Blue Ridge Foundation Events Archive

Tuesday, October 12:
Summer Search NYC celebrates their one year anniversary with a story-filled gathering at the Bayard Rustin High School for the Humanities. Student speakers present their stories and describe their experiences in the Summer Search NYC program, the New York branch of the national Summer Search organization.

Tuesday, October 12
The Bayard Rusting High School for the Humanities
351 West 18th Street, New York, NY
(between 8th and 9th Avenues)

6:30pm: Doors Open
We ask Summer Search students, families and guests to please arrive on time as our program will begin sharply at 7pm.

7:00pm: Program
Student speeches and award ceremony - not to be missed!

8:00pm: Reception
An opportunity for Summer Search students, families and guests to meet over dessert and coffee

Please RSVP by October 8th. tel: 718 923-5781 or visit www.summersearch.org/nyc

September 28, 2004:
Summer Search NYC and their Young Leadership Committee host a benefit for Summer Search, an innovative, new youth leadership development organization that helps inner city kids search the world, find themselves, and give back to their communities.

Tuesday, September 28, 2004
6:30pm — 9:00pm: Wine, h'ors d'oeuvres and the opportunity to meet our students
7:30pm — 8:00pm: Student Presentation (not to be missed!)

The Park
118 Tenth Avenue
Between 17th and 18th Streets in Manhattan
(Subway: E or C to 23rd Street)

For more information, or to RSVP, please call 718 923-5781 or visit www.summersearch.org/nyc

August 12, 2004:
Blue Ridge Foundation hosts a panel presentation and discussion titled, "Blast Off: Growing a Start-up, Fast" at Blue Ridge Foundation New York on August 12, 2004 10:00 AM - 11:30 AM. This is the second in the "Leaders' Thoughts" panels, an ongoing discussion series focused on sharing practical wisdom about issues of importance to social entrepreneurs.

Dear Friends,
Most new institutions develop gradually, piloting programs and working out kinks before moving into growth mode. Some organizations, however, grow quickly because of special circumstances or their own ambitious plans. Our discussion will
consider these fast-growth start-ups and discuss management strategies used to scale up operations. Panelists will include:

Herb Sturz,
Founding Chairman of The After-School Corporation (TASC).
TASC is a nonprofit organization dedicated to making quality after-school programs universally available and publicly funded in New York City, New York State and across the nation. TASC began in 1998 with a $125 million challenge grant from philanthropist George Soros's Open Society Institute (OSI), and that year made its first grants to 25 after-school programs in the five boroughs of New York City. Today TASC supports more than 130 organizations that serve more than 50,000 children throughout New York City and 32 counties in New York State. Herb is also a Trustee of OSI and board member of NURCHA (National Urban Reconstruction and Housing Agency), a non-governmental organization that has facilitated the construction of over 100,000 low-income houses throughout South Africa. Previously he served as a Founding Director of the Vera Institute of Justice; New York City Deputy Mayor for Criminal Justice; Chairman of the New York City Planning Commission; and a member of the editorial board of The New York Times. See www.tascorp.org for more information.

Suzanne Immerman,
Deputy Director of the September 11th Fund
The September 11th Fund was established the day of the terrorist attacks to provide cash assistance, counseling and other services to the families of those who were killed, the injured and those displaced from their homes or jobs. Over the past two years the Fund has received $537 million in donations and interest, and made 531 grants totaling $511.5 million. Prior to the September 11th Fund, Suzanne served as Director of the Principal For A Day Program at PENCIL - Public Education Needs Civic Involvement In Learning; Manager of NBC's Corporate Public Affairs; Director of Program Development at New York Cares; a founding Advisory Board Member of Dress For Success, and Program Chair for the youth-service organization Harlem RBI. See www.september11fund.org for more information.

Jon Schnur,
Co-Founder and CEO, New Leaders for New Schools
New Leaders for New Schools (NLNS) is a national non-profit organization devoted to improving education for every child by attracting and preparing the next generation of outstanding principals for our nation's urban public schools. Conceived in 2000 by a team of Harvard graduate students, NLNS attracted significant funding quickly and now recruits, trains, and helps place new principals in school districts across the country. Previously Jon was a policy advisor on K-12 education in the Clinton Administration for seven years, serving as White House Associate Director for Educational Policy, Vice President Gore's Senior Policy Advisor on education, and Special Assistant to U.S. Secretary of Education Richard Riley. See www.nlns.org for more information.

