This June marked New Leaf’s 15 year anniversary—a milestone that feels especially significant considering how challenging the last 2 years have been. We made it!
I often catch myself still thinking of us as a newer organization and realized that one of the reasons I do this is that, despite the fact that we’ve amassed a lot of knowledge and experience over the years, we’re always evolving, always continuing to learn, staying curious about what’s needed and how we can do better.
I recently did an interview where I mentioned that I feel New Leaf has been founded more than once, and I really believe this. We’ve changed so much over 15 years and overall have become a very different organization than we were when we first started. There have been so many people who have made such significant impressions on who we are, challenging us to always ensure we’re centering the agency and empowerment of young people, making sure we’re staying engaged with community, building an organization that’s grounded in our values.
There are far too many to name here, and I hope each person who’s worked with us—whether a program facilitator or participant, donor, program partner, staff, or volunteer—knows how much we appreciate them.
But I’d like to take a moment to specifically mention some of our long-term team members who’ve played particularly significant roles in shaping who we are today: Shaka Licorish (Board Chair), Julia Gibran (former Educational Director), Felicia Ross (founding Director), Nicole Madison (Operations Director), jamilah malika (training faculty), Cherilyn Scobie (former Board Director) and Rochelle Miller (Teaching Coordinator). I’d also like to pay a special tribute to our longest-term donor, Donald Ross, for believing in us before we’d really done much at all, and standing by us over so many years and all the iterations of our work. Not everyone can see a vision before it becomes reality, but Mr. Ross did.
This upcoming year, we’ll be celebrating and acknowledging our work, our team and the communities we engage in lots of different ways, starting with an intimate party with stakeholders this summer and followed by the launch of an exciting campaign in September that will help build community and inspire support for our work. Stay tuned for details! Our hope is to create even more connection—an especially potent aim after the increased isolation many have felt over the last many months.
For now, sending out gratitude for all of your support.
Here’s to what’s come before and what’s still to come!
Laura Sygrove
Executive Director