Alan Khazei

Alan Khazei has pioneered ways to empower young people to make a difference. In 1987, as a young graduate from Harvard Law School, he co-founded a nonprofit organization called City Year with his Harvard college freshman roommate Michael Brown. City Year unites young adults ages 17-24 from all backgrounds for an intensive year of full-time community service mentoring, tutoring, and educating children. It served as the model and inspiration for President Clinton’s AmeriCorps program and now operates in 20 U.S. cities and Johannesburg and London.

In June 2003, when AmeriCorps faced a drastic funding cut, Alan joined with other service leaders to organize the “Save AmeriCorps” coalition, an effort that led to an increase of $100 million dollars. Inspired by the success of the Save AmeriCorps campaign, in 2007, Alan launched Be the Change, Inc., a nonprofit that creates national issue based campaigns by organizing coalitions of non-profits, social entrepreneurs, policymakers, private sector leaders, academics, and citizens. In 2009, ServiceNation, the first campaign to be launched from this platform, played a key role in the enactment of the strongly bi-partisan Edward M. Kennedy Serve America Act. In 2010, Be the Change, Inc., launched its second campaign, OpportunityNation in an effort to fight poverty and create opportunity in America.

Alan has served on the boards of leading national non-profits and has received numerous awards, including the Reebok Human Rights Award, the Jefferson Award for Public Service, and the Schwab Foundation Social Entrepreneur Award. In 2006, US News and World Report named him one of America’s “25 Best Leaders.” Alan is also the author of the book, Big Citizenship: How pragmatic idealism can bring out the best in America. Alan lives in Brookline, Massachusetts with his wife, Vanessa Kirsch, and their two children.

Elizabeth Borghesani

Elizabeth Borghesani is one of the founding members of the Anne E. Borghesani Community Foundation. In March, 1990 Anne, Elizabeth’s daughter, was brutally murdered by a stranger as she walked from her apartment to the Metro in Arlington, Virginia. She was planning to meet friends to celebrate her 23rd birthday. To commemorate the tenth anniversary of Anne’s death, her friends and family gathered at a Celebration of Hope at the Museum of Our National Heritage on April 8, 2000 to have a community celebration to honor Anne’s life and legacy. From this event was born “In Anne’s Spirit” the Anne E. Borghesani Community Foundation. The foundation is dedicated to reducing the incidence and effects of violence by promoting the development of healthy children and families and to providing scholarships that encourage personal growth through community involvement.

In addition, Elizabeth Borghesani was instrumental in the establishment of the Garden of Peace: A Memorial to Victims of Homicide. Before the Garden of Peace was created, it was only a dream of family members and friends of homicide victims. However, through the dedicated work of a broad coalition of individuals, service groups, and support from both local and state government, the Garden became a reality. The first Massachusetts memorial of its kind to homicide victims, the Garden is a living testament to the needs to eliminate violence.

Parcel 24 Clean-Up
Parcel 24  is going to be the site of the next affordable housing development in Chinatown, but it needs a quick clean-up. Join PBHA-A to pitch in! Included in this day of service is a short walking tour of Chinatown lead by Vivien Wu ’08, who will point out the housing and green-space/urban space issues in the downtown area.

Volunteer Opportunity — Sierra Club Boston Inner City Outings
Upcoming new volunteer orientation meetings: April 17, July 17, October 16 – from 7 to 8pm
Held at Sierra Club Chapter Office, 10 Milk Street #632, Boston. Use 294 Washington St. entrance. [DIRECTIONS: All four subway lines have stops within a five-minute walk (Green: Government Center; Red: Downtown Crossing; Blue & Orange: State Street) and there is a parking garage one-half block away on Washington Street.]

Sierra Club Inner City Outings (ICO) is a community outreach program that provides opportunities for urban youth and adults to explore, enjoy and protect the natural world.  It provides safe, fun, and educational outdoor experiences to youth that would not otherwise have access to these opportunities. Join us for a new volunteer orientation. It is required for all new volunteers, and is a great way to learn more about ICO activities and our mission of bringing kids outside. After the orientation, you’ll be able to participate in upcoming trips with kids as suits your schedule– no ongoing time commitment.  We especially welcome volunteers who match the varied ethnic and racial diversity of the kids we serve. For more info on the organization, photos, and sample trip reports: www.bostonico.org, or contact Rucker Alex ’99, Chair, bostonico@gmail.com

The Phillips Brooks House Association is preparing for its 9th Annual SUP Auction, an event to be held Tuesday, April 24th, from 5:30-8:30pm in the Cambridge Queen’s Head Pub. Each year proceeds from the auction go directly towards supporting PBHA’s Summer Urban Program (SUP), a network of 12 student-run summer camps which benefit over 800 children in Boston and Cambridge. The event is a silent auction followed by a live auction which usually earns $50,000-$70,000 and attracts approximately 300 Harvard faculty, alumni, and affiliates.

PBHA is a student-run, community-based nonprofit public service organization based on the Harvard campus. It runs 86 programs engaging 1,400 college students in year-round public service in the areas of youth development, housing and homelessness, adult services, ESL, advocacy, and out-of-school time programming. For more than a century PBHA programs have provided vital experiences for generations of leaders in service and activism while developing real, meaningful community partnerships. PBHA strives to create change on multiple levels in Boston and Cambridge. With professional staff support and advice, PBHA is a unique manifestation of college students’ idealism, energy, and initiative.

The idea of having an auction originated with PBHA’s former Executive Director, Gene Corbin, as a means of providing revenue to run PBHA’s largest program. Each year SUP employs approximately 150 college students and 100 high school counselors from within the community, requiring significant time, planning and resources which account for approximately 40% of PBHA’s overall budget.

Items at the auction range from quirky, one-of-a-kind experiences to all-inclusive vacation packages. According to Charlene Lee, the student leader responsible for running this year’s auction, this year’s event is shaping up to be better than ever: “We expect increased SUP information and spirit at the event, a jazzy party, and a different program!”

Despite the excitement surrounding the auction, it is impossible to forget the auction’s purpose. Not your average summer camp, SUP’s true accomplishment is its comprehensive impact on the Boston and Cambridge communities. Each of the 12 camps is structured into mornings of curricular, classroom-based enrichment and afternoons of field trips in and around Boston, helping to fight summer learning loss among children. SUP was recognized for its role in summer education by receiving the National Summer Learning Association’s 2011 Excellence in Summer Learning Award last year. A comprehensive evaluation revealed that 85% of ESL campers showed improved scores after a summer, and over 80% of parents reported improved reading, writing, and math skills in their children after attending the camps.

One of the most essential and unique elements of the Summer Urban Program is its community partnership: teens who are often former campers are hired as junior or senior counselors and directors, providing much-needed jobs for youth. Furthermore, parents and community leaders both contribute to the functioning of the program, as many camps have been operating in their neighborhoods for decades. According to Daphne Griffin, Chief of Human Services for the City of Boston and Executive Director of Boston Centers for Youth & Families, “The Summer Urban Program does an excellent job addressing two critical issues in Boston during the summer months; summer learning loss and the need for meaningful youth employment.”

Sam Chen, a current SUP director, is one of many examples of the program’s positive and far-reaching effects on the community. At age 15, Sam applied to be a SUP junior counselor after hearing about the program through some friends who were campers of Chinatown Adventure (CHAD), one of SUP’s 12 camps. Five years later, he is now a Director of CHAD, and claims the impact of SUP on the Chinatown community is “too big to put into words.” When asked how the experience has affected his life, he responded “SUP has changed me by making me more aware of the urban issues that surround our communities. I never really thought about it before, but after doing SUP, I’ve begun to really think about how and what I can do to help my community. Since participating in SUP, I have begun to volunteer more and more, hoping the work I do will bring the community one step closer towards social justice.”

