New Heights 2019 Annual Report

from New Heights 2019 Annual Report

New Heights ANNUAL REPORT: 2019

Creating Opportunities

There is no denying the power basketball has to inspire youth to dream big. But turning big dreams into big impact is a tremendous challenge; a challenge made even more difficult when personal circumstances present additional barriers. At New Heights, we combine basketball coaching with academic support so that student-athletes develop the leadership and life skills they need to successfully overcome these challenges and achieve remarkable things.

Thanks to the generous support of the New Heights family and tireless efforts of the New Heights staff, over the past year we’ve continued to show our student-athletes how sports can open the door to educational and life opportunities. Our staff provided hundreds of hours of individual support, including tutoring, test prep, high school and college advisement, career guidance and other resources that are often out of reach for lower income families. It’s a strategy that works. 100% of our New Heights student-athletes were promoted to the next grade level, including 100% of eighth graders who were placed in college preparatory high schools and 100% of seniors who graduated high school and matriculated to higher education.

Like our student-athletes, New Heights is now looking toward the future. We have an opportunity that will be game changing for not only the hundreds of boys and girls currently in our program, but also thousands more New York City youth and families. We’re excited to announce that in 2021, we will move to a new state-of-the-art home facility in Brooklyn that will feature three full-sized basketball courts, administrative offices, classrooms and a computer lab. New Heights will expand our programming to serve exponentially more youth through new and enhanced services. We hope you’ll join New Heights on this exciting journey to our new home.

As you read the pages that follow, we encourage you to think about the importance of opportunity. Please know that your support creates opportunities for our student-athletes. Opportunities are not distributed equally in New York City, but New Heights believes that every young person deserves a shot at success, regardless of where they come from. On behalf of everyone at New Heights, thank you being a champion of our work and creating life changing opportunities.

In appreciation,

Mark Patricof, Board Chairman and Ted Smith, Executive Director

Mission

New Heights is a 501(c)3 educational non-profit based in New York City. Our mission is to educate and empower promising inner-city youth to be leaders, champions and student-athletes by developing the skills necessary for success in high school, college and life.

Vision

All young athletes will have the values and skills necessary to become leaders in their communities and succeed in life beyond sports.

Impact

For nearly 15 years, we’ve maintained a 100% high school graduation rate for our student-athletes, a 98% college matriculation rate and an over 75% college graduation rate.

Value

New Heights has helped secure over $58 million in scholarships and financial aid for our student-athletes.

Target

NYC youth ages 9-21 from socioeconomically disadvantaged backgrounds who have a passion for basketball.

**New Heights 15U: Jaiden Williams**
Photo: Ben Berry

Programs

Each of the initiatives under the College Bound umbrella have been designed to target the specific needs of our elementary, middle and high school student-athletes. Together these initiatives work as a continuum of services to help student-athletes stay on track for grade promotion, and make it to and through college.

The College Bound program is comprised of the following two overarching elements:

BASKETBALL is the hook that engages our studentathletes, and the court is a classroom that promotes teamwork, leadership and life skills. New Heights fields 19 teams that compete locally and regionally, and in some cases, nationally.

ACADEMIC SUPPORT ensures that our youth reach the benchmarks required to advance in school, graduate, and matriculate to and through college.

The combination of basketball and academic support permeates each of College Bound’s service categories:

HIGH SCHOOL ASSIST helps our fourth through eighth graders succeed in elementary/middle school and leverages that success to gain admission to college preparatory high schools. Services include: test prep, high school visits, financial aid workshops, and individualized counseling.

COLLEGE ASSIST provides our high school studentathletes with the individual support necessary to gain admission to top colleges and universities. Services include SAT/ACT prep, college visits, financial aid workshops, life skills development and NCAA recruiting and eligibility guidance.

CAREER ASSIST is our college completion initiative for New Heights alumni, and provides student-athletes with support and guidance to navigate and graduate college. Services include: mentorship, course/major selection, resume building, financial literacy, interview skills, internship assistance and career exposure.

SUMMER ACADEMY develops our students’ academic, athletic and leadership skills through a full-day, sixweek program for rising fifth-ninth graders. Academic programming is focused on improving hard skills, while promoting the New Heights values of Teamwork, Respect, Effort and Excellence (TREE).

**New Heights Summer Academy**
Photo: Ben Berry

2019 Stats

New Heights serves student-athletes, ages 9-21, primarily from underserved New York City neighborhoods.

