Privately Funded Nonprofit Leader in Afterschool Development is Transforming Lives, Building Community for Inner City Youth and Poor Communities
NEW YORK, NY – January 25, 2016: Now entering its 35th anniversary year, the All Stars Project, Inc. (ASP) is pleased to report, for the first time in its history, having raised over $10M in cash gross income for the calendar year (ending 12/31/2015) from a total of 3925 donors; an achievement marking 25 years of annual income growth. Based in New York City with additional locations in five other cities across the U.S. – Newark, New Jersey; Chicago, Illinois; Dallas, Texas; Bridgeport, Connecticut; and San Francisco, California – the ASP is a privately funded national nonprofit organization founded in 1981 whose mission is to transform the lives of youth and poor communities using the developmental power of performance, in partnership with caring adults.
In addition, the All Stars Project raised the most it ever has online this past year, nearly $1M; which is almost triple the amount raised since the organization began taking online donations in 2010. In total, the income of the All Stars Project in 2015 was made up of: 58% individual giving, 33.2% corporate giving, and 8.8% foundation giving.
As the All Stars Project’s approach to Afterschool Development grows more mainstream as a new way of engaging poverty, it is gaining more buy-in from the corporate and foundation community for its vision, and experienced a significant increase in corporate giving in 2015.
The increased corporate giving seen this past year is especially meaningful for the organization, as it demonstrates the embodiment of ‘involvement philanthropy’. This growing trend has captured the energies of corporate professionals, who are not only writing checks, but also becoming personally involved in transforming the lives of inner-city youth. In the process, they are doing new things, having new experiences, and growing themselves alongside the youth.
“What is unique about the All Stars Project’s approach to Afterschool Development is that they bring together people from very different backgrounds, with different ideas about how to create a sense of community,” said Hunter Hunt, CEO of Hunt Consolidated Energy and Vice-Chair of the All Stars Project’s Board of Directors. “It is not only the young people that benefit from All Stars programs; business leaders find that when they interact with the young people (for example, through the Development School for Youth), it energizes everyone. The benefit is felt throughout their companies.”
To that end, this year ASP created Boards dedicated to serving its centers in Bridgeport, Dallas, and New York City, expanded the Boards in its other markets; and also expanded its Development School for Youth (DSY) program, where a record 381 young people across the country partnered with major companies including AIG, MetLife, JPMorgan, and Tiffany & Co.
The DSY’s afterschool development model connects inner-city youth between the ages of 16 and 21with corporate America, enabling them to learn to perform as professionals, create new relationships and new possibilities for themselves. The program partners with corporate professionals and over 180 major corporations to provide training experiences and internships for DSY graduates. JP Morgan is a standout example as the largest DSY internship sponsor, having hosted 50 interns in 2015.
In 2016, the All Stars Project seeks to significantly increase the number of American businesses participating in the DSY, as well as the number of internships available for youth in the program, and marked the start of this effort at its 2016 National DSY Internship Campaign Kickoff Breakfast on January 20, 2016. Hosted by MetLife, Inc., ASP’s 2015 National Afterschool Development Partner, the event offered an opportunity to learn more about the program, sponsoring internships for DSY graduates, and to meet and hear from some of the young people themselves about the impact the DSY program has had on their lives.
“We are honored to have MetLife, our largest corporate donor, partner with us in leading the charge to encourage others in the business community to get involved with the All Stars Project,” said ASP President and CEO Gabrielle Kurlander. “MetLife employees in New York City and New Jersey were among the first wave of business professionals personally investing in our programs and coming together with inner-city youth. They helped to create the bridge between very different worlds needed to transform the lives of young people and poor communities.”
Ms. Kurlander continued: “Looking back, we have accomplished so much this past year – milestones that could not have been achieved without the generous support of our growing community of champions who have made a difference not only financially, but by becoming personally involved with All Stars Project programs. I am confident that our supporters will rise to the challenge with us to continue to share All Star’s work and engage poverty through our proven approach to Afterschool Development.”
About All Stars Project, Inc.
The All Stars Project is a privately funded national nonprofit organization founded in 1981 whose mission is to transform the lives of youth and poor communities using the developmental power of performance, in partnership with caring adults. By 2020, the All Stars Project will be recognized as America’s leader in afterschool development, a new way of engaging poverty.
From engaging young people with corporate America through its Development School for Youth (DSY), to the All Stars Talent Show Network (ASTSN), to building better police-community relations through Operation Conversation: Cops & Kids, the All Stars Project has seen the power of performance to change lives. ASP is supported by some of America’s leading companies including DIRECTV, EY, MetLife, PWC and Viacom. Led by President and CEO Gabrielle Kurlander, the ASP involves over 10,000 young people every year in its afterschool programs in six cities across the country. Learn more at www.allstars.org, on Facebook and on Twitter @AllStarsProject.
