The mission of Youth Enrichment Services (YES) is to inspire and challenge Boston youth with physical and mental activities that foster life-long respect for self, others, and the environment. 

Since its founding in 1968, Youth Enrichment Services (YES) has evolved into a blue-chip youth development organization with a unique three-tiered program structure that offers Boston’s urban youth a dynamic continuum of experiences as they progress through elementary, middle, and high school. More than 1,600 children and teens participate in YES’s year-round programming each year. Under the careful guidance of trained staff and over 200 trained and dedicated volunteers, youth explore new activities and opportunities, develop self-confidence, and transform into young leaders.

YES accomplishes its mission through its three-tiered Formula for Success. 

YES targets youth and teens ages 7 to 18 from Boston’s most diverse and economically challenged neighborhoods: Dorchester, Roxbury, and Mattapan. Nearly 3 out of 5 YES youth are youth of color: Black/ African American (29%), Latino/ Hispanic (17%), Multi-Ethnic (18%), and Asian (7%) and 75% of YES youth live in low-to-moderate income households. 

Major Accomplishments FY18 (July 1, 2017 – June 30, 2018):

High School Graduation – Contributed to the successful completion of high school for 100% of YES high school seniors. For the seventh year in a row, all YES high school seniors graduated and enrolled in college.

Operation Snowsports (Cross Country Ski) – Added a second session of cross-country skiing in partnership with Boston Public Schools. Youth participated in a 6 week program with consistent coaches as part of their after-school programming in January and February.

Leadership Corps - Re-organized the program into three sports-specific tracks to offer teens unique strength-building workshops in conjunction with outdoor programming (Downhill, Cross Country Ski, and Outdoor Adventure). In the summer, teens participate in similarly structured sports-based leadership programming. Leadership Corps helps teens develop critical skills to be effective, confident young leaders and team players as they learn, coach, advocate, and volunteer.

Alumni Support Program – YES launched a new program this fiscal year which measures college retention and graduation rates with YES alumni undergraduates that will strengthen long-term alumni engagement. YES staff provide quarterly “check ins” with alumni throughout their college experience.

Fundraising (Gala) - Successfully held the 8th Annual Black Diamond Gala. The event raised a record-breaking amount of more than $625,000 to benefit YES youth. Over 400 people attended.

Fundraising (50^th Anniversary) – YES celebrated its 50th anniversary this fiscal year through a series of events targeted at YES alumni.

Major Goals for FY19 (July 1, 2018 – June 30, 2019):

Outdoor Adventure and Operation SnowSports – Increase the number of youth engaged in YES’s year-round active outdoor programs – Outdoor Adventure and Operation SnowSports by 10% annually.

College Preparation – Maintain a high retention rate of students enrolled in the four-year College Prep Cohort program as they move up grade levels, with the goal of having youth complete all four years of College Prep with YES. College Prep prepares teens to become strong confident college applicants through college tours, workshops, group trainings, and 1:1 sessions on topics such as college and financial aid processes and essay writing.

Career Exploration- Increase the number of youth enrolled in the Career Exploration program. The Career Exploration program prepares Boston teens for the workforce by increasing their knowledge about career options and develop positive adult networks through career panels, guest speakers, job shadowing, and internships.

Fundraising: Strengthen fundraising efforts to support program growth, as guided by the FY 2016-2020 Strategic Plan. This includes expanding YES's major gifts program and expanding YES's annual Black Diamond Gala, to raise over $625,000.

Capital Campaign: Launch a capital campaign to raise funds for YES’s move to its new headquarters. A new headquarters will allow YES to increase the number of youth served each year.

I am honored to have served as the Executive Director of Youth Enrichment Services since 2008. It is a privilege to lead this organization through its next chapter. YES owes much to its founders, Richard and Mary Williams, who built this organization from the ground up. It is my goal, as their successor, to be a true steward of the YES mission. 

YES’s financials are in a very stable position, and the outlook is positive for short-term stability and long-term sustainability. YES’s strategic efforts to diversify the organization’s charitable funding streams are successfully underway. In addition to funding received from grants and foundations, YES also focuses on building its network of individual donors.

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YES’s ultimate goal is to provide transformative opportunities for Boston youth, ages 7 to 18, through challenging, active outdoor experiences embedded with leadership development programming. YES’s intended outcomes are that youth develop the experience, confidence and leadership skills needed to achieve, lead and excel in college, career, and life. YES facilitates social change by giving youth the tools and encouragement needed to change how they see themselves and others; to make value-driven decisions; and to interact positively with the world and all those they encounter.

YES utilizes multiple broad complementary strategies.

• Promote regular outdoor physical activity. YES inspires youth to get outside and get moving all year-round, through downhill and cross country skiing, snowboarding, track & field, rock climbing, kayaking, and biking. The Centers for Disease Control clearly outlines the benefits of being physically active, which include reducing the risk of obesity and diabetes, for which the YES target population is at risk (Health of Boston Report, 2013). YES youth routinely continue to exercise regularly.

