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It's hard to believe. The GreenLight Fund just marked its fifth anniversary!
With your help, in these first five years we have established our model for finding and replicating high-potential social innovations; catalyzed the expansion of four of these promising, nonprofit programs into the Boston area; and supported their early growth here. Most importantly, GreenLight has grown to include a large community of partners and supporters who are engaged in this work in a variety of ways.
As we look to the year(s) ahead, we do so with gratitude for what we all together have accomplished and a greater sense of the potential that lies in front of us.
While this year will be a tough one - for the nonprofits we support and for the children, youth and families they serve - we are committed to doing everything we can to help these organizations reach their potential.
In this newsletter, we are proud to report recent progress from GreenLight's portfolio organizations along with news from GreenLight.
We will focus throughout this year on reporting the results of GreenLight's first five years, redoubling our efforts to help our existing portfolio organizations continue to thrive and mapping out GreenLight's next chapter by reflecting on our progress and learnings during our first five years.
We are so grateful for your support.
Warm regards,
John & Margaret |
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| GreenLight Fund Raises Over $570,000 for Youth Villages |
The 2008 GreenLight Gala and An Emerald Evening raised a record $570,000 for the launch of Youth Villages Transitional Living program in Massachusetts.
Set to launch its Transitional Living program in the Spring of 2009, Youth Villages will bring new hope to many of our community's most vulnerable young people, those youth who "age-out" of the foster care system at age 18.
GreenLight introduced Youth Villages at the 2008 GreenLight Gala in September. The Gala was held at the Colonnade Hotel and raised $323,000 in support of Youth Villages' expansion into the Boston area.
In his speech at the Gala, John Simon illustrated the very serious need for Youth Villages' Transitional Living program, "As former President Jimmy Carter has said, 'If we willingly give our own children the benefit of our support as they struggle to become independent, productive adults, why do we tolerate the abrupt withdrawal of support for youth who are aging out of care?' If that question troubles you as much as it does me, you'll understand why bringing Youth Villages to Boston is so important."
A special thank you to Ron and Julie Druker, our gracious hosts at the Colonnade, as well as all of the Gala sponsors.
To see a full list of sponsors and photos from the event, please visit: http://www.greenlightfund.org/html/Gala2008/index.htm
An Emerald Evening was held at the Cyclorama in Boston's South End on December 4th. The event greatly surpassed expectations raising $247,000 for Youth Villages'.
GreenLight thanks Founding Sponsors Rounder Records and Long's Jewelers as well as all of the evening's hosts and sponsors. Special thanks to AVFX, Bowne of Boston, MAX Ultimate Catering, Monderer Design and Party by Design for their in-kind support that helped make the evening so exceptional.
To see the full list of hosts and sponsors as well as photos from the event, please visit:
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| Peer Health Exchange |
 In its third year here, Peer Health Exchange (PHE) is reaching over 2,600 ninth grade students in 26 high schools; 45% of ninth graders in Boston public schools.
3rd Annual Boston Volunteer Conference
PHE hosted its 3rd annual Boston Volunteer Conference, "Public Service, Leadership & You," on February 20th.
Part of PHE's social impact model is to foster a commitment to public service among college student volunteers that they will carry with them through life. The volunteer conference united PHE volunteers from Boston with local public service leaders to discuss what college graduates can do to address urgent issues in health, education, advocacy, and beyond.
300 Area College Students Teaching in Boston Public Schools
This school year, nearly 300 PHE volunteers are teaching over 120 classes each week in 26 public high schools. These volunteers are recruited from BU, Harvard, Northeastern, UMass Boston, Tufts, and BC and rigorously trained to teach PHE's comprehensive health education curriculum to 9th graders. 
Join a PHE workshop!
PHE has organized a series of workshop visits this Winter and Spring to see PHE volunteers in action in the classroom. If you are interested in visiting a PHE workshop, please contact Molly Greene at molly@peerhealthexchange.org
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| Raising A Reader |
 Launched in Massachusetts in 2006, Raising A Reader-MA (RAR) expanded into Lawrence in 2008. The organization is now serving over 7,000 children and families in Boston, Chelsea, Everett, Revere and Somerville as well as Lawrence.