Richard Buery,
Co-Founder and Executive Director, Groundwork, Inc.
Groundwork helps young people in urban neighborhoods discover and develop their strengths, skills and talents through high quality experiential learning and work programs. Groundwork has two program tracks - one for school age children, the other for young adults transitioning into employment and higher education. Founded in April, 2002, Groundwork has doubled in size each of the past two years and now serves over 400 young people each day with a budget of over $2 million. Before co-founding Groundwork, Richard served as a founder and Executive Director of iMentor; co-founder and former director of the Mission Hill Summer Program; staff attorney at the Brennan Center for Justice; and, law clerk for Judge John M. Walker, Jr. of the Federal Court of Appeals in New York City. He is also a board member of the Beginning with Children Foundation, iMentor, City Project, and the Pratt Area Community Council, and serves on several advisory boards. See www.groundworkinc.org for more information. Groundwork is a Blue Ridge grantee, and Rich will be moderating the panel.

The panelists will discuss their experiences in organizations that have grown quickly from the founding stage, and share what they believe are the challenges, advantages, and necessary management steps involved in a fast start. The conversation will focus on the panelists' specific examples, and also on the broader interest in "scale" and "replicability" within the social sector. The discussion will take place:

August 12, 2204
10:00 AM - 11:30 AM
Blue Ridge Foundation New York
150 Court Street, 2nd Floor, Brooklyn, NY 11201
(accessible via 2/3, 4/5 to Borough Hall or F to Bergen St.)

To attend, please RSVP by August 6, 2004 by calling Blue Ridge Foundation New York at 718 923-1400 or emailing info@brfny.org.

We hope you are able to join the staff of Blue Ridge and our grantees, as well as a group of your colleagues from the foundation, social entrepreneurship, and start-up nonprofit circles for our discussion with these impressive leaders.

Sincerely,

Matthew Klein
Executive Director

May 26, 2004:
Blue Ridge's portfolio organization, Legal Outreach, celebrates their 20th anniversary with a reception, silent auction, and special program at Columbia University's Low Library rotunda. For more information about "Legal Outreach at 20: Celebrating Community & Commitment" email Sarah Wolman at swolman@legaloutreach.org

More about Legal Outreach:
… in our Portfolio section
… on Legal Outreach’s website
… and their 20th Anniversary Gala

April 29, 2004:
Blue Ridge Foundation New York hosts a special panel presentation and discussion titled "What's the Story? Communicating about social change". Join us at our offices on Thursday, April 29, 2004 from 10:00 AM to 11:30 AM. This is the first in the "Leaders' Thoughts" panels, an ongoing discussion series focused on sharing practical wisdom about issues of importance to social entrepreneurs.

Panelists will include:

David Bornstein, author of the new book How to Change the World: Social Entrepreneurship and the Power of New Ideas. David profiles nine champions of social change who developed innovative ways to address needs they saw around them in places as distinct as Bombay, India; Rio de Janeiro, Brazil; and Washington, D.C. David's book has quickly turned into a must-read in social entrepreneurship circles and has received extensive attention in publications such as USA Today, The New York Times, Publishers Weekly and many others. See www.howtochangetheworld.org for more information.

Czerina Patel, Producer of Radio Rookies for New York Public Radio. Radio Rookies provides teenagers with the tools and training to create radio stories about themselves, their communities and their world. Radio Rookies is a perennial award-wiinner, garnering multiple journalism and media prizes each year. Czerina has been involved with the program since its inception. See www.wnyc.org/radiorookies for more information.

Fred Fields, Managing Director, Taproot Foundation New York. Taproot Foundation is a volunteer organization that provides local nonprofits with grants of high-quality professional services, including in the areas of branding and brochure-development. Fred is launching Taproot Foundation's New York office, with a special focus on developing projects for nonprofits that harness the marketing experties in New York City. See www.taprootfoundation.org for more information. Taproot Foundation is a Blue Ridge grantee, and Fred will be moderating the panel.

The panelists will discuss their work in covering the activities of change agents, and share their expertise about what makes a story compelling. The conversation will focus both on broad role of communications within social change strategy, as well as the practical considerations that dictate whether and how a story or an organization receives attention.

To attend, please RSVP by calling Blue Ridge Foundation New York at 718 923-1400 or emailing info@brfny.org. The office is accessible via the 2/3 or 4/5 to Borough Hall or the F to Bergen Street. For more detailed directions, click here.

April, 2004:
Groundwork moves to new headquarters in East New York, a few blocks from the schools they serve. Groundwork provides low-income children in public housing with quality learning and experiential after-school programs. This summer, they add a third campus, Fiorentino gradeschool (PS149), to their growing community.

More about Groundwork:
… in our Portfolio section
… on Groundwork’s website