NEW HEIGHTS YOUTH INC
Leaders. Champions. Student-Athletes.
Programs and results
What we aim to solve
New Heights is a sports-based youth development organization, and one of the first in New York City to use basketball to promote academic performance, social-emotional learning, college prep and career readiness. We are rooted in the belief that everyone deserves quality education and the opportunity to rise to their potential. But in New York City, the playing field is not level, and the opportunity gap that exists between disadvantaged and more affluent communities is a roadblock for many young people. Our goal is to create pathways to high school, college and careers for underserved student-athletes by helping them develop skills on the court, in the classroom and in their communities. Positive basketball coaching is the core of our programming, and our additional services include mentoring, tutoring, test prep, summer day camp, leadership workshops, financial literacy, college advisement, campus visits and other valuable resources that children from low-income families often lack.
Our programs
What are the organization's current programs, how do they measure success, and who do the programs serve?
College Bound
College Bound is a sports-based youth development program that combines basketball with academic support, social-emotional learning, college preparatory and career readiness services. New Heights targets the College Bound program to underserved youth in grades 4-12, and advertises our services to schools across New York City with a focus on those in economically disadvantaged neighborhoods. Programming takes place year round, after school, on the weekend and for full days during the summer. College Bound enrolls over 250 youth annually, with an alumni network of hundreds of additional young adults.
Where we work
Awards
Program of the Year 2022
Jr NBA
External reviews
Videos
Our results
How does this organization measure their results? It's a hard question but an important one.
Number of program graduates
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Population(s) Served
Young adults, Multiracial people, Low-income people
Related Program
College Bound
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Holding steady
Number of youth who plan to attend post-secondary education
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Population(s) Served
Young adults, Adolescents, Preteens, Multiracial people, Low-income people
Related Program
College Bound
Type of Metric
Outcome - describing the effects on people or issues
Direction of Success
Increasing
Number of youth who have a positive adult role model
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Related Program
College Bound
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Increasing
Our Sustainable Development Goals
Learn more about Sustainable Development Goals.
Goals & Strategy
Learn about the organization's key goals, strategies, capabilities, and progress.
Charting impact
Four powerful questions that require reflection about what really matters - results.
What is the organization aiming to accomplish?
Through a variety of afterschool, weekend and summer programs, New Heights will engage hundreds of young people annually, the majority of whom will come from less advantageous socioeconomic backgrounds and live in underserved communities throughout New York City. Over 85 percent of our current participants identify as African-American, Hispanic/Latino(a) or multi-racial, and many will be the first in their families to graduate from college.
Our signature program, College Bound, combines intensive educational support with basketball, using the latter specifically as a “hook” to engage young people in a comprehensive network of academic and college preparatory services. Each year, College Bound will enroll approximately 350 youth and young adults and seek to achieve the following outcomes:
- 100% of participants will meet requirements for promotion to the next grade
- 90% of participants will improve in three or more social-emotional learning capacities
- 100% of eighth graders will be accepted to a college preparatory high school
- 100% of juniors and seniors will visit a minimum of two colleges
- 100% of seniors will be accepted into at least one college
- 100% of seniors will graduate high school
- 95% of graduates will matriculate into higher education
- 100% college persistence from year one to year two
- 75% of college students will graduate
As a data-driven organization, New Heights uses Roll Call to record program enrollment and participant engagement in workshops, coaching and tutoring sessions. We also use Algorhythm's Hello Insight tool to track social-emotional learning metrics and outcomes. In addition, New Heights utilizes a customized data collection and tracking system in Salesforce to maintain all program data and to analyze metrics and outcomes.
What are the organization's key strategies for making this happen?
College Bound combines intensive educational support with basketball, using the latter specifically as a “hook” to engage young people in a comprehensive network of academic and college preparatory services. We pair our participants with coaches and educators who are trained in positive youth development, and who help them excel on the court, in the classroom and in their communities.
New Heights targets the College Bound program to underserved youth in grades 4-12, and advertises our services to schools across New York City with a focus on those in economically disadvantaged neighborhoods. To ensure that our program reaches those for whom it is intended, we collect a variety of demographic data upon enrollment from participants’ parents/guardians to help indicate socioeconomic status of the household, including home location/zip code, household income (and number of family members in household), benefits/assistance (Food Stamps, SSDI, Free/Reduced Lunch Eligibility etc.), highest level of parents’ education and first-generation college student status, among others.
During the school year, programming takes place after school and on the weekends, with each student-athlete participating in group basketball and academic sessions 2-3 times per week (approximately 2.5 hours per session). For five weeks during the summer, programming extends to full days for our Summer Academy for middle school students, which includes high school transition programming for rising 9th graders.
In addition, we provide a variety of individual, mentorship-style activities to support our youth on their journeys through adolescence, including tutoring, SAT/test prep, social emotional and leadership development, financial literacy, college advisement, campus visits, career exploration and other resources that are frequently out of reach for students who struggle economically. Our program model is based on long-term retention, with participants often joining in elementary or middle school and remaining with us through high school and college.
New Heights is now taking on significant growth as we scale these services and introduce new programