On Apr. 28, YANA New York launched the first of our YANA Evening Tea Series before a packed room at the Yale Club of NYC. Drawing from both scholarship and family stories, Kermit Roosevelt '97 Law, Professor of Law at the University of Pennsylvania, and Ken Inadomi '76, YANA Founding Chair, kicked off our YANA Evening Tea series with an engrossing discussion on the legal and personal experiences of the internment of Japanese-Americans during World War II.

Event Recap

The YANA Teas are inspired by the Head of College Teas at Yale's residential colleges. These are discussions designed to highlight leading experts involved in advancing positive social change. Wine and other refreshments will be served (as our "evening equivalent" of a traditional college tea). We plan to bring the YANA Evening Tea Series to a YANA Chapter near you!

Victoria Chen SOM '17, a Teach for America alumna, is co-founder and president of BridgeYear, a nonprofit that focuses on connecting underserved populations to education and employment. BridgeYear believes that students from underserved communities who are not on a pathway to college deserve to have pathways to economic mobility and independence after high school.

YANA Texas Chapter leaders Rachel Littman '91 (Houston) and Jennifer Wester '16 (Dallas) met with staff from the Texas Muslim Women's Foundation, a nonprofit that provides, social, financial, and educational services to women and families in north Texas.

    

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For the second year in a row, YANA had a presence at the  Yale Philanthropy Conference, an interdis ciplinary forum hosted by students at the Yale School of Management in New Haven for current and future leaders focused on the business of social change. Several YANA Board members and volunteers represented YANA at a table next to the only other organizational table, The Paul Newman Foundation. We were in good company.

Event Recap

MS54 AFTERNOON ACADEMY

Andrew Strott  was one of the first volunteer tutors that Yale Community Connect recruited for the homework help pilot program Afternoon Academy, and he played a pivotal role in its success.  Andrew is currently a junior at Hunter College High School. Though he already fulfilled his community service requirement, he continued to tutor MS54 students who are struggling academically, because the experience was so gratifying to him:

"The impact that I have had on my students has 3 different aspects: our relationship, their grades, and their self-confidence. Through building such strong relationships with each of them and helping them to improve their grades, I have been able to instill a sense of confidence for them all both inside and outside of school that was lacking before."

Read more about Andrew's experience

TUTORING AT MOSAIC PREP & MS54

Nina Jaroslaw  YC '85 offers her reflections on her volunteer experiences at  experiences at Mosaic Prep Academy and Booker T. Washington JHS (MS54) since October 2018. Nina created an enrichment class, "Who Am I? Exploring Identity and Culture Through Self-Portraiture," for students in the 3rd to 5th grades, and now teaches a class twice a week to groups of 5th graders during their school day. Nina has built a lasting relationship with the teachers and administrators with whom she works.

"Week after week, I found myself in awe of their capacity for self-reflection, cultural questioning, and personal expression. And I am deeply grateful to YANA for opening the door to such an opportunity."

Read more about Nina's experience

NATURE GOALS 2050 VOLUNTEERS PARTY!

On Apr. 18, the  Natural Areas Conservancy &  NYC Nature Goals 2050 hosted a party at REI SoHo to bring together environmental activists from more than 30 organizations devoted to protecting our planet. The crowd enjoyed presentations from some of those organizations, including the NYC Parks Department and the Mayor's Office. A teacher and group of students from PS 333 Manhattan School for Children presented their climate dreams and hopes for the future. We were excited to see many familiar faces and 8 Yale Community Connect volunteers, including Lauren Graham '13 F&ES, Chair of  Yale Blue Green, and Sarah Charlop-Powers '09 F&ES, Executive Director of Natural Areas Conservancy.

Recap

January's New York Monthly Meeting's Spotlight featured Sarah Charlop-Powers `09 F&ES, Executive Director & Co-Founder of Natural Areas Conservancy (NAC), a nonprofit organization devoted to restoring and conserving New York City's 20,000 acres of woodlands and coastal areas. The NAC works in more than 50 parks across the five boroughs and takes a science-based approach to conserving the city's nature, improving coastal resilience, and ensuring healthy forests.

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March's New York Monthly Meeting's Spotlight featured Brooke Rosenzweig '10 PhD, President of Foundation Advisors. Brooke is a former research scientist who leverages her technical literacy to help philanthropies optimize their goals in medicine and science.

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April's New York Monthly Meeting's Spotlight featured Tiffany McKinney Gardner '98, an international human rights advocate, and Founder and Executive Director of One World Exchange, a New York-based nonprofit that prepares underrepresented youth for leadership opportunities through an eight-week immersion program in developing nations.

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