304 student-athletes in College Bound

84% qualify for college PELL grants

71% qualify for free or reduced lunch

61% African-American

13% Latino

14% Multi-Racial

12% Caucasian

50% Female

50% Male

43% 4th - 8th Grade

29% 9th - 12th Grade

28% Higher Education

Changing the Game

When we join forces, our efforts to prepare young people for high school, college and career success become stronger. That was the spirit displayed at the 3rd annual GameChangers Ball this past October at the Edison Ballroom. The evening brought together over 300 New Yorkers to celebrate New Heights’ critical and successful programming for student-athletes in New York City, including honorees Michele Roberts, Executive Director of the National Basketball Players Association, and Justin Tuck, Vice President at Goldman Sachs and former NY Giant. The evening was full of memorable moments, including the heartfelt speech given by Roshard Bryant who received the Alumni GameChangers Award.

**Gamechangers Ball 2019: Alumni Honoree Roshard Bryant**
Photo: Brent Eysler

**Gamechangers Ball 2019: Honoree Michele Roberts**
Photo: Brent Eysler

New Heights deeply appreciates the commitment of everyone who attended or supported this special event. Together, we raised more than $1 million to help turn the college and career dreams of our student-athletes into reality through College Bound.

The GameChangers Ball is only one of the ways New Heights engages the larger New York City community in our efforts. The MADNESS event in March and our charity golf tournament in July raised funds and awareness, but the Shoot-a-thon Team Challenge – led by our student-athletes and their families – is a favorite at New Heights. For the 6th straight year, the New Heights community came out in force to raise more funds than the year before – an impactful $175,000, all of which went directly to our College Bound program to support our student-athletes.

**Gamechangers Ball 2019: Honoree Justin Tuck**
Photo: Brent Eysler

SUCCESS

The New Heights community is comprised of amazing individuals from diverse backgrounds and varying experiences.

Nishi Tavernier

Nishi Tavernier was born and raised in the Bronx. She joined New Heights in middle school and with support from New Heights, she attended the Bronx High School of Science. She then enrolled at Washington University in St. Louis. She played on the basketball team and was a member of the 2010 NCAA DIII women’s basketball national championship team. She received her B.S. in Mechanical Engineering and M.S. in Aerospace Engineering.

After graduation, Nishi worked for Accenture as a Senior Digital Analyst. She is currently in her final year as a Law student at UPenn, and is actively involved in the school community – she serves as the President of Lambda, the Vice President of Black Law Student Association (BLSA), and as an Associate Editor for the Journal of Constitutional Law. She has already secured a job when she graduated at the law firm of Morrison & Foerster.

Nishi was also honored at our MADNESS’19 event with the New Heights Student-Athlete Alumni Award.

New Heights is my family, my foundation, home base and support system. The program will always remain dear to my heart because it has provided me with the ultimate gift by giving me an overspill of love and knowledge, allowing me to share that with others.

Years with New Heights: 14

High School: Bronx High School of Science

College: Washington University in St. Louis, B.S. in Mechanical Engineering (‘13), M.S. in Aerospace Engineering (‘14), University of Pennsylvania Law School (‘20)

Future Employer: Morrison & Foerster (in 2020

Dajuan Piper

Dajuan has been part of New Heights since fifth grade, and he has shown himself to be a true student-athlete and leader. Dajuan attended the Dwight School where he was a member of the varsity basketball team as an eighth grader. He was a three-year captain of the team and led Dwight to three state championships. After excelling on and off the court, Dajuan graduated from Dwight in 2019 and matriculated to Bowdoin College in Maine. He plans to major in Economics with a minor in Government and Legal Studies.

New Heights has provided me with a foundation for all the essential life characteristics to become the most effective and successful individual I can be.

Years with New Heights: 9

High School: The Dwight School

College: Bowdoin College

New Heights Class of 2019

Dominique Nute

Dominique returns for her second stint at New Heights. Previously, she was the coach of our 6th grade girls team. She is currently the Co-Girls Program Director, overseeing nine girls teams. A former middle school teacher in the Bronx, Dominique is also the founder and school leader at the Stradford Preparatory Charter School for Boys, which will be opening next September in the Bronx.

I came back to New Heights because this is where I started coaching AAU 5 years ago. I saw it was a great opportunity to take an already successful program to the next level. I was always impressed with how New Heights addressed the person and the player. It’s a program that has always taken the term “student-athlete” seriously and as an educator and a coach it was in alignment with my philosophy for kids as well. Additionally, I see how much effort is put in to availing boys and girls of all socioeconomic backgrounds the opportunity to travel across the country and compete and experience things through sports that they may never have had the chance to do otherwise.

