LEAP fundraiser attendees.
Leadership, Education and Athletics in Partnership, Inc. (LEAP) held its 27th annual LEAP Year Event, a fundraiser that brought supporters that care about New Haven’s children together.
The celebration raised over $320,000 to support LEAP’s transformative programming for young people and brought together more than 530 philanthropic donors, business owners, and community leaders locally, in New Haven homes, and from abroad.
Dinner tickets provided $6,000 toward supporting New Haven’s restaurant industry, including Sandra’s Next Generation, RAWA, and Caffe Bravo. The bid-down donation auction during the virtual reception, hosted by Executive Director Henry Fernandez, surpassed its goal of $20,000 in less than 15 minutes.
LEAP is an academic and social enrichment program providing mentoring for children, teens and young adults, ages 7 to 24. For nearly three decades, LEAP has inspired and supported transformational growth in the lives of young people in New Haven’s African American and Latinx low-income communities. In 2021, LEAP also began managing programming and operations for the new Dixwell Q House in partnership with the City of New Haven.
During the pandemic, LEAP spearheaded a flexible approach that continued to support the children they serve. In the past year, they built a management partnership with the new Q House, a historic community center serving the Dixwell neighborhood and New Haven at large. They also distributed over $300,000 in emergency cash assistance to provide food, rent, and laptops to students stuck at home, making remote COVID learning accessible to hundreds of families. To top it all off, they have been running safe in-person programs since May 2020, complete with neighborhood exploration, dance classes, cooking lessons, and a full suite of educational programming focused on helping students build literacy skills.
There was much to celebrate at this event.
The funds raised during the LEAP Year Event will allow LEAP to hire more local youth as counselors and lifeguards, and to purchase new books, cooking equipment, 3D printer filaments, robot kits, and even rent a bus for the upcoming spring break college tour. These initiatives will further strengthen LEAP’s commitment to building connections, communities, and young leaders.
This year’s LEAP Year Event Program included virtual and in-person options. This model ensured the event was accessible for all, and allowed donors and Guests of Honor from outside New Haven to participate via Zoom, while locals embraced the opportunity to gather together in our generous hosts’ homes again.
The online reception featured remarks from the 2022 LEAP Community Service Awardees, Jeanette Morrison, Alder for Ward 22, and Sydney Perry, former CEO of the Jewish Federation of Greater New Haven. The honorees, recognized for their long histories of service to communities in New Haven and beyond, commended LEAP’s programs.
Alder Morrison identifies as a “LEAP mom,” and she shared, “When I look at my son and my daughter and I see their success, I see LEAP. I see their commitment.” Ms. Perry came to LEAP after a long career as an educator and community service leader, and stated, “When I saw LEAP in action, I was smitten.”
Both recipients commended LEAP for their “work towards justice and equality” and their “investment in children.”
Multiple counselors and alums of the LEAP program were also featured. Morenah Togbah, a current senior counselor, was born and raised in Liberia by a single mother. When he moved to New Haven at 13 years old, he was searching for community. He said, “LEAP is like a family, they welcome you with open arms.” He now embraces the familial atmosphere in his mentorship, and he “make[s] sure that when students come to LEAP, they know it’s a safe haven and that they’re free to express themselves.”
Leader Sponsor Roger Ibbotson, Finance Professor at the Yale SOM, shared that he supports LEAP because “I like my investments to produce results. LEAP’s impact on kids is not only immediate, but it’s also long-term.”
The online dinners on Thursday evening boasted international Guests of Honor and vibrant conversations. Online attendees covered topics from critical race theory to home cooking, learning from preeminent scholars and world-changers such as Rosa DeLauro, US Congresswoman, and Jacob Padrón, Artistic Director at New Haven’s Long Wharf Theater. In-person guests from Hamden to New York City gathered at dinner tables, discussing different kinds of families with National Book Award winner Andrew Solomon, singing along with piano virtuoso Andrew Rubenoff, and dismantling the racial pay gap with Kerwin Charles, Dean of Yale’s School of Management, and Shawn T. Wooden, Connecticut State Treasurer.
Thursday’s most-attended Zoom event, “The Battle Over Critical Race Theory & Schools,” was hosted by Allie Perry and Charles Pillsbury and presented by two Guests of Honor, Judge Angela Robinson (Ret.) and Daniel Martinez HoSang, Yale Associate Professor of Ethnicity, Race and Migration, and of American Studies. The ensuing conversation thoughtfully considered the controversial buzzword, as both presenters approached CRT from academic, legal, and political perspectives.
They described CRT as a “system of questions and tools” that address a core paradox of American legal studies: “How is it that we have pervasive inequality when the law guarantees rights for all?” Questions from attendees broached k‑12 education, state policymaking, and local examples. In conclusion, Judge Robinson pointed to “race-conscious remedies” and “an acknowledgement of discomfort” as strategies that give her hope for America’s future.
Thank you to everyone who supported LEAP during the pandemic. Your contributions allowed New Haven’s most vulnerable students to continue learning and growing through a very turbulent time. In particular, thank you to LEAP’s generous top sponsors: Noble Wealth Advisors of Janney Montgomery Scott, Roger Ibbotson, The George Ellis Co., Roz & Jerry Meyer, Stacey & Hap Perkins with Unicorr Packaging Group, Bill Aseltyne & Jeff Stryker, Grace & Jay Bright, Carol Sirot, and many more. Together, we are creating a New Haven for our children!
Leadership, Education and Athletics in Partnership, Inc. (LEAP) is a tremendous gem for the young people in the city. They provide programming and role models and life skills to so many. Now in partnership with the Q House, they have even more services to provide the community. It is organizations like these that help to mitigate some of the harm caused by the pandemic and are part of the solution to keeping young people out of harms way and out of the street life. Donating to them and other youth and community organizations helps to make the city a safer and kinder place.