1 | SAY YES BUFFALO 2015 Report to the Community PROJECTED NEEDS OF ABOUT SAY YES BUFFALO BUFFALO EMPLOYERS Say Yes Bufalo is a landmark child in the program to achieve his partnership that brings together the or her potential and include: Bufalo Public School District, parents, Social services and family supports the Bufalo Teachers Federation, the 10 YEARS 165,000 Bufalo Association of Administrators and After school and summer programming new jobs Supervisors, higher education, the City of Mentoring Bufalo, Erie County, Say Yes to Education, Inc., and a diverse group of Bufalo area Health care corporate, non-proft, and philanthropic Mental health care organizations to organize people, time, Legal services money and resources to provide holistic, year-round support to Bufalo Public College preparation supports will need a postsecondary School District students throughout their College scholarships 64% credential of some kind K-12 years and beyond. Say Yes Bufalo Paid internships and its partners believe every student can NYS Department of Labor; Bureau of Labor Statistics graduate high school and college when given the proper supports, resources and When it was launched in December opportunities. 2011, Say Yes Bufalo became the second Say Yes chapter to partner with an entire INVESTING IN EDUCATION Say Yes Bufalo partners facilitate city school district. Other Say Yes GROWS THE ECONOMY comprehensive supports, including locally chapters are located in Cambridge, funded tuition scholarships to one of MA; Hartford, CT; New York City, NY; more than 170 colleges and universities Philadelphia, PA; Syracuse, NY; and for those who meet residency, graduation Guilford County, NC. and admission requirements. These Local Economy supports are aligned with what research indicates is needed to enable every 33.2% $1.7 NYS Average BILLION 24.4% of Bufalo adults have 4-year degrees; Increasing this number to the NYS average of 33.2% will bring $1.7 billion annually in disposable income into WNY economy Sources: U.S. Census Bureau, 2014 QuickFacts and CEOs for Cities Talent Dividend 2 | SAY YES BUFFALO 2015 Report to the Community TABLE OF CONTENTS ON THE COVER... In June 2015, hundreds of Say Yes Bufalo Scholars graduated high school and among Letter from the Chair of the Scholarship Board and them was Abbeni Dixon - the student Executive Director ........................................................................................................ 4 representative who spoke at the event announcing the Say Yes Bufalo Scholarship Scholarship Board ........................................................................................................ 5 in December 2011. Abbeni is now a freshman at Morgan State Profles .............................................................................................................................. 6 University. Donor: Daniel Lewis ................................................................................................... 6 Scholar: Sumitra Archyra ...................................................................................... 14 Scholar: Kyle Gray .................................................................................................... 22 Mentor: Megan Larson ......................................................................................... 30 Parent: Valencia Powell ........................................................................................ 36 About our Programs ................................................................................................... 16 Kindergarten-Grade 12 .......................................................................................... 16 Pre-College ................................................................................................................ 28 College ........................................................................................................................ 20 TOP: Bufalo Public School student Abbeni Governance .................................................................................................................. 26 Dixon in ninth grade speaking at the event Community Leadership Council ......................................................................... 24 to announce Say Yes Bufalo. Operating Committee ........................................................................................... 25 BOTTOM: Three years Community Task Forces ........................................................................................ 26 later, Dixon walking across the stage for her graduation from Donors to the Say Yes Bufalo Scholarship Fund ......................................... 32 the Bufalo Academy for Visual and Staf ............................................................................................................................... 38 Performing Arts. 3 | SAY YES BUFFALO 2015 Report to the Community Letter from the CHAIR OF THE SCHOLARSHIP BOARD AND EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR Welcome to Say Yes Bufalo’s 2015 Report to the Community! Coordinated with the Erie County Bar Association’s This past year, powered by the Say Yes Bufalo Partnership’s Volunteer Lawyers Project and the legal community unwavering commitment to the vision of a better Bufalo, we’ve of Western New York to add more legal clinics, providing made incredible progress towards strengthening educational free legal advice to Bufalo students and families outcomes for Bufalo students. We hope our Angel Donors and Embedded Family Support Specialists into every Bufalo partners feel a sense of pride when you consider the signifcant Public School to mentor and connect students and families progress we’ve made together to remove barriers to our city’s with social services and other supports young people’s ability to graduate high school prepared to succeed in college. The services and supports we are facilitating Partnered with The Bufalo Niagara Partnership and the with dozens of partner organizations in this community took Western New York Association of College and Career Centers important steps toward maturity this past year. We are to launch a paid internship program for scholars that will pleased to share the following highlights: create an important talent pipeline for our young people while meeting the pending demand for 165,000 open jobs In the past year, we… anticipated in the next ten years here in Bufalo Contributed to another increase in the Bufalo Public Schools’ graduation rate, which rose to 61% for the class We invite you to explore the enclosed report and refect on of 2015, and marked a 10-year high for the school district the accomplishments made to date. None of this could be done without your leadership, advocacy and support. Saw our third class of scholars began their college careers at 69 institutions of higher education around the country, Thank you for believing in the power of this partnership. bringing the total number of Say Yes Bufalo Scholars With gratitude, we’ve helped get to college to nearly 3,000 Coordinated with Erie County and the Community Foundation for Greater Bufalo to increase access to needed mental health services in a total of 42 Bufalo Alphonso O’Neil-White Public School buildings Scholarship Board Chair Launched the Scholar Mentoring Program which pairs high school seniors with a mentor to guide them through the transition from high school to college David Rust Executive Director 4 | SAY YES BUFFALO 2015 Report to the Community Letter from the SAY YES BUFFALO SCHOLARSHIP BOARD The Say Yes Bufalo Scholarship Board focuses on fundraising and policy related to the program’s scholarships. This board CHAIR OF THE SCHOLARSHIP BOARD is comprised of private individuals who are volunteering their time to raise the funds needed to provide the Say Yes Bufalo AND EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR Scholarship in perpetuity. Scholarship Board members also determine eligibility guidelines and advocate on behalf of the program. Nancy Davis Clotilde Dedecker Danis J. Gehl, Ph.D. Roger Hungerford Peter Hunt Jeremy Jacobs, Jr. Secretary Luke Jacobs William L. Joyce Daniel Lewis Blythe Merrill Alphonso Reverend Rachelle Vice-Chair O’Neil-White Robinson Chair Mary Anne Hon. Hugh Scott Nick Sinatra Stephen Swift Schmitt-Carey Treasurer 5 | SAY YES BUFFALO 2015 Report to the Community DANIEL LEWIS Donor Daniel Lewis could be considered the frst donor to the decision to focus his giving on education-related issues. Say Yes Bufalo Scholarship Fund. In 2011, he learned about Since then he has joined the board of the Say Yes Bufalo what was then just an idea, after meeting with Community Scholarship and the board of Say Yes to Education and Foundation President and Say Yes Bufalo co-founder Clotilde he works tirelessly to connect the organization with Perez-Bode Dedecker and immediately jumped at the opportunities to grow its reach. He’s also made non- opportunity “to invest,” as he puts it. traditional fnancial commitments to the Say Yes Bufalo Scholarship, including conception of and support for the “When Clotilde explained how the scholarship would work, “Bright Spots” marketing campaign to grow awareness of the it was clear to me that this was a tool where people like efort among potential donors, and has pledged to donate me who care about Buffalo could invest in bettering its a percentage of anticipated profts through a Bufalo-based economy in a new way—by supporting the education of real estate venture. the city’s public school students, the region’s future workforce. I wrote a check then