NEW YORK, Oct. 09, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Youth INC announced that TIAA President and CEO Roger Ferguson will be the honoree for its virtual Celebration “Un-Gala,” which will be held on November 18th. The event marks the culmination of Youth INC’s annual fundraising campaign to fuel its work with more than 75 nonprofit partners serving over 300,000 young people each year across all five boroughs of New York City.
The recognition of Roger Ferguson represents the latest chapter in a growing partnership between Youth INC and TIAA through its subsidiary Nuveen, which has been the title sponsor of Youth INC’s State of the Market event for the past three years. Ferguson, who has also served as Vice Chairman of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, spoke at State of the Market in 2018 and is a committed champion for youth development and public service. He currently serves on the board of Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center and as a Regent of the Smithsonian Institution, amongst other nonprofit organizations. Addressing his selection, he remarked, “Leadership demands that we step up in challenging moments like the one currently facing our nation. I am thrilled to receive the John C. Whitehead Leadership Award from Youth INC and help them continue to advance organizational best practices for nonprofits in the youth development field.”
Antoinette “Toni” Bush, Head of Government Affairs at News Corp and longtime Youth INC supporter, responded to the announcement of Ferguson as honoree, “I am thrilled to see Roger Ferguson receiving this well-deserved recognition from Youth INC. He is a trailblazer and leader in both the private and public sector.” She continued, “Since Youth INC came onto my radar, I have been impressed by its ability to respond with agility to the vicissitudes of the social impact sector and leverage relationships small and large to meet the needs of its nonprofit partners. With Roger leading the charge, I am sure this will be a banner year for the Celebration event.”
Since inception, Youth INC has raised over $100 million to empower youth-centered nonprofits to harness best practices from the private sector and academia to achieve sustainable growth and deepen the social emotional learning (SEL) impact of their programs on young people. The Aspen Institute estimates that investments in SEL generates an 11x return. “This means Youth INC has created over $1 billion of impact,” noted Youth INC Executive Director, Rehana Farrell.
“We are excited to transition to a virtual format after 25 years so that we can continue to raise the funds required to advance our mission” said Wray Thorn, Youth INC Board Co-Chair. “The ‘Un-Gala’ is an opportunity for us to develop and model best practices for digital fundraising as it becomes essential for the social impact sector, and we could not imagine a better honoree for the occasion than Roger.”
“The impact of COVID-19 has been particularly pronounced in the social impact sector. Nonprofits have struggled to pivot fundraising online and support communities that are disproportionately vulnerable to the virus,” said Youth INC National Advisory Board Member John Waldron, President and COO of Goldman Sachs “An investment in Youth INC is one of the surest ways to address these challenges. The organization has demonstrated time and again an ability to evolve its programs and collaborate with its nonprofit partners to build a stronger youth development field.”
Youth INC Board Co-President Kathleen McCabe of PJT Partners spoke to this new territory, saying, “There are challenges but also so many opportunities in the new all-digital fundraising landscape. It is exciting to watch the Youth INC team adapt and evolve the Celebration program to meet this moment; capacity building work is more important than ever for nonprofits.”
Additionally, Youth INC announced it would be issuing over $700,000 to 58 grassroots nonprofits this year through its COVID-19 Response and Recovery Fund. These funds will help partner nonprofits weather the current economic environment and continue their work developing organizational capacity and durable SEL youth development outcomes.
Celebration Un-Gala Vice Chairs: Antoinette ‘Toni’ Bush (News Corp), Jeffrey R. Holzschuh (Morgan Stanley), Elizabeth Lempres (McKinsey & Co., Emerita), Stephen K. Orr (Orr Group), Richard P. Schifter (TPG Capital), Alan Schwartz (Guggenheim Partners), George Stamas (Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher), John Waldron (Goldman Sachs), Jonathan Weiss (Wells Fargo & Co.) Co-Chairs: James Christopoulos (CVC Capital), Rodney Cohen (Black Diamond Capital), William Q. Derrough (Moelis & Company), Stratton Heath (Oak Hill Capital Partners), Christine Hommes (Apollo), Mel Ike (Blackstone), Douglas Kaden (SDC Capital Partners), Barbara Marcin, Kathleen McCabe (PJT Partners), Amy Miller (Scotiabank), Dhananjay Pai (P. Schoenfeld Asset Management), Daniel Pine (CS Capital), Mai Shiver (AIG), Wray Thorn (Sightway Capital), Evan Wildstein (Kohlberg & Company) Benefit Committee: Noel Anderson (NYU), Karen Beldy Torborg (Marsh), Mark DiMilia (Morgan Stanley), Emmett McCann (Oaktree Capital), Robert McCooey (Nasdaq), Stancel Riley (Mizuho), Adrianne Shapira (Eurazeo)
State of the Market Sponsors: Canaccord Genuity, Davis Polk, Eurazeo, Barbara Marcin, Rick Schifter, AIIR Consulting, AlixPartners, Gladstone Place Partners, Latham & Watkins, L.E.K Consulting, Marsh, Dhananjay Pai, Reed Smith, RelPro, Ropes & Gray, Wells Fargo & Co.
Media Contact:
Vanessa Marquez
vmarquez@youthinc-usa.org
914.316.4600.
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 76 grassroots nonprofits collectively champion the lives of more than 300,000 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 budget growth of 157%, board size of 42%, and youth served of 190%. Using our pioneering Metrics Platform, our partners helped 81% 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.