Lower Eastside Girls Club • 2022 Annual Report

Illustration & Design: Lenora Thornton

" You have to act as if it were possible to radically transform the world.

And you have to do it all the time"

Angela Davis

A Note from Our Co-Executive Directors

We are living in an era where girls’ and women’s rights, and the rights of marginalized people are being taken away. Especially now, our fight for a just and equitable future must be thoughtful and intentional.

This is why radical imagination is one of our core values*. We have always and will remain bold in our vision for our youth and community, and must harness our collective power to counteract the forces that seek to revert progress. While it is easy to reel in anger and sadness, it is the radical imagination of our youth that fills us with hope. Every day, we have the privilege of witnessing our members challenge the status quo and actualize the future they deserve, all while joyfully shining and thriving.

It is radical imagination that birthed our vision for a Center For Wellbeing & Happiness back in 2017. At the time very little attention was given to wellness disparities in under-resourced communities. We sought to address this gap by creating a space that intentionally addresses the social determinants of health through a healing justice lens. After much perseverance through the pandemic we finally opened the doors to our state-ofart wellness hub in October welcoming in over 615 community members. We are working collaboratively to ensure our whole community is cared for and well.

Throughout this report, we present our 2022 accomplishments, share stories from our members and alumni, and deep dive into our exciting initiatives. Without your support and belief in our mission, none of this would be possible. We hope you feel our Joy, Power, and Possibility!

*Girls Club Core Values are Intention, Community, Radical Imagination, Social Justice, Sustainability and Innovation Thank you for radically imagining with us, Ebonie Simpson & Jenny Dembrow

Lower Eastside Girls Club, Co-Executive Directors

About the Girls Club

The Lower Eastside Girls Club supports young women and gender-expansive youth of color throughout New York City in leveraging their inner power to shape a better future for themselves, their community, and the world. Through free, year-round, innovative programming we connect young people with their passions, celebrate their curiosity, and channel their creative energy. Together we are building a just and equitable future filled with Joy. Power. Possibility.

Our story started in 1996 with a question: “In a world of boys-only clubs in the Lower East Side of Manhattan, where were the services and facilities for girls?” Our founders are neighborhood mothers, aunts, and now grandmothers, who imagined radical alternatives for the next generation and came together to make it happen. We honor their legacy in our vision of change.

For over 26 years, the Girls Club has been committed to building a more just and equitable future alongside our community. A future where disparities are addressed and racial, gender, and health justice are possible. A future where young women and genderexpansive youth of color can trailblaze their own paths and all members of the community can strengthen and grow together.

Each day, our members enter the Girls Club Center for Community into a world filled with joy, power and possibility. Inside our doors, members have access to Art, Design, Digital Media, Sound Studios, a STEM lab, a Maker Shop, Environmental Education Lab, the East Village Planetarium, a Culinary Education Center, Movement space, Rooftop Farm, and all the programming to go along with it. Members and families enjoy programming free of charge, year-round.

Girls Club Embraces Radical Imagination

We facilitate learning as a joyful, playful, and emancipatory act that allows our members to envision a present and future that breaks the boundaries and barriers of the status quo.

Our History

1996 ✿ In a neighborhood with three Boys Clubs, the Girls Club launched with a community celebration at Theater for the New City

1998

2000

✿ Started our first international partnership with Stsebetik Bolom, a young women’s activism and photography collective in Chiapas, Mexico.

✿ Joined the Million Mom March for Gun Control in Washington D.C.

✿ Rented a commercial kitchen and launched our first entrepreneurial venture: the Sweet Things Bake Shop 2010 ✿ Broke ground for our Center for Community on Avenue D 2013 ✿ Opened our 35,000 sq. ft. Center for Community facility

✿ Rented our first space in the back of a 99-cent store on Avenue D. Programs soon expanded to over two dozen locations in the Lower East Side

2016 ✿ Justice Sonia Sotomayor visited the Girls Club 2017 ✿ Participated in the Women’s March in Washington D.C. 2020

✿ Provided critical pandemic relief to our community, including the distribution of over 50,000 meals to Lower East Side residents.Launched our Center for Wellbeing & Happiness Virtual Hub ✿ Welcomed Ebonie Simpson and Jenny Dembrow as our new Co-Executive Directors.

2021

✿ Celebrated our 25th Anniversary Gala, honoring Stacey Abrams

✿

Girls Club is the house that women built

2003 ✿ Opened our first art gallery, digital photography lab, and podcasting studio at our storefront office on E. 1st Street. ✿ Marched against the Iraq War in NYC and DC. Visited the Coalition of Immokalee Farm Workers in Florida

2018 ✿

✿

2019

2050

Our Community in the Lower East Side

The Lower Eastside Girls Club Center for Community facility is located on Avenue D between East 7th and East 8th Streets in the Lower East Side of Manhattan — one of the most densely populated and ethnically diverse neighborhoods in NYC, with approximately 167,128 residents.1

The population living within the census tracts surrounding the Girls Club facility2 identify as 44% Latinx, 14% Black / African American, 16% Asian, 22% White, and 4% Multiracial. 3 Among Latinx residents, 74% identify as Puerto Rican and 16% Dominican. 4 26% of residents within these census tracts are born outside of the US. 5

The median household income is $31,105.6 45% of residents report an income below $25,000 7 and 52.4% of youth are living below the poverty line. 8

The 375 youth (aged 10–23) who attended the Girls Club in 2022 reflect the diversity of this city. Our youth membership is 46% Black / African American / African, 40% Latinx / AfroLatinx, 6% Asian, 6% White, 1% Middle Eastern / North African and 1% Pacific Islander. 100% qualify for the Federal Free Lunch Program. A majority reside in NYCHA public housing.9 Many of our members come from immigrant backgrounds, with over 15 languages and dialects spoken.

