NEW YORK, Dec. 11, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Youth INC proudly co-hosted the 3rd Annual State of Youth Development Conference in partnership with Algorhythm, CUNY School of Professional Studies, The Public Science Project, Partnership for After School Education (PASE), and the Youth Development Institute. This year’s event focused on youth participation and was attended by more than 275 youth practitioners, experts in the field, youth leaders, and members of city government. UNICEF’s Chief Strategy and Engagement Officer, Anucha Browne, gave a keynote address and shared the power of their Child Friendly Cities Initiative in empowering young people worldwide.
The event concluded with a reception for the winners of Algorhythm’s 2019 HI Impact Award for their outstanding performance in driving growth in social-emotional learning (SEL) outcomes for young people as measured by their Hello Insight tool. Over 450 programs nationwide were assessed and 17 organizations were recognized for their excellence in applying best practices in positive youth development, putting them in the top 4% nationally. Youth INC was thrilled to showcase 5 of its 40 nonprofit partners that use this innovative technology through its pioneering Metrics Program as exemplars in the field, including: Chess in the Schools, Christodora: Nature, Learning Leadership, Girls Write Now, Hands In 4 Youth and Opening Act. Notably, Christodora and Hands In 4 Youth have won this award for 3 straight years!
Youth INC also announced the 2019 Superstar Awards, sponsored by the Superstar Foundation, given to four individuals for their outstanding work leveraging data to drive improved impact for young people. Three of the winners represent the work of Youth INC nonprofit partners: 1st Place: Ariela Rosenberg-Brafman, Senior Director, Program Operations, Design & Evaluation, Read Ahead; 2nd Place (tie): Zach Gomes, Program Director, America SCORES NY, and Marissa Aron, Program Facilitator, Artists Striving to End Poverty (ASTEP).
“Youth INC has embraced data-driven assessment and been a partner of ours since inception,” said Dr. Kim Sabo-Flores, Algorhythm Co-Founder and CEO. “Youth INC’s model of building organizational capacity and management practices in order to help their nonprofit partners achieve outsized gains in social-emotional learning outcomes is incredibly powerful and key to helping young people thrive.”
“Youth INC is a learning organization that is committed to continuous improvement. We are thrilled to see our nonprofit partners embrace data and harness best practices to maximize their outcomes for the young people they serve,” said Rehana Farrell, Youth INC Executive Director. “Social-emotional learning is now broadly recognized as the key to success in school, work and life. We are confident that our ability to both measure and maximize SEL gains for young people will attract more investment for our partners to grow and deepen their work.”
“The organizations here with Youth INC today are the reason we exist – so that each and every one of them can grow, become sustainable and accomplish our collective goal of helping all New York City youth thrive,” said C. C. Melvin Ike, Youth INC Board Member and a senior member of the Tactical Opportunities Group at Blackstone.
Contact:
Vanessa Marquez
vmarquez@youthinc-usa.org
(212) 401-4049
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 200,000 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 154%, board size of 38%, and youth served of 180%. 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 $100 million and empowered over 180 nonprofits, impacting the lives of 1 million NYC youth.
To learn more about Youth INC, visit www.youthinc-usa.org.