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Thank you for your support of the Relaunch Year of Public Allies D.C. Last Thursday, Public Allies D.C. hosted over 150 guests at the Class of 2011 Induction Ceremony. We gathered at the Pew Charitable Trusts Conference Center, the place where the Class of 2011 met with Partner Organizations for the first time approximately one year ago.
We say "induction" because we believe that the 10 months of service completed by 25 Allies at over 15 not-for-profits was an introduction to long term social change and the Public Allies Alumni Network.
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| Bizunesh "Biz" Scott |
We were honored to have as our keynote speaker Bizunesh "Biz" Scott, Special Assistant to the President of the United States and a Public Allies '95 Alumna. Among the other guests were CrisRos-Dukler, Chief Operating Officer of Public Allies National; Marta Urquilla, White House Office of Social Innovation; and Patricia Griffin, Public Allies Lobbyist at NVG and Public Allies '95 Alumna; 25 amazing leaders from our Ally class of 2011; and a strong show of support from Public Allies Alumni, Partner Organizations, Community Partners and the family and friends of graduating Allies.
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| Cris Ros-Dukler |
I began the program by sharing how the relaunch grew from a group of committed alumni working with Public Allies National to explore the idea to the tremendous personal growth and professional impact of the 25 new leaders in the Relaunch Class. I was followed by Public Allies National COO, Cris Ros-Dukler, who expressed her pleasure and support from the National Office. She also stated that the day was special given that just 12 months earlier Public Allies D.C. was located between "Nakeisha's home and my hotel room."
Biz spoke about the significance of the Public Allies Network in her own life. She stated that every major career step involved Public Allies. She attributes much of her own rise from young single mom and community college student, to double presidential appointee with four degrees, to her Public Allies experience.
Tangi "Taz" White, Public Allies '11, who served at Southeast Ministry, gave remarks on behalf of the class. She stated that Public Allies gave her an opportunity to leave public assistance. Tangi has gained confidence, an increased skill set, a network of support and a full time job with Southeast Ministry.
Michael Watts, Public Allies '94, officially welcomed the Class of 2011 into the Alumni network. He shared the privileges of staying connected and the responsiblity to address our community's "leadership deficit". Alumni from six Public Allies Sites, representing years 1993-2011, joined Michael in welcoming new alumni.
Since October, Allies served over 42,500 hours in over 15 community organizations, providing essential, economic, educational and health services for over 19,000 people in the Washington area. Here are just a few examples of what Allies have accomplished at Partner Organizations:
- Jessica Cendana, Melanie Chavez, Fahmi Galloway, Josh Levine and Andy Stone served at Reading Partners. The Allies recruited over 200 volunteers, trained them to tutor struggling students, helped nearly all of the students achieve literacy gains and helped Reading Partners establish its first site on the East Coast.
- Luis Callejas and Kervin Leonidas worked at Byte Back. Collectively they taught basic and
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Michael Watts,
DC Alumni |
intermediate computer skills to more than 300 adults. Luis also developed the curriculum for the first computer class in the city for low-income Spanish-speaking residents, enabling Byte Back to offer six classes in Spanish.
- Julie Lundy was placed with Fair Chance, an organization that builds the capacity of youth serving organizations in Washington's underserved communities. Because of Julie, over 50 youth-serving organizations increased their social media presence. Seven of the organizations would not have had a social media presence to promote their programs without Julie.
As we celebrate the Class of 2011, we are already preparing for the Class of 2012. For the second year, we received an overwhelming response from prospective Allies and Partner Organizations. More than 500 candidates applied for 30 Ally positions and while prospective Partners applied for twice as many Allies than we can place. We will begin the 2011-2012 year on September 1, 2011, with 30 Allies, and 12 Partner Organizations.
I want to especially thank American Express for its generous support of our relaunch year, and our Relaunch Partner Organizations for having faith in us during our first year. I would also like to thank the Public Allies Alumni Network for its time, energy and consistent support. Lastly, I'd like to thank each and every one of you for welcoming Public Allies back to D.C. with open arms.
If you are a Facebook member, we invite you to post a congratulatory message to our new Alumni, staff and supporters on our Wall. I also encourage you to make a gift to Public Allies DC in honor of this class and to support our continued work in the Washington area.
Best wishes,
Nakeisha Neal
Executive Director
Public Allies Washington, D.C.
(202) 729-8143 | nakeishan@publicallies.org
www.publicallies.org/washingtondc
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