone and metaphor.

But regardless of athleticism or intellect, I know that every one of my students has the potential to achieve greatness because they each have the ability to serve.

Dr. King, however, would be the first to tell you that true service involves more than just ability; it requires a “heart full of grace,” as he put it, and a “soul generated by love.” When we’re able to serve others with no personal agenda, we are exhibiting the truest sense of love and what it means to be human.

Unfortunately, it’s harder to teach a fourth grader “a heart full of grace” than it is multiplication tables. And “a soul generated by love” doesn’t come as easily to middle school students as does subject-verb agreement. But if there’s one lesson I hope to teach—or better yet, to learn—during my year of service with City Year, it’s that being a servant to others is the greatest thing you can ever do.

Exactly two months before his death, Martin Luther King concluded his famous Drum Major Instinct speech by envisioning the eulogy at his own funeral:

[Don’t] mention that I have a Nobel Peace Prize—that isn’t important. Tell them not to mention where I went to school [or] that I have three or four hundred other awards—that’s not important. I’d like somebody to mention that day that Martin Luther King Jr. tried to give his life serving others.

Today, January 16^th, 2012 is your chance to carry on King’s legacy of service and to begin your own. For many, MLK Day has become “a day on, not a day off.” City Year New York, alongside community volunteers and corporate sponsors, will spend the day building bookshelves, constructing planter boxes, and painting murals for several East Harlem schools and organizations.

Indeed it’s true: everybody can be great because everybody can serve. But we don’t do service because we want to be considered great; service is never a selfish thing. We don’t do service just to bolster our resumes or to be quoted in newspapers. We serve because it’s what makes us human.

Through a panel discussion with Charlie and Jim moderated by our Alumni Board Chair, Trude Goodman, Boston ’99, we took a deep dive into why City Year has shifted its focus on the ABC’s and the high school drop out crisis.

After the panel Q & A’s, Charlie asked the Alumni a question– “Why did you come tonight?” It was inspiring to hear some of their responses:

“City Year has given me direction, so I come back to learn more.” -Stanley Farmer, New York ’10

“Being here tonight has me wishing I was 22, so I could do this again. Now I’m even more proud to have served.” -Stephanie Mendell, Boston ’02

On City Year’s new service model… “It’s structured even as you continue to re-structure.” -Shaquieta Boyd, New York ’04

To see pictures from the event, join the City Year New York Alumni Facebook page!

]]> http://cityyearnewyork.wordpress.com/2012/01/13/alumni-event-with-charlie-rose-and-jim-balfanz/feed/ 0 cityyearnewyork http://cityyearnewyork.wordpress.com/2012/01/13/it-takes-a-village-spotlight-terri-alford/ http://cityyearnewyork.wordpress.com/2012/01/13/it-takes-a-village-spotlight-terri-alford/#comments Fri, 13 Jan 2012 17:00:38 +0000 cityyearnewyork http://cityyearnewyork.wordpress.com/?p=6551 Continue reading →]]> MLK Day 2012 is only days away and we’re working hard to prepare for the big day! Here’s another great MLK Day 2012: It Takes A Village Spotlight featuring current Team Leader for the PS 345 Citizen’s Team in East New York and City Year Chicago alumni, Terri Alford.