Years with New Heights: 2 Role: Co-Girls Program Director College: Illinois Urbana-Champaign Graduate School: Columbia University

A love for basketball brings young people to New Heights initially. But they soon learn that New Heights is far more than just basketball. Our holistic approach to youth sports – using the court and the classroom to prepare student-athletes to be leaders in their communities – is a strategy that has allowed us to make a deep impact on the lives of New Heights studentathletes.

New Heights By the Numbers

ON THE COURT

in 2018-2019

19 New Heights teams (10 boys teams, 9 girls teams)

7 boys Division 1 commitments in the Class of 2019

6 girls Division 1 commitments in the Class of 2019

1 McDonald’s All-American (Precious Achiuwa)

79 alums currently playing college basketball

IN THE CLASSROOM

Since 2005

100% high school graduation rate

98% college matriculation rate

78% college completion rate

348 graduates have matriculated to college

$58M in scholarship/financial aid awarded to student-athletes

Teaming Up

AT SUMMER ACADEMY

This year New Heights collaborated with CUNY’s award-winning Creative Arts Team (CAT) to create and deliver Summer Academy programming designed to improve students’ critical thinking and verbal communication and listening skills as well as reinforce the socialemotional aspects of our year-long programming T.R.E.E. Values – Teamwork, Respect, Effort and Excellence. CAT challenged students to collaborate in an unfamiliar setting as they learned the fundamentals of drama and improvisation. In addition, we partnered with the Loyola School in Manhattan again to host the program and with E3Sports to provide strength and conditioning for all of the Summer Academy attendees.

WITH THE FOOD BANK FOR NEW YORK CITY

New Heights had a new partner this year for our community service project, the Food Bank For New York City. All of our high school teams spent an afternoon helping load up leftover fruit, vegetables and bread onto Food Bank carts and trucks to be distributed to families in need and to be turned into delicious meals to be prepared the following day. We teamed up to give back to the community and teach our student-athletes the importance of helping others.

WITH UCONN HOOPS

Our annual middle school trip once again took us to Storrs, CT for an informative day of college exposure and basketball. Our students were able to watch the UConn Men’s basketball team compete, meet with alum Sid Wilson (a member of the UConn team) and speak to Assistant Coach and former New Heights Athletic Director, Kimani Young. The girls and boys also got a behind-the-scenes tour of the practice facility and locker rooms.

AT SUFFIELD ACADEMY

For the second year in a row, we brought our middle school program to beautiful Windsor, CT, and Suffield Academy for the “Week Away” component of our Summer Academy. Forty-four student-athletes took part in a variety of activities, including ceramics and science experiment classes, living in dorms, eating in the student dining hall and, of course, plenty of basketball! This year, we incorporated our high school transition week at Suffield for our rising 9th graders as well.

Financials

New Heights continues to be supported by a generous and diverse set of donors. Our Board of Directors provides tremendous leadership and is a driving force behind our fundraising and fiscal management efforts. In FY19, our Board led by example again, providing 100% Board Giving. Our team also continued to operate efficiently and effectively this past year to help ensure our sustainability and maximum program impact.

After the success of our 10 Year Anniversary gala in FY16, we shifted our fundraising model, and launched our GameChangers Ball at the start of FY18. Since then, our fundraising efforts have seen steady growth. Over the past two years, New Heights has raised over $5M to fund our College Bound program and impact youth and families across NYC. To begin FY20, our 3rd annual GameChangers Ball also raised over $1M to support our programming. Thanks to everyone’s amazing support, we are in a solid financial position and poised for major growth.

2019 REVENUE ANALYSIS

Foundation and Corporate Contributions: $616,478

Fundraising Events: $1,290,754

Individual and Board: $364,428

Program Revenue & Interest: $44,584

In-Kind Contributions: $618,983

TOTAL: $2,935,227

2019 EXPENSE ANALYSIS

Program (72%): $2,018,580

Administration (9%): $245,699

Fundraising (19%): $544,328

TOTAL: $2,808,607

FOUR-YEAR FINANCIAL ANALYSIS

FY19 Revenue: $2.9M // FY19 Expense: $2.8M

FY18 Revenue: $2.3M // Expense: $2.3M

FY17 Revenue: $1.7M // Expense: $1.9M

FY16 Revenue: $2.3M // Expense: $2.0M

-These represent unaudited FY19 numbers. -Functional revenue and expenses include the impact of Brooklyn Bound campaign and donated services.