Recent Raising A Reader Gifts
RAR recently received two generous gifts that will fund expanding programs. The Plymouth Rock Foundation donated $10,000 in support of RAR's initiative with Horizons for Homeless Children's childcare program in Boston. The Lawrence J. and Anne Rubenstein Charitable Foundation also gave $15,000 to bring RAR to Revere Public School's pre-Kindegarten classrooms.
Chelsea Reads Day Sets New Records
 Over 300 children and families came out to the 3rd Annual Chelsea Reads Family Literacy Day held at the public library on Saturday, November 1, 2008. The Chelsea Reads Family Literacy Day, first organized by Raising A Reader-MA in 2006, has grown into a collaborative effort involving over a dozen local organizations and has seen its attendance quadruple.
RAR Welcomes Three New Staff Members
Sarah Mountcastle moved from the GreenLight Fund staff to join the RAR team this past October as the Early Literacy Program Coordinator for Greater Boston. This past January Sara Pollock DeMedeiros and Ana Maria Carrero also signed on. Sara is RAR's new Program Director leading the organization's program implementation, expansion and evaluation. Ana is working in Lawrence as an Early Literacy Program Coordinator there.
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| Friends of the Children |
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110 Currently Enrolled in Expanding Program
Through a new partnership with AmeriCorps and the Mass. Service Alliance, Friends of the Children (FOC) more than doubled the number of Achievers it serves this past Fall. FOC also added three new schools from which it selects Achievers: the Young Achievers School in Jamaica Plain, the Tobin School in Roxbury and the Sarah Greenwood School in Dorchester.
FOC Opens Computer and Technology Learning Center
With support from the Richard and Susan Smith Family Foundation, FOC opened a new Computer and Technology Learning Center in Dudley Square. Visitors are encouraged to drop by and are especially welcome to attend weekly Friendly Forum meetings at the center every Tuesday at 9:30 am. It is located at Hibernian Hall, 184 Dudley Street in Roxbury.
Generous Donors Support Holiday Gifts and Meals
Through the generosity of Convexity Capital Management, Insight Performance Management, WCI Corp, Trillium Asset Management, New Balance, Anthropologie, Wellington Management, the Monaghan Family, the Saperstone Family and the Roth Family, FOC was able to provide holiday meals and gifts for each of the 110 Achievers and their siblings. Thanks to these companies and families, the holidays were brighter for all of these children.
FOC Celebrates MLK Day with Service
FOC was selected by the Massachusetts Service Alliance as a grantee for the Martin Luther King Jr. Day of Service Project Initiative.
On Saturday, January 17, Achievers, Friends and Family Friends celebrated the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. by making 100 blankets and donating them to children in local shelters and hospitals.
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| GreenLight Completes Cox Trust Challenge |
| The GreenLight Fund completed the Jessie B. Cox Charitable Lead Trust challenge in October with support from Ben & Wendy Fischman, Ken & Marianne Novak, The Paul & Phyllis Fireman Charitable Foundation and an anonymous donor. Many thanks to these generous donors who have helped grow the GreenLight Seed Fund to $1.87 million.
Seed Funds provide the initial start-up capital to GreenLight portfolio organizations. With these funds, organizations are able to hire staff leadership, build the basic organizational infrastructure and launch their programs in the Boston area. |
| GreenLight & John Simon Receive Honors |
 The Boston Foundation honored the GreenLight Fund and John Simon at its 2008 Annual Meeting in November. The Foundation featured John and Sue Simon, along with GreenLight, in its 2008 Annual Report under the headline, "A Green Light for Social Innovation."
John Simon was also named as a finalist by Ernst & Young as Social Entrepreneur of the Year for his work with the GreenLight Fund.
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| Save the Date for Golf! |
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Save the date for the fifth annual VCs v. Entrepreneurs Golf Tournament! The tournament will be held on June 2nd at The International in Bolton, MA on the Oaks Course and will benefit Youth Villages' Transitional Living program.
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Thank you for all of your continued support!
The GreenLight Team
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