Needless to say, SUP also has an immense impact on the Harvard community as well. Often considered “the best course at Harvard,” student directors insist that the experience is unique, challenging, and incredibly rewarding. According to Victor Flores ‘13, who is in his second year working with SUP: “At times, the responsibilities and work that comes with SUP can be stressful and frustrating. However, it is a privilege which I truly appreciate to have the opportunity to work alongside amazing people who constantly challenge me in ways that allow for larger positive impacts on the campers.”

The spirit of the Summer Urban Program is best captured by Daphne Griffin: “As Chief of Human Services for the City of Boston, I would love to see more programs like SUP. Having students and community members come together to provide an enriching educational experience to our city’s youth is an invaluable resource. We are lucky to have this kind of large-scale initiative in Boston and I am proud to support SUP’s efforts.” Reflective of the program it supports, the SUP Auction is a large-scale, creative, and collaborative effort driven by the same passion for service as the program itself.

Those of us here at PBHA are excited to announce the launch of our new Facebook Timeline to capture and communicate our long and exceptional history. From the very beginning, we have been dedicated to improving society, challenging the status quo, and striving for social justice. We have been through two world wars, the great depression, the civil rights movement, and many more challenges and triumphs that have shaped our world and our organization. We have adapted, and we have changed, yet those of us involved with PBHA, no matter our diverse backgrounds, remain connected for a lifetime. As Victoria Rivera, PBHA President in 1986 explains, “What we see here at PBHA is the coming together of that diversity into a common interest in volunteering.” We are brought together through our desire to do good, to change the social inequities that exist in our society—to make a difference. This is a bond that does not weaken, no matter how far we travel from the Phillips Brooks House.

Our Facebook timeline will be a continuing project as we fill in our long history with milestones, pictures, and memories. Please take a look at our current timeline, and submit your memories and photos to timeline@pbha.org.

“Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly. I can never be what I ought to be until you are what you ought to be. This is the interrelated structure of reality.” -Martin Luther King, Jr.

To PBHA community & friends:

PBHA is a life-changing organization. I am humbled and excited to serve in my new role as PBHA’s Class of 1955 Executive Director because, like many of you, I have experienced this to be true first hand. It is life changing every time a guest at the Harvard Square Homeless Shelter is treated with dignity. It is life changing in those countless moments of revelation when children learn something new and inspiring about themselves or the world through our mentoring programs. It is life changing when the solidarity efforts of a few college students impact the working and living conditions of our janitors or security guards. It is life changing when a refugee teenager who worked in the Summer Urban Program is accepted to college on full scholarship. And it is life changing when an elderly woman who felt forgotten by the world knows that someone sees her worth. These are the moments that define PBHA and in turn transform those of us who as students and staff have had the privilege to experience them.

And yet, when what our organization does is life-changing, it is especially important that PBHA never gets too comfortable in what we’re doing or loses the call of improvement and innovation that pushes us to be better. In fact, over my 13 years on staff with PBHA, I’ve often shared that one of the benefits of working at a student-led organization is that the students make sure that we never stop dreaming about how we can improve. As Executive Director, I am committed to support PBHA’s dreaming over the next few years and invite our community past and present to hold me to that and join in on the discussion.

In the next years, we are looking to several strategic priorities that will strengthen PBHA and the quality of our work. We are committed to deepening our level of community engagement, increasing collaboration among programs to better coordinate services, and collectively supporting the social justice efforts of our partners. PBHA looks forward to building stronger connections among our Alumni and current students through opportunities for shared learning and reflection. We are dedicated to improving the quality of services through strengthened performance management and institutional memory systems made possible by improved technology. And finally, PBHA seeks to build on our legacy of developing leaders committed to a life-time of positive social change through meaningful service experiences, quality training and reflection, and opportunities for post-graduate service experiences.

I know that as the Class of 1955 Executive Director, I am the trustee of a common commitment to the values and vision of Phillips Brooks House Association that so many have contributed to and advanced in remarkable ways over the years. Our ability to continue those life-changing moments will only be as strong as all of us supporting our shared mission “at Harvard and beyond” and I look forward to our working together.

Yours in service,

Maria Dominguez Gray