1. Furman Center (2021). State of New York City’s Housing and Neighborhoods in 2019/2020.

2. Census Tracts: 22.01, 22.02, 10.02, 20,24, 26.01, 26.02, 28

3. 2020 Census NYC Population Fact Finder. Census Tracts: 22.01, 22.02, 10.02, 20,24, 26.01, 26.02, 28

4. 2015-2019-American Community Survey. (2022). NYC Population Fact Finder. Census Tracts: 22.01, 22.02, 10.02, 20,24, 26.01, 26.02, 28 5. ibid. 6. ibid. 7. ibid.

8. Poverty status is determined by the U.S. Census Bureau based on household size, composition, the number of children under 18 years of age, and individual or family income. see: Furman Center (2021). State of New York City’s Housing and Neighborhoods in 2019/2020 and 2015-2019-American Community Survey. (2022). NYC Population Fact Finder. Census Tracts: 22.01, 22.02, 10.02, 20,24, 26.01, 26.02, 28 9. The Lower East Side community has some of the most historic and extensive public housing tracts in the city. New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA) owns and manages over 14,900 units of low-income housing in the LES. see: Community District 3 FY23 District Needs

Center for Wellbeing & Happiness

The Lower Eastside Girls Club has long recognized the significant flaws of the health system, as well as the health disparities and harm created by systemic injustice. Throughout our 26-year history, the Girls Club has cultivated the health and wellness of our youth and their families. We developed robust wellness programming over the years, including culinary education, urban farming, dance, yoga, mediation, sexual health education, mental health support, and mentorship.

In 2017, our next chapter began as we sought to close the health and wellness gaps not just for youth, but for everyone in the Lower East Side. 2022 marks a milestone as we emerge from the pandemic with the launch of our Center for Wellbeing & Happiness. The 5,000 ft 2 space on Avenue D (adjacent to our Center for Community facility) extends our wrap-around wellness services to all genders and all generations.

Currently, there are 615 Lower East Side community members registered at the Center.

The Center for Wellbeing and Happiness’ programming is rooted in the belief that the health and wellbeing of the young people we serve is intimately connected to the wellbeing of their families, and their community. Our vision is a Lower East Side community where our full humanity is valued and wellbeing is collectively supported.

The Center for Wellbeing & Happiness is a space of healing justice1, where local practitioners and organizers can convene to address harm at its root cause and heal together. We are particularly committed to uplifting the expertise and experience of Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) based in the Lower East Side community. We also embrace the exchange of knowledge passed down over generations and gained through life experiences.

1. Cara Page, co-founder of the Kindred Healing Justice Collective , describes Healing Justice as “the means by which we as a community can holistically respond to and intervene on the intergenerational trauma and violence we experience.”

The Girls Club is expanding our mission with our newest initiative

We're Open! Center for Wellbeing & Happiness

“The Center for Wellbeing and Happiness ... will be an anchor for our community to address challenges around self-care and mental health. I am proud to have helped secure $3 million to help make it possible. This space of innovation, wellbeing, happiness, and joy will be a national model for the rest of the country and to be even a small part of this means a lot to me.”

Carlina

Rivera, NYC Council Member

On October 14th, 2022, the Girls Club celebrated the long-awaited opening of our Center For Wellbeing & Happiness (CWBH) alongside NYC elected officials, staff, and supporters. We welcomed community members to an open house on October 15th to walk through the space, interact with staff, learn about the various offerings, and enroll in programming. Community members enjoyed guided tours of the new facility and danced to tracks from DJ Mas Corazon.

The Center for Wellbeing & Happiness was developed and designed in partnership with a pro-bono, women-led team from the global architecture firm Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (SOM), the global consulting, engineering and design firm Arup, and the mechanical engineering firm, JB&B Pro-bono support for the CWBH launch also came from marketing and strategy agency, clarkmcdowall; public relations firm Optimist Consulting, and Gjelina Group.

Photos: Kelly Adams (L), Trip Davis (R)

"A dream come to life…. a dream and a vision that something could be possible in our community — where people didn’t want to provide services or offer us wellness solutions, we created it for ourselves."

Latham Thomas, Founder of Mama Glow

"The Center for Wellbeing reflects an understanding of the importance of health and its layers beyond the physical — bringing together community healers of different modalities, ages and experience… I can’t wait to contribute, and participate, in this holistic, communal approach to wellness and happiness."

Jenna Valette, Girls Club alum & wellness practitioner

The Lower Eastside Girls Club gratefully acknowledges support for the Center for Wellbeing and Happiness from the following: NYC Council Member Carlina Rivera, NYS Assembly Member Harvey Epstein, NYS Regional Economic Development Council, an Anonymous Donor, Maestro Cares Foundation (founded by Marc Anthony and Henry Cárdenas), Kate Spade New York Foundation, Tarsadia Foundation, Former Manhattan Borough President Gale Brewer, Maybelline New York, The Leonard & Robert Weintraub Family Foundation, Saks Fifth Avenue Foundation, Bloomberg Philanthropies, Walentas Foundation, and the Jed Isaacs Memorial Fund.

All Are Welcome

The Center for Wellbeing & Happiness has been busy these past few months. The most popular offerings have been our movement classes: Zumba® for EVERY Body, Tai Chi for Seniors and Beginners, and Yoga. The WCRL: Where Community Radio Lives Sound Studio hosted the Grandparents Story Lab podcast, fostering dialogue and social connection across generations. The We Speak NYC English Conversation Group allowed students to practice their English while learning about key City resources, including preparing for the upcoming elections with lessons centering civic engagement and voting. Culinary series, Con Sabor, explored plant-based, Latin-Caribe cooking in the Food Farmacy.