• Foster meaningful relationships. Because of the high numbers of adult staff and volunteers involved in program delivery, YES is able to foster the development of consistent, positive, trusting relationships between youth and supportive adult staff and volunteers. Relationships with caring adults are widely recognized as being essential for youth to achieve their full potential. YES youth unfailingly say that they feel supported by their coaches and have positive interactions with adult staff and volunteers.

• Model positive social values. The YES culture reinforces positive social norms and builds improved social skills by recognizing good sportsmanship and rewarding resiliency; by setting the example that everyone in the group is valued and their participation matters; and by practicing accountability in terms of rules of behavior towards each other, their coaches and others they encounter while on the trails, mountain, water and in the community. Promotion of pro-social norms is considered to by the Institute of Medicine to be an essential feature of effective youth development programs. YES youth consistently make healthier lifestyle choices and improve their academic efforts.

• Opportunities for skills building.  In addition to teaching sport-specific skills, YES helps youth build the personal skills of goal setting and problem-solving. YES provides youth the chance to set and pursue their own goals, build on their existing strengths, and take the lead on working through challenges individually and as a group. Research clearly indicates that such skills are essential for positive youth development. YES youth consistently increase their problem-solving and goal setting skills. YES also teaches leadership, college-and-workforce readiness skills. Youth gain the tools and practical experiences needed to succeed in school, work and life through workshops, job shadowing, college tours, and one-on-one assistance. For the past seven years, 100% of the youth in the YES Academy have advanced to the next grade level and graduated high school on time and enrolled in college.

• Facilitate Access & Inclusion.  Low-income youth and youth of color are faced with inadequate access to quality educational and workforce development opportunities and limited meaningful out-of-school programs, with less than half having access to such programs (Boston Indicators Report, 2012). By keeping programs low-to-no cost, YES offers youth opportunities that most would not otherwise have. 

• Provide physical and psychological safety. Many YES youth live in high crime areas, so it is essential that they feel safe when they are with YES. Practices and activities are held at high quality and well managed facilities, using quality equipment and developmentally appropriate training from certified coaches. Emotional safety is promoted by focusing on the overall well-being of the child and from utilizing a positive risk taking approach: encouraging youth to try something new that they might not be initially good at, and supporting them to keep trying. Literature supports the importance of safety and YES has an excellent record on this measure, with youth routinely reporting feeling safe with YES.

YES has the necessary experienced staff, robust development efforts, strong community partnerships and well-developed volunteer infrastructure.

Senior Leadership:

Bryan Van Dorpe, Executive Director, joined YES in 2008. Prior to joining YES, he worked at South Boston Neighborhood House for 24 years. As Executive Director there, he oversaw a decade of substantial growth including a budget that nearly doubled, a capital campaign and additional facilities, new programming initiatives and expanded collaborations. Jamie Burch, Director of Development, has been with YES since 2011. She is a results-driven fundraising professional with 15 years of experience and is skilled at building development programs from the ground up and growing fundraising revenue. Jamie has expertise in development planning, donor cultivation and stewardship and in small development shops. Shiona DeCarvalho, Director of Impact and YES Academy, joined YES in 2013 with experience working with youth in Mexico and Boston. She has spent several years educating young people about India, taking students abroad and received the Boston Celtic’s A Hero Among Us Award for her efforts. Prior to joining YES Shiona was the teen director for the Boys & Girls Clubs of Boston. With a background in program development and measurements, Shiona expanded YES's efforts in measuring outcomes for all of its programs. Laura Neubauer, Director of Programs & Operations, joined YES in 2010 and has over 8 years of progressively increasing responsibility in youth development, teaching, and leadership development. Before working at YES, Laura was an Adjunct Instructor for the Theatre Department at Northeastern University, Bridgewater State University, and College of Southern Nevada. Laura holds a Master's degree in Playwriting from the University of Nevada - Las Vegas and a BFA from the University of Utah. Hema Kailasam, Finance Manager, joined YES in 2018. Hema began her career as an Investment Banker in New York City. Since returning to Boston, she has been working with small businesses to support their financial and administrative needs. Hema holds a Bachelor of Arts in Asian Studies from Dartmouth College and Masters of Science in Finance from Boston College.

Development Capacity:

YES is prioritizing donor relationships and the establishment of a major gifts program. The Black Diamond Council, which is made up of 15 influential leaders in the YES community, leveraged their personal networks and helped to raise over $625,000 through YES's 8th Annual Black Diamond Gala.

The YES 2018 Black Diamond Gala brought in more than $625,000 - nearly double what it raised in 2014. The YES Young Professionals Committee, which plans quarterly after-work social networking events to engage millennials in philanthropy, is continuing to grow in effectiveness, as does YES's Alumni Circle which is chaired by YES Trustee, Mark Williams - the son of YES's founder.

Community Partnerships:

The ability to successfully collaborate is one of YES’s greatest strengths. YES partners with more than 150 organizations.

For the Operation SnowSports, YES partners with many mountains, including Blue Hills Ski Area, Ski Butternut, Cranmore Mountain Resort, Jiminy Peak, Killington Mountain, Loon Mountain, Nashoba Mountain, Pat's Peak, Pico Mountain, Sugarbush Mountain, Sugarloaf Mountain, Wachusett Mountain, and Waterville Valley Ski Resort.

For the Outdoor Adventure Programs, YES partners widely with Massachusetts Department of Parks and Recreation to access the harbor islands in Boston as well as to access outdoors activities in the Berkshires. YES partners with SONAS Stand-up Paddle Boarding, Carson Beach, Quincy Quarries Rock Climbing, Charles River Canoe & Kayak, USA Track & Field, Boston Parks Department, AMC Beartown Forest, Greater Boston Trout Unlimited, Womputuck State Park, and many others.

The four-season Track & Field program at YES partners with Boston English High School, the Boston Parks Department, the Boston Athletic Association, USA Track & Field-New England, the Massachusetts Track and Field Officials Association, and Blackstone Community Center.

Job shadowing takes place at partners including Cantina, Citi, and Putnam Investments. YES works with a large variety of organizations to connect with youth, including the YMCA, Boys & Girls Clubs, and Boston Public Housing.

Volunteers:

The 200+ adult volunteers are essential to YES’s ability to fulfill its mission.Volunteers are instructors and coaches; provide mentorship, job shadowing, speak at panels, and lead workshops. Volunteering is a major part of the YES culture: they increase capacity and model this value for YES youth.

YES’s goal is to gain a comprehensive picture of the youth being served and the positive changes that can be directly attributed to their involvement in YES programs, including changes in self-perception, development of specific skills, related improvement in school, and overall satisfaction with the program. To do this, YES conducts pre and post-surveys with youth in all programs, using both traditional “paper and pencil” surveys and web-based surveys. Data is also gathered from registration forms and school documents. Anecdotal testimonies are gathered through reflection journaling and youth interviews. In addition, surveys are conducted with parents who are asked about their satisfaction with the program and about the impact they observe the program having on their child. Supervisors provide observation and evaluation feedback. The numbers of returning youth, high school graduates and college enrollees are also documented.

All surveys encourage the respondent to add in their own comments so YES can hear what’s working or not working well about the program. For example, feedback from youth in Operation SnowSports directly factored into YES's decision to continue building out its YETTI (Youth Excel Through Tailored Instruction) program. YETTI gives youth the opportunity to ski or snowboard four times throughout the winter with the same group of youth and instructor. By offering two tracks of the program, youth have a greater opportunity to participate in the program.

Success is defined and measured against established outcome objectives for each program, which are intended to measure the program’s positive influence on health and development, including making better lifestyle and academic choices, as well as the development of skills. Evaluation results are shared with program staff and the organization’s leaders, including the Program Committee of the Board of Directors. YES routinely incorporates the lessons learned from its evaluation efforts to refine its programs and approach to service delivery. For example, attendance-taking alerts staff to any youth who might be struggling and provides insight into which activities are the most and least popular and why.

A sample of FY18 outcomes demonstrate the positive impact YES has on youth. YES is especially proud to say that for the past seven years, 100% of youth in the YES Academy have graduated high school on time and enrolled in college.

Over the past two years, YES has been focused on achieving its strategic goals as outlined in the 2016 - 2020 Strategic Plan. By 2020, YES aims to: integrate college, career, and life readiness elements in all outdoor programming; double the number of youth served in Tiers 2 and 3; and undertake a capital campaign to secure a new facility.

To that end, YES adapted its Leadership Curriculum in 2018 by merging its former stand-alone Tier 3 Career Exploration and College Prep programs into the existing Tier 3 Leadership Corps. YES will offer three Leadership Corps concentrations: leadership development, college preparation, and career readiness. Teens ages 13-18 can enroll in all three. Tier 3 classes will no longer be offered off-site as less than 5% of youth served off-site further engaged with YES. The goals for all three concentrations are that teens will develop transferable career/college/leadership skills.

The revised Leadership Corps model will result in an increase in the number of youth engaged with YES over time. In 2018, YES engaged over 1,000 youth in Tiers 2 and 3 (an estimated 800 youth in Tier 2 and an estimated 200 teens in Tier 3). Due to space constraints, growth of these numbers are limited. YES aspires to continue growing this number in future years

Ultimately, YES’s development and capacity-building strategies, combined with a new facility, will enable YES to serve more youth at its headquarters and spur even more growth.