2014 annual report by Alysia Lee

2013-2014 Annual Report

2013-2014 Board of Directors

Staﬀ Music Teaching Artists:

Julianne Baird Rutgers-Camden University

Kendra Balmer Brad Broomﬁeld Holly Diegel

Bo Banwo The Food Trust

Anne Dugan John Gilmour Fabricia Joseph

Fran Connolly Eamon Consulting Karin Coger McDonnell & Associates, P.C. Stacey Cruise Legacy School Services Carol Frazier Kimmel Center, Education Department Tom Knoche Rutgers-Camden University

Elizabeth Kelly Alysia Lee Administrative Staﬀ: Alysia Lee, Founder & Executive Director John Gilmour, Communications Coordinator

All photos are credited to Joseph Kaczmarek, unless noted.

Elizabeth Okakpu American Paradigm Schools Dolores Redfearn Retired Educator Victoria Visconto Delaware Valley Association for the Education of Young Children Andrea Walls Mighty Writers

Mission Statement: Sister Cities Girlchoir builds communities of music makers that empower girls to occupy their unique advantage in transforming our world.

Table of Contents

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Page 4

About SCG

Letter from our Founder

Demographics & Statistics

2013-2014 Season Highlights

Finale Concert 2014

Investing in Our StaďŹ&#x20AC;

We Love SCG!

Financials

Circle of Support

Donor Listing

Recent Media

http://issuu.com/alysialee/docs/

"The program taught me a lot about singing, but also a lot about conďŹ dence."

About Sister Cities Girlchoir Sister Cities Girlchoir (SCG) is the El Sistema-inspired, girl empowerment initiative that employs musical study and the related beneďŹ ts as an anti-poverty intervention in chronically low-income communities in Philadelphia and Camden, NJ. Youth participants at six regional sites build critical soft skills for school and life success and gain access to a quality, tuition-free music education program with a shared bottom line of musical excellence and positive youth development. SCG Founder, Alysia Lee was selected from an international pool of applicants to the third cohort in 2011. The year-long fellowship included a Non-ProďŹ t Management track, Music Education track and immersion residencies in Sistema-inspired programs in the U.S. and a lengthy residency in Venezuela. Through the Sistema Fellowship at New England Conservatory, SCG is connected to the national movement of El Sistema-inspired U.S. programs and the global community of initiatives spreading the El Sistema philosophy

Music& 25%&

and transforming communities. New England Conservatory, in partnership with TED, launched the training program for professional musicians committed to social change.

Girl& Empowerment& 75%&

In the Pilot Season, SCG performed for over 7,500 people in the region including President George Bush and the Honorary Blondell Reynolds Brown. The season culminated with an exuberant collaborative performance with Opera Philadelphia and The Philadelphia Singers of Vivaldi s GLORIA in Center City. In the next three years, SCG will add a touring ensemble for 7th-12th grades and an early childhood program.

The City of Philadelphia oďŹ&#x192;cially recognizes Sister Cities Girlchoir for providing the opportunity for Philadelphia s

young

women to ďŹ nd personal expression, build selfesteem, and expand their horizons through music. City of Philadelphia Mayor Michael A. Nutter Mayor s Citation

Letter from our Founder Dear Friends, Two years ago, we launched a Summer Pilot of Sister Cities Girlchoir in Kensington. Twelve girls worked hard, sang hard, danced hard and played hard for two weeks. They performed in a flash mob with Opera Philadelphia, sang center stage at the Women Helping Women event, and then on a makeshift stage in a school building they proudly presented song and dance to curious families and neighbors. At the end of the concert I put the girls on the spot (like I like to do!) and asked them to tell the standing-room only crowd, what girlchoir meant to them in one word. They began to call out: Friendship Power Teamwork Kindness Safety Sisters Leaders Hope Not one girl said anything about music. And my heart soared! The girls had gotten the message. SCG employs music as a tool for girl empowerment. The music is just the tip of the iceberg! Two strong seasons later and we have added a couple hundred girls but kept the same philosophy. Don t get me wrong--we provide incredible musical opportunities, too! • Side-by-side performances with Opera Philadelphia, The Philadelphia Singers, and Broadway Dreams, • Field trips to The Kimmel Center, The Academy of Music, and The Walnut Street Theater • Visits from professional artists from the local region and afar. The Girlchoir sings music by everyone from Beethoven to Beyoncè. They have songs in English, French, Spanish, Latin, and Swahili in their repertoire. Yet, what makes our programming distinct is our primary objective to empower girls to be leaders and transform our world! Thank you to all of the community partners, parents, school staff, and supporters that make SCG an incredible resource for the girls of Philadelphia and Camden!! This season was full of many firsts and I am thrilled to be able to share them with you here. I hope to see all of you at a concert in the coming year! Sincerely,

The choir gives girls a chance to add beauty and grace to their lives and to see the strength of their collective voice. Alysia Lee, SCG Founder Philadelphia Inquirer article

Demographics & Statistics

2,400%

DemographicsMu4racial& 3%&

growth in membership!

Mission Statement: Sister Cities Girlchoir builds communities of music makers that empower girls to occupy their unique advantage in

White& Asian& 2%& 4%&

Girlchoir(Membership( 350" 300"

Hispanic& 33%&

250" 200" 150" 100"

Black& 58%&

50" 0" Pilot,"2012"

Year"I"

performances for over

Year"II"

8,000

people in the

Greater Philadelphia/Camden region!

100%

of our school partners are Title I Schools School Partners Daroﬀ Elementary School, Universal First Philadelphia Charter School Harrity Elementary School, Mastery LEAP Academy University Charter School Memphis Street Academy Molina Elementary School, Rutgers Camden University 8

2013-2014 Season Highlights Evaluation Results: Social Change Short-term Goals Met! At the conclusion of the 2013-2014 Season, 95% of Coro Kensington participants reported an increase in problem solving conﬁdence, sense of purpose, friendship skills, and teamwork skills that they directly attributed to their participation in the Girlchoir. Students were administered the Youth Outcomes Battery. These are early indicators towards success with our long-term goal to stop the transmission of intergenerational poverty. Armed with the capital of a complete education, a supportive social network, grit, leadership skills, and healthy habits,

Little Sisters join SCG! On target with our strategic plan, SCG launched three Little Sister Girlchoirs for girls in 1st through 3rd grades. The program expansion allows for Big/Little Sister activities, which have become a crown jewel of the Girlchoir experience.

1st Martin Luther King, Jr All-City Singing Tour Over 60 middle school girls gave a Day of Service performing mini-concerts throughout Philadelphia and Camden in honor of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. The tour included four stops: Barrister's Annual MLK Breakfast at the Loews Hotel, Kensington Community Development Corporation, National Museum of American Jewish History,and Rutgers-Camden University. Before heading home, the girls enjoyed a much-deserved ice cream party at the YELL Gallery in Northern Liberties. http://bity.ly1resfbh Click here for Tour Video: hMp://bit.ly/1t899FM Produced and Filmed by Brandon Lee

1st College and Career GirlFest On March 15th, all of the Girlchoirs assembled on campus at Rutgers-Camden University (dressed in their best, When I Grow Up costumes) for an exploratory day to focus on their future. SCG assembled a wide-range of professional women from ESPN, Townsend Press, Philly Fashion Incubators, Opera Philadelphia, The Professional Women s Business Network, She Talk Radio for panel discussions with the Big Sisters. The Little Sisters rotated in a series of activities about goal setting and dreaming big. The day ended with Big and Little Sisters partnering to read The King School Series book When I Grow Up --which was generously donated to each Girl to take home for their personal libraries. http://bit.ly/1rerXky

Girlchoir and Founder at TEDX In October, the Big Sisters took the stage at TEDPhoenixville to share Founder, Alysia Lee s unique story about giving back, girl power, and the saving power of musical communities. SCG received the only standing ovation of the day! http://bit.ly/1uRDk2P

Click here for TEDX Video: hMp://bit.ly/1uRDk2P

Big Sister represents Girlchoir at Los Angeles Youth Conference Coro Kensington singer Allyson Reeves was selected to attend the Leadership Forum for Young Musicians at the Take A Stand Symposium in Los Angeles. The symposium, which was facilitated by the Los Angeles Philharmonic, Bard College, and the Longy School of Music provided an opportunity to grow and meet students from El Sistema programs across the country.

This was Allyson s ﬁrst plane ride and West Coast trip. She attended concerts at Walt Disney Click here for Allyson’s video: hMp://bit.ly/1r9N5dN

Hall, presented her vision for youth leadership to the 350 adults attending the Teaching Artist Symposium, and made new friends from all across the country.

Finale Concert 2014 In our ﬁrst season, we dreamed of performing at the historic Church of the Holy Trinity, but with an expected 200 people in the audience--we settled on a smaller venue. This year the Girlchoir surpassed our dream by singing to a sold-out (800+) crowd at the Rittenhouse Square sacred space and side-by-side with Nicholas Rodriguez of The Broadway Dreams Foundation.

Photo Album: hMp://bit.ly/1sinKu7 Click here for the oﬃcial highlights video: hMp://youtu.be/bO7tTNQmoR4

The Arts and Business Council of Greater

Simon Public Relations showcased the passion

Philadalphia s Business Volunteers for the Arts

of the Sister Cities Girlchoir by launching a pro

matched SCG with two dynamic professionals to

bono media relations campaign to share our

provide guidance for the marketing and

story throughout the region. The award-winning

communications planning for the Finale Concert.

campaign was a tremendous success and raised the proﬁle of the event with advance

Heidi Siegel, Director of Internal and External

placements and feature stories in The Daily

Communication at GlaxoSmithKline and Sydina

News and Brotherly Love with Ukee Washington

Williams, Operations Administrator for Simon

of CBS-3 Philadelphia.

Public Relations provided consultation in PR, communications and project management.

Finale Concert 2014: Honorees

Raise Your Voice Award Councilwoman Blondell Reynolds Brown in recognition of her commitment to education, arts, and children.

Volunteer of the Year Award

Community Partner of the Year Award

Harriet Young

Townsend Press

Finale Concert 2014

If you change the prospects of girls on a big enough scale, you will transform societies. --The Girl EďŹ&#x20AC;ect

Investing in Our Staff

Conducting has been a new adventure for me and I am so grateful to SCG for providing me with the opportunity to attend the American Choral Directors Association Regional Conference in Baltimore, MD this past spring. It provided me with a wealth of new ideas and connected me to the larger community of music educators.

Ms. Elizabeth, Teaching Artist

The Valentine Foundation s Visionary Leadership Fund provided the ďŹ nancial support for me to attend Harvard University s Women in Power conference. The week-long program hosts women executives from 24 countries and focuses on leadership strategies with an emphasis on creating partnerships.

I learned so much about my own leadership style and best practices to carry SCG into our next stage!

Ms. Alysia, Founder

We Love SCG! Vivian, Grade 6

Maddie, Grade 3

Click here for Vivian’s video: hMp://bit.ly/XBOWfa

Click here for Maddie’s video: hMp://bit.ly/1yh857d

A moment I loved was when the girls at Daroﬀ had their mid-year mini concert. As we were getting ready to go on stage I suddenly worried that there was no one in the audience because I didn't hear any sounds. As the girls silently walked on stage we discovered a full auditorium quiet and smiling proud. The girls stood tall and ready, facing all of their adoring fans. In this moment, everyone present simultaneously acknowledged what this girlchoir had become and imagined in hushed anticipation the places they'd be going. -Ms. Kendra, Teaching Artist

The bus ride home from the ﬁnale concert sticks out the most for me. The girls were singing, laughing, and incredibly pumped. Every one of them on the bus! They were calling out to each other, waving their hands and dancing and just so Joy-ﬁlled. I could barely keep from crying because this is what we want girls to feel...free to raise their voices together in love. Awesome!

Hear why from Girls, Parents, & Staﬀ!

Jada, Grade 6 Click here for Jada’s video:hMp://bit.ly/1u0ZEdh

When my daughter first considered joining, she was very nervous. She wasn t sure she was comfortable with singing in front of strangers and I could tell she wasn t confident in her abilities. I told her how a choir is a group of students so she wouldn t sing alone, how fun it would be and how she should give it a try before dismissing this chance. So needless to say she did join and she LOVED IT! She went from a quiet girl who whispered songs to someone who quite literally gave us a mini concert on our front porch! I try to tell my daughter to believe in herself, face her fears and accept new challenges but Sister Cities helped make that into a tangible lesson. Every moment in life offers a lesson somehow. She and I are so very proud of her involvement in Sister Cities and I thank you for bring this marvelous opportunity to her school. -Ms. Ramos, Parent

-Ms. Anne, Teaching Artist

Financials

In6Kind) 3%)

Income'

Individuals) 12%)

Student) Learning) Community) Supplies) 6%) Performances) 7%)

Expenses'

Meals)&)Snacks) 9%) Founda'ons) 33%) Corpora'ons) 52%)

Teaching) Ar,sts) 26%)

Fiscal)Sponsor) 12%) Student) Transporta,on) 20%)

Administra,on) 20%)

Sister Cities Girlchoir is being sponsored by Artspire, a program of the New York Foundation for the Arts. Any contributions of cash, securities, or materials made to the Foundation on behalf of Sister Cities Girlchoir are tax deductible to the full extent allowed by law.

I try to tell my daughter to

believe in herself, face her fears and accept

new challenges

but

Sister Cities Girlchoir helped make that into a

tangible

lesson.

Circle of Support

Oﬃcial Transportabon Sponsor:

Thank you to our Donors! The following list represents The Girlchoir’s corporate, foundation and individual donors who made gifts from July 1, 2013 through June 20, 2014. We gratefully acknowledge their support, which is so vital to our success.

Up to $50,000

$500-2,499

Bonita Blazer

David France

Townsend Press

Anonymous

Diane Bryan

Elyse Jacobson

Up to $25,000

Campbell Soup Company

Ken McCoy

Laura Jekel

Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation

Joan Kozarsky

Lorraine Minnite

Mary Beth King

Elizabeth Post

Norman and Arlene Silvers

Megan Machnik

The Samuel Fels Foundation

Kevin Simpson

M. Manon

Applegate Farms

TEDX, Johnson & Johnson

Michael Wright

Up to $10,000

Robert McLaughlin

Up to $99

Chapman Chevy, Nissan, and Chapman Ford, Oﬃcial Transportation Sponsor

The Union League of Philadelphia

Meryl Melkinoﬀ

Daniel Amabile

Roger Montemayor

$250-$499

Anonymous (3)

Howard Needleman

$5,000-$7,499

Anonymous

Brett Auttonberry

Albert Oppenheimer

The Henry and Anne Reich Family Foundation

Stacey Cruise

Elaine Beale

Krista Schliesman

Elaine and Barry Galman

Derek Basthemer

Erica Seidel

Michele A. Gariepy

Michael Bly

Neil Sheppard

Thomas Knoche

Mark and Hillary Brennan

Duane and Deborah Smith

Faith McCoy Scriven

Karin Coger

Marcy Szwedowski

M.D. Redfearn

Deb Confredo

Edwin Vega

$100-$249

Fran Connolly

Vicky Visconto

Maria Allison

Gayle Coopersmith

Andrea Walls

Anonymous

Julie Davis

Arline Walls

Pat Basthemer

Sue Edelman

Sherron Williams

Myra Benedikt

Scott Ettinger

Up to $15,000

The Seybert Foundation Valentine Foundation Harriet Young $2,500-$4,999 Alfred and Mary Douty Foundation Community Foundation of South Jersey Community Foundation of South Jersey

Recent Media

Click here for video: hMp://cbsloc.al/1yeN111

Click here to view: hMp://bit.ly/Xzzgt1

amazing musical experience but it also created a safe place SCG not only provided an

where these girls could learn about each other and create a

real community of friends.

The Girlchoir Movement

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Sister Cities Girlchoir P.O. Box 15277 Philadelphia, PA 19125 909-4SISTER (909-474-7837) www.sistercitiesgirlchoir.org

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