We also offered a range of support for parents, guardians, and community members, including Positive Parenting (Triple P) with University Settlement / Families Thriving. We teamed up with Rise to deliver the Parent to Peer Supporter program — a training course created by and for

parents, families, and community members impacted by the child welfare system — which focuses on building supportive peer networks. We welcomed back Girls Club alumna Angelina Rosado — founder and Executive Director of Returning Hope, a nonprofit which empowers domestic violence survivors — for a powerful conversation in honor of Domestic Violence Awareness Month

Our World

Her Community Her Family

The Girl

"It was imperative that we deepen our efforts by expanding our mission to support not only the girl, but her family—from her baby brother to her abuela—and her entire community."

Ebonie Simpson, Girls Club Co-Executive Director

“The Lower East Side needs a space where folks can let down their guard and honor their strength, to be able to provide the folks who are fighting for this community a space to heal.” 1

Shaheeda Smith, Center for Wellbeing & Happiness Advisory Board member

Quote captured from Video by Kelly Adams (@landscapebiography) for the 2022 Lower Eastside Girls Club Annual Spring Fling Gala

Center for Wellbeing & Happiness

HAPPINESS HALL

Entrance & Community Gathering Space

A space for social-connectedness and civic engagement, where we will host community and intergenerational events such as art exhibits, film festivals, book talks, career panels, dance and movement workshops; as well as musical and dance performances. Community groups will also hold meetings here.

MIND & BODY STUDIO THE FOOD FARMACY

Community Café

Where we will host community dinners and talks, nutrition classes, cooking demos, and offer free, healthy “grab-and-go” snacks, produce packages and non-toxic products for members.

Mindfulness & Movement Room

A warm, welcoming safe space featuring state-of-theart immersion for classes in movement, music, meditation, mindfulness and other healing modalities. Courses will be offered to all ages and at all ability levels for no cost: from babies to great-grandparents.

WCRL SOUND STUDIO WELLBEING LOUNGE SOUL SPACE

Where Community Radio Lives

WCRL: Where Community Radio Lives Sound Studio is where members will host and stream live interviews and community conversations from our front window sound booth on Avenue D. We will also host DJ gatherings and events for all generations here.

A Quiet Space to Recharge and Connect

A communal space to come together in deep conversation, knowledge sharing, and collective healing. We will host an array of teen, LGBTQ+, parenting, and maternity support groups for our community.

Educational Programming & Counseling Room

A space for soul care and workforce development. We will host classes, discussions, certification programs, trainings, and workforce development opportunities for careers in health, civil, and green industries. We will also provide individual and family counseling, social service referrals, and more.

photo credits: Trip Davis, Lucas Blair Simpson, Destiny Mata

Food Justice to Food Farmacy

For over two decades, the Girls Club has offered innovative nutrition, food justice, urban farming, and culinary education. In recent years, we have deepened our impact through our food distribution efforts serving our community in response to rising food insecurity.

Girls Club has distributed over 190,000 meals since March 2020, many of which have been delivered to home-bound residents of NYCHA public housing. Today, we serve approximately 1,600 residents each month. In 2022, our Food Pantry distribution has been bolstered by weekly donations of fresh produce from the Union Square Greenmarket.

Girls Club incorporates Food Justice work into Sustainability programming. For our Winter Break intensive, members participated in workshops around food justice, ancestral culinary roots, and nutritional skills. Over the summer, members harvested fruits and vegetables and shared this fresh produce with community residents. Yearround our culinary education classes are the one of the most popular programs for our members.

Our Center for Wellbeing and Happiness includes a Food Farmacy, which combines food access with nutritional education. This space hosts community dinners, talks, nutrition classes, cooking demos and offers free grab-and-go healthy snacks and produce. Members learn how to prepare nutritious meals and healthy, affordable snacks.

Kate MacKenzie,

Director, Mayor’s Office of Food Policy

Jayleen

They/ She ✿ Age 25

Center for Wellbeing & Happiness Community Wellness Coordinator

Member of the Girls Club for 3 years Graduate of CUNY York College in Jamaica, Queens.

As a Girls Club member, I learned the importance of community and using my voice in addressing community needs. It is so important, especially as someone born and raised in the Lower East Side, to believe there is something for me as long as I have the courage to understand and make a difference. This is one of my main drives for pursuing social work and always using a strengths perspective in my personal and professional life.

Now I have come back to serve my community. Working at the Center For Wellbeing & Happiness allows us to provide a comfortable space for people who make this community what it is, whether they live, work or frequently visit. In my role, I am able to support them in their wellness journey in the best way they see fit.

“It’s not just the health of our bodies, it's the health of our communities. The Center is connecting wellbeing and happiness to food, which is something that is so central to the fabric of our city.”

Executive

80% of our members say they have expanded their interests through the Girls Club 86% of members felt positively challenged and encouraged to work through difficult problems 100% of members say they feel safe and supported at the Girls Club 75% of members say they are exploring their own passions, cultures, identities, and histories at the Girls Club

86% of members have become more interested in civics and political activism 100% of members say they would recommend the Girls Club to a friend 86% of members say they try new things at the Girls Club 100% of members reported leaving the Girls Club with greater career knowledge and skills

100% of members feel that their voice is heard at the Girls Club 89% of members showed meaningful gains in social emotional learning outcomes in 2022 100% of members say they meet and connect with new people at the Girls Club 89% of members say they feel more connected through their experiences and friendships at the Girls Club

Making An Impact

The Girls Club supports our members along the journey toward a life of Joy, Power and Possibility. We integrate research-based positive youth development practices that demonstrate social-emotional learning outcomes that correlate with long-term gains and increased life-long thriving. We use Hello Insight, an online learning and evaluation platform, to deploy validated tools and develop analytics. The guiding goals of our programmatic model are Empowerment; Passion and Joy; Meaningful Access to Resources; and Social Connectedness.1

Empowerment

Members strengthen social emotional capacities, demonstrating confidence, purpose, perseverance, and a solid sense of self. They can navigate the world and take action to change it.

Passion and Joy

Members thrive as they explore interests, discover and pursue their creative passions, take risks, collaborate, communicate their ideas, and fulfill their potential.

Meaningful Access to Resources

Members connect with the resources, opportunities and social support they need to heal, envision a future, and set a path forward to achieve their dreams.

Social Connectedness

Members experience solidarity and sense of belonging, strengthen social skills, build supportive peer groups, and authentically engage with staff and mentors who encourage, challenge and care.

STEM

Our STEM Labs are home to our Maker Shop, a site for hands-on engineering projects; and The East Village Planetarium, a 64-seat, 30 ft² dome where we teach earth science, astronomy, astrovisualization, and digital design. In addition to our members, 800 public school students visited the Planetarium in 2022. In September, we hosted a special community event, First Light & Early Sound, sharing images of deep space from the James Webb Space Telescope with a talk by a NASA ambassador, accompanied by live music from Galileo’s time.

Our Maker Shop has been a center for Empathetic Design, Engineering, Building and Making this year. Members have been learning and practicing tool use, through skill-building workshops. Under the guidance of our new Senior STEM Manager, Lauren Vargas, members learn (but are not limited to) fabrication with hand and power tools, 3D printing design, soldering, coding, circuit building, and design thinking.

Our in-house partners, Solar1 and Stacks+Joules, provide STEM instruction to high school students, during the school day. Solar1 leads a Green Energy and Careers class, while Stacks+Joules bridges the tech-opportunity gap with specialized curriculum in computer programming for building automation controls such as HVAC, electrical, and lighting systems. In 2023, Stack+Joules will launch workforce development training in building automation with a cohort of women at our Center for Wellbeing & Happiness

Sustainability

Through our Sustainability programming Girls Club members learn about food science, climate justice and horticulture. Our verdant Environmental Education Lab opens onto a Rooftop Farm where our members harvest hundreds of pounds of produce each year. The Rooftop Farm also serves as a vital resource for produce at our Community Food Pantry, serving food-insecure residents in the Lower East Side.

Each year, Girls Club members plant seeds and watch their work come to fruition. In Fall, participants roll up their sleeves and plant antioxidant-rich greens that thrive in cool weather. In Spring, we plant new seeds. In Summer, members harvest cucumbers, collard greens, tomatoes, and much more. Our mushroom cabinet allows us to grow, harvest and share immune-boosting mushrooms year-round. Our in-house partner Cafeteria Culture also works with us to lead classes in Environmental Education

2022 was our year of flowers! We added flowers to our rooftop farm and green spaces surrounding our facility and hosted a variety of floral-themed classes. Florists from Fox Fodder Farm taught a floral design workshop in which members created magical flower crowns and bouquets. Bloomeffects, a botanical skin-care company, led tulip planting and holistic self-care workshops.

In partnership with Lower East Side Ecology Center and Reclaimed Organics, the Girls Club became an NYC Master Composting site in 2022. Scraps from our Culinary Center, gardens, and food pantry are now composted by 100% carbon-neutral efforts. Additionally, Girls Club hosts ongoing Master Composting certification courses for community members.

Photo: Jingyu Lin

Wellness, Movement & Performing Arts

Girls Club Movement and Performing Arts programming incorporates dance, yoga, running, meditation, and stress-reduction programs. During Spring Break we held a Performing Arts intensive with workshops in West African dance, social dance, beat-making, storytelling and theater. In April, members participated in Nike x STARS CGI SelfCare Saturday, a series of online workshops that nurture mind, body and soul. In May, Team Girls Club participated in Nike's 50th Anniversary 5K run.

A cornerstone of Girls Club wellness programming is Teen Restorative Circle. These classes are designed to create a brave and safe space where teenage youth can express themselves and experience being in community. Staff cultivate a welcoming environment and facilitate open conversations around topics such as body image, self-care, sexual health, identity, social media, and decision-making.

Alphabet City Art School

Alphabet City Art School programming includes an Artist-in-Residency program, daily art classes, exhibitions, artist talks, and field trips to museums and cultural institutions. Thanks to the generous support of MetLife Foundation, among others, Alphabet City Art School provides creative offerings which encourage and guide members to collaborate, engage in the design process, and think outside the box. Our visual arts programming is ideated through a lens of joy, curiosity, and playfulness and rooted in radical imagination. Members discover their passions as they explore a wide range of mediums, working with clay, acrylic paint, watercolors, and charcoal pencils. Activities include airbrush art, mural painting, ceramics, mosaic arts, working with Risograph techniques, screenprinting, and other forms of printmaking. In addition, members learn textile art methods, including: appliqué, natural dyeing, and quilting. Beyond visual art, our Crafting classes focus on community canvas quilting, handmade jewelry and beadwork, and paper-making.

Our Design Studio for Material Arts is home to our Entrepreneurial, Sewing, and Fashion Design classes. In addition to sewing and pattern making, members learn business and marketing skills through La Tiendita, our “Fair Trade & Girl-Made” storefront in nearby Essex Market. At La Tiendita, we sell goods designed and created by Girls Club members to the general public.

This Summer, our Design classes worked with fashion designer Sarah Dawson, and designed stylish sunglasses with luxury eyewear designer Kerin Rose Gold. We repurposed fashions utilizing sensors and lighting in our Maker Shop, and used Procreate — a digital drawing and painting app — to design our own fashion lines. Members visited the Virgil Abloh Figures of Speech exhibit at Brooklyn Museum, as well as the Black Hair Experience pop-up art exhibit in Brooklyn.

In the first installment of our revamped Artist Talks Series, we hosted Djali Brown-Cepeda — the visionary behind Nuevayorkinos, a groundbreaking digital archive — who sat down with our Senior Arts Manager Sienna Fekete, for a conversation about preserving the legacies of Latinx New Yorkers through photography and storytelling.

During Pride month, we opened our doors to legendary LGBTQI+ community members and created dialogue around queer identity with our youth. In June, we showcased Ink, an exhibition of drawings by artist, designer, and lifelong Girls Club friend, Connie Fleming, in our gallery space. In the Fall, we welcomed back our Women’s Sewing Class, the first since the pandemic disrupted our community programming.

Music Technology

The Girls Club provides a the tools and a safe environment to amplify members’ voices — at the turntable and in front of the microphone. We hope to inspire teens to speak up, make some noise, and hone their skills along the way. Our Sound Studio is the home of the WGRL: Where Girl Radio Lives podcast studio, Avenue DJs, Beats by Girlz music production classes, as well as Beats and Band, which combines songwriting and performance skills. In Beats, members work with state-of-the-art equipment and learn technical skills with software such as Ableton Live. Using musical instruments, drum kits, and MIDI controllers, members record original beats and melodies. Members explore playing a variety of instruments, such as piano and guitar. Five participants completed a paid internship at HOT97. Launched in 2018, this radio journalism and social justice scholarship program enables our members to learn about broadcast journalism, editing software, and interviewing skills through the lens of social justice.

Avenue DJs performed at a variety of venues and events around NYC, including the MoMA PS1, Hester Street Fair, and ENVSN Fest

In March, WGRL participants recorded an interview at Mikey Likes It, a beloved East Village shop where the ice cream is made with love and inspiration! In May, we ventured into the field with Black Gotham Experience walking tours, learning the hidden histories and the roots of the Black experience in NYC. Listen to our WGRL episodes on any major podcast website or app. The Center for Wellbeing & Happiness expands our passion for citizen journalism, podcasting, and music with the Where Community Radio Lives (WCRL) Sound Studio. Community members can host conversations from our front window sound booth on Avenue D, as well as DJ gatherings and events. Grandparents Story Lab is one of our first WCRL program offerings, where community residents interview elders to create a podcast.

"Beats is such a fun class! You can create your own music. Our instructors are amazing and understanding people!"

—Symone, Girls Club Member

Digital Media & Production

Digital Media programming encompasses classes in digital photography, animation, storytelling, media production, and documentary film. Our high school participants immerse themselves in media and broadcasting while writing and producing The Afternoon Show, our video series inspired by late-night TV. Members work with women writers and producers of The Late Show with Stephen Colbert. In June, we celebrated Season 3 of The Afternoon Show with a red carpet premiere, performances, a Q+A, and special coverage from NY1 News. The Afternoon Show airs on Public Access TV and can be viewed on BronxNet, BRIC, and the Girls Club Vimeo page. This Summer, we hit the streets to explore and document Food & Culture throughout NYC. Among our many excursions, we visited Nom Wah Tea Parlor on Doyers Street in Chinatown to interview owner Wilson Tang, and sample the restaurant's delicious food.

Girls Club members also contributed to the Inside Out Project, a large-scale public art program developed by award-winning photographer, JR. The theme for our project was “You Are Not Alone. ” Members created portraits of their peers, families, local activists, and leaders. The portraits were printed in large scale and wheat-pasted on the facade of the Girls Club building as a public art display.

Through support from the Photoville Educator Exhibition Grant, our high school photography class worked on an exhibition “Senior Saviors,” celebrating the spirit and legacy of elders giving back to the Lower East Side community. This work culminated in public exhibition in August, installed publically at an LES NYCHA location. The installation was curated by Destiny Mata as part of the Photoville festival. Our student photographer, Chrysten, was instrumental in all stages of production: taking portraits, conducting and transcribing interviews, and editing and selecting photos.

“The simple thought of people helping out others in my community and enjoying themselves brings a sense of peace to my photography.”

— Chrysten, Girls Club Member

Leadership & Social Justice

For two years Girls Club members have investigated connections between ecology and prison abolition through Growing Abolition, a paid internship offered in partnership with MoMA PS1 and artist jackie sumell. The program has explored the guiding questions: What can plants teach us about abolition, healing, and expanding our horizons? What would a world look like in which we all have what we need, with networks of safety and support? How can we put abolition into daily practice?

Freedom to Grow traces the creative journey spurred by these questions. The interns engaged in podcast recordings, poetry writing, plantings, trips to local community gardens, tea tastings, and art-making. The youth-designed installation, Freedom to Grow, will be on exhibit at MoMa PS1, through April 3rd, 2023.

Girls Club participated in several protests and marches this year. On National Gun Violence Awareness Day, members demonstrated and handed out copies of our very own anti-gun violence zine. In the wake of the Dobbs v. Jackson decision, we marched through Lower Manhattan in support of reproductive rights. Before Election Day, we shared our “Get Out the Vote” public service announcements created by our members.

We continued to work closely with longtime partner, Know Your Rights Camp (KYRC). Founded by Colin Kaepernick and Nessa, KYRC works to advance the liberation and well-being of Black and Brown communities through education, self-empowerment, and mass-mobilization. Girls Club alumni joined the first post-pandemic KYRC conference in Las Vegas as youth ambassadors. Back at the Girls Club, we kicked off the 2022–23 school year with a KYRC backpack giveaway and a full day of leadership workshops.

Girls Club is rooted in a rich and radical history and we recognize the real work radical imagination requires. This year, in an effort to hold our anti-racist lens with integrity, staff participated in “Undoing Racism,” a training facilitated by the People’s Institute for Survival and Beyond (PISAB). PISAB is a collective of organizers and educators who lead intensive multi-day workshops designed to educate, challenge and empower participants to undo the racist structures that hinder social change. We honor PISAB as they continue to guide us on this journey through monthly convening and conversation.

College and Career Pathways + Workforce Development

Girls Club members gain meaningful employment experience, entrepreneurial training, college and career guidance, and paid internships.

Career Days are a key part of our High School programming. We visited The Public Theater, where members learned about careers in the performing arts. They explored the front of house and backstage while learning about lighting, the soundboard, set design, and props. Our corporate partners Anomaly and Tiffany & Co. also led career days at their offices.

In August, Girls Club partnered with Gap to host a creative design hackathon. Members worked in teams with Gap employees and Latinas in Tech to design a marketing campaign for La Tiendita. We connected members with mentors in the fashion industry, including: Kate Spade, H&M, La Ligne, Tiffany & Co., and the Gap. We also hosted a luncheon with Nikki Porcher, founder of Buy From A Black Woman, an organization dedicated to empowering, educating and inspiring Black women-owned businesses.

Girls Club connected high school members and alumni with 150 paid internship and mentoring opportunities in 2022.

In addition, ten alumni have been employed as Girls Club as program assistants this year.

Our Career Pathways and Workforce Development will continue to expand with the Center for Wellbeing & Happiness, where we will provide Doula certification training with Mama Glow, Green Building Automation Certification with Stacks+Joules; and professional development workshops for home child care providers in the Lower East Side.

Kate Spade NY

Magnolia Bakery Michelle Blue’s

Entrepreneurship Program

MoMA PS1 NBCUniversal Tiffany & Co.

Civic Engagement: New Girl City

Implemented to educate and activate future female leaders for NYC and beyond, our New Girl City leadership initiative brings together 70 female-identified young people (ages 14–21) from across the city to learn the symbiotic relationship between civics, public office, and social justice. New Girl City was launched in 2018 as a pilot program of localized civic engagement and youth leadership. 2022 was our fourth successful year in action. Our youth development partner organizations included: Sauti Yetu (Bronx), DreamYard (Bronx), FirstStar CSI (Staten Island), and Bard High School Early College (Queens).

Our New Girl City theme this year was “Activating our radical imagination through community, collaboration, policy.” The participants worked over several months to develop civic action projects contributing towards the goal of a just and equitable “New Girl City.” The program culminated with a “Campaign Simulation Summit” and a talk featuring author and strategist, Terri Broussard Williams.

During Women’s History Month, we celebrated the election of our majority women-led NYC Council with the unveiling of a mural created by our New Girl City participants with artist and activist Sally Rumble. The mural features all 31 NYC Councilwomen and pays tribute to the diversity of leadership in our communities. Also in March, Senator Kirsten Gillibrand visited the Girls Club for a luncheon with women leaders.

2022 NGC Participant Insights

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LEARNED…

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“You have a voice and that you should always use it for the greater good.”

“Different types of activism and gathering information, a lot about law, and the government and so much more!

“How to reach out to people in positions of power.”

“How to be a leader and create solutions.”

Alia Tejeda

They/She ✿ Age 27

Member of the Girls Club for 3 Years New York Organizer with the National Latina Institute for Reproductive Justice

What was the most valuable experience you gained from being a Girls Club member?

Girls Club provided me with an education that I wasn't getting at school. I feel like I became a better ally through the Girls Club. Back in 2011, Girls Club invited me to a Free Press Conference in Boston where I learned to be critical of the media I consumed.

How did the Girls Club influence your career path?

At the Girls Club I was surrounded by like-minded, empowered young women. I was invited to an off-Broadway production of Emotional Creature featuring Girls Club members. It was the first time I met Gloria Steinem. I have always been deeply passionate about feminism and reproductive justice and the Girls Club provided a space that nurtured my passion. I have been a clinic escort for two abortion clinics in NYC for 7 years, and a case manager with New York Abortion Access Fund. I just started my new position as New York Organizer with the National Latina Institute for Reproductive Justice. I am extremely grateful to the Girls Club for the space and opportunities they provided for me.

Mural of 31 NYC Councilwomen painted by New Girl City members, Design by artist-activist Sally Rumble

Hailey Cornelio

She/Her ✿ Age 20

Member of the Girls Club for 9 Years Student at Borough Manhattan Community College (BMCC), CUNY

Favorite part about working at Girls Club?

I get to see the girls participating in activities that I remember doing as a member. I love being a part of and giving back to the community I grew up in.

Haydee Cornelio

She/Her ✿ Age 20

Member of the Girls Club for 9 Years Planning to attend Cosmetology School.

Favorite part about working at Girls Club? Being surrounded by younger girls who all have great minds and ideas.

Eliza Owens

She/Her ✿ Age 18

Member of the Girls Club for 9 Years Student at Guttman Community College.

What has been the most valuable experience you’ve gained from being a Girls Club member?

Gaining a sisterhood and having people that care for you and look out for you.

Alana Lambertis

She/Her ✿ Age 22

Member of the Girls Club for 7 Years Graduate of SUNY Albany with a BA in Sociology and Psychology.

What was the most valuable experience you gained from being a Girls Club member?

The opportunity to participate in the Confident Futures Bi-National Study between NYU, UCLA, and the University of Amsterdam. In Confident Futures, we collaborate and conduct research with youth programs in Amsterdam and Los Angeles. Through this project I have traveled to Europe, met amazing people and learned from them. Right now I am studying evaluation practices among fem-centered youth organizations in Amsterdam in comparison with the Girls Club.

Alumni Spotlight

Darlene Pompa

She/Her ✿ Age 22

Member of the Girls Club for 9 Years Student at Baruch College, CUNY

Favorite part about working at Girls Club?

My favorite part of working for Girls Club is the community. I have been able to build amazing relationships with my mentors and now coworkers who have helped me all throughout my academic career. The most valuable experience I gained from Girls Club is learning about activism, social justice and understanding the importance of community organizing. These experiences have allowed me to find my power as a woman of color navigating a white-dominated world.

The Girls Club Staff has deep ties to the Lower East Side. Many grew up in this community and are raising children here. Currently 10 Girls Club alumni, as well as 3 mothers of our alumni, work at the Girls Club. Over 70% of staff identify as BIPOC. Our Executive Leadership Team, with Ebonie Simpson and Jenny Dembrow at the helm, is BIPOC-led. Over 150 volunteers are involved with the Girls Club.

Girls Club Staff

Kelly Adams

Mary Adams

Jeri Almonte

Ian Antoni

Sarah Batchu

Lacresha Berry

Siti Azzah Binti Syed Sultan

Allison Brooks

Jannette Brown

Lauren Burcheri

Emma Camell

Wendy Cobb

Kiera Del Vecchio

Jenny Dembrow

Lou Dembrow

Jaimé Yawa Dzandu

Sienna Fekete

Valerie Galindo

Deanna Greene

Jamila Harriott

Maya Holzman

Erikka James

LydiaAnn Jimenez

Amarilis Jimenez

Anurima Kumar

Jennifer Lee

Destiny Mata

Kevin McHugh

Mia Montalvo

Njambi Morgan

Mujahid Muhammad

Dani Murcia

Fly Orr

Valerie Polanco

Miladys Ramirez

Nancy Rosario

Shyvonne Sanganoo

Joalis Silva

Ebonie Simpson

Jennifer Sugg, PhD Bessie Taliaferro

Lenora Thornton

Ooi Lin Trieu

Lauren Vargas Kelly Webb

Italy Welton

Johanne Wilhelmsen

Girls Club Alumni Program Assistants

Abigail Argueta

Hailey Cornelio Haydee Cornelio

Lisa Fields

April Holmes

Alnacer Fortunato

Alana Lambertis Darlene Pompa Eliza Owens

Nashay Williams

Center for Wellbeing & Happiness Staff

Sarah Batchu

Kiera Del Vecchio

Jayleen Rosario

Center for Wellbeing & Happiness Instructors

Jasmine Sharpe

Roberto Sharpe

Denise Gumora

Clara Ibarra

Jenna Valette

Lorain Alba Volunteer

Carmen Perez Volunteer

Partners

Girls Club Community Partners

Beats by Girlz

Empowering the next generation of women and genderexpansive individuals through music and technology

Cafeteria Culture

Environmental Science Education

City-As School

Alternative Public High School M560

Dorill Initiative

Multi-disciplinary arts education program

Hunter-Bellevue School of Nursing

On-site nurses for private consults, training and nutrition and health education

Know Your Rights Camp

Advancing the liberation and wellbeing of Black and Brown communities through education, self-empowerment, and mobilization

LES Ecology Center

Composting services, environmental stewardship opportunities, and educational programming in the LES since 1987

MoMA PS1

Contemporary art museum in Long Island City, New York

The Moth

Non-profit dedicated to the art and craft of storytelling

Smallhold

Specialty mushroom company shortening the distance between the consumer and their food, supports Girls Club’s Mushroom Growing Cabinet.

Solar1

Green energy education and training for NYC youth

Solitary Gardens

Abolition-focused public art project with garden sites across the country

Stacks+Joules

Connecting youth with well-paying, meaningful jobs that elevate students towards certifications, degrees, and life-long advancement

The Trust for Governors Island

NYC non-profit organization responsible for the planning and operations of Governors Island

THUGG JUICE

(Transcending Health and Universally Growing Greater) Raw juice company founded by Latinx Veteran Entrepreneur, Tiffany Padilla

Bard High School Early College Queens College preparatory high school in Queens, New York

DreamYard

Arts and social justice organization in the Bronx, New York

First Star CSI

Innovative college readiness program in Staten Island, New York — College of Staten Island, CUNY

Sauti Yetu

Community organization that works with African immigrant women and families in the Bronx, New York

CWBH Program Partners

Mama Glow Foundation Black, female-founded organization supporting aspiring birthworkers, doulas, and birthing families based in Brooklyn, New York

Good Old Lower East Side, Inc. (GOLES) Lower East Side neighborhood housing and economic development organization

Neighborhood Trust Financial Partners Financial services innovator creating economic security for low-wage workers

NYC Mayor’s Office of Immigrant Affairs

Supports immigrants and their families by increasing access to city programs and recommending progressive policies

University Settlement Settlement House supporting residents of Lower Manhattan and Central Brooklyn

RISE

Nonprofit organization supporting parents' leadership to dismantle the family policing system

Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health Dr. Bob Fullilove / Program Evaluation Course

Board of Directors, The Alliance & CWBH Advisory Board

Girls Club Board of Directors

Gael Towey Co-Chair

De’Ara Balenger Co-Chair

Kimberly Aguilera Vice Chair

David Flores Wilson Treasurer Anil Dash Director

Rosario Dawson Director

Carter Emmart Director Jen Gatien Director

Keisha Golding Director

Xochitl Gonzalez Director

The Girls Club Alliance

JUNIOR BOARD EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE

Emily Frost Co-Chair

Alex Powers Co- Chair Nia Robinson Communications Chair

Sam Lach Social & Networking Chair

Kerry Aronchick PR & Partnerships Chair

Claire Malloy Member at Large

CWBH Advisory Board

Daphne Rubin-Vega

Chair

Shaheeda Abdush-Shaheed

Judith Aponte, PhD

Julissa Baez, MD

Laurie Beckelman

Natalie Brickson

Tricia Donegan

Camilo Doig-Acuna

Grete Grubelich

Aura Olavarria

Kimberley Hatchett Director

Camille Joseph-Goldman Director

Julie Lerner Director

Nexus Sea, Esq. Director Cleo Wade Director

Fallon Flemming Member at Large

Jasmine Humphrey Member at Large

Rachel Roderman Member at Large

Marion Reidel, PhD, MSW

Athanasia Syrengelas, MD, PhD

Taylor Williams, DPT

Rani Varghese

Susan Luck, RN in memoriam

Corporate, Foundation & Government Funders*

June 2021–July 2022

Corporate & Other Institutions

AllianceBernstein

Amazon Anomaly

Apple Inc. Ben & Jerry’s Bloomberg Philanthropies Catbird ConEd

David Yurman

Empress of Brooklyn LLC

The Estée Lauder Companies, Inc. FalconX

Foundrae

Gap, Inc.

Gloria DEI Lutheran Church Gucci H&M J.Crew Jimmy Jazz Kate Spade New York Kickstarter, PBC La Ligne maestra

Magnolia Bakery Maybelline New York MCM Worldwide

Meta

Morgan Stanley NBCUniversal Nessa on Air

New York University

Next Millennium Productions Nike

Oatly Salesforce

Simon & Schuster, Inc

Sincerus Advisory

Soho Ludlow House Spectrum Tangerine

Tiffany and Company

Tito’s Handmade Vodka Tom’s of Maine

Verizon Visible Foundations & Donor-Advised Funds

Anonymous

Adobe Foundation

BT Charitable Foundation

Coastal Community Foundation of SC Dick & Jan's Fix-It Fund

Donald A. Pels Charitable Trust eBay Foundation Elhapa Foundation Food Bank for New York City Grantmakers for Girls of Color J.M. Kaplan Fund

J.P. Morgan Charitable Giving Fund

Jed & Susan Isaacs Family Charitable Fund

JetBlue Foundation

Kate Spade New York Foundation

Kavanagh Family Foundation L4 Foundation

La Vida Feliz Foundation

MacMillan Family Foundation Maestro Cares Foundation MetLife Foundation

Metropolitan Council on Jewish Poverty Northern Trust Charitable Giving Program at The Chicago Community Foundation Pinkerton Foundation

Saks Fifth Avenue Foundation Schwab Charitable Fund

Silicon Valley Community Foundation Tarsadia Foundation

The Entertainment Industry Foundation

The James and Kelli Stanton Foundation

The Mary J. Hutchins Foundation

The Thomas and Agnes Carvel Foundation Walentas Family Foundation

Funders

Government

NYC Council

NYC Council Member Carlina Rivera

NYC Department of Cultural Affairs (DCLA)

NYC Department of Youth & Community Development (DYCD)

NYS Assembly Member Harvey Epstein

NYS Assembly Member Latrice Walker

NYS Child & Adult Care Food Program

NYS Council on the Arts (NYSCA)

NYS Senator Brad Hoylman

Funders who generously supported the buildout and development of the Center for Wellbeing & Happiness:

Anonymous Donor Bloomberg Philanthropies Catbird

H&M

Jed Isaacs Memorial Fund

Kate Spade New York Foundation

Maestro Cares Foundation

Manhattan Borough President Gale Brewer Maybelline New York

NYC Council Member Carlina Rivera

NYS Assembly Member Harvey Epstein

NYS Regional Economic Development Council Saks Fifth Avenue Foundation

Tarsadia Foundation

The Leonard & Robert Weintraub Family Foundation Walentas Foundation

In-Kind Donors for CWBH Design & Construction Skidmore, Owings and Merrill, LLP Arup

JB&B

Blue Dot

Climax HVAC Mechanical Corp Concrete Collaborative GFC Lighting Hilko Designs Nemo Tile + Stone RYSQ Design Sliding Door Company Solco Plumbing Supply Stonhard, Inc Girls Club Pro-Bono Partners clarkmcdowall Lawyers Alliance for New York Optimist Consulting Shearman & Sterling, LLC Seyfarth Shaw, LLP SYPartners

Joy, Power, Possibility.

All made possible by our generous network of partners and supporters. To donate by mail, please make a check or money order payable to “The Lower Eastside Girls Club” and mail to:

Lower Eastside Girls Club

Attn: Valerie Polanco 101 Avenue D, New York, NY 10009

To donate online, scan this QR code or visit: support.girlsclub.org

“But nothing less than the most radical imagination will carry us beyond this place, beyond the mere struggle for survival, to that lucid recognition of our possibilities which will keep us impatient, and unresigned to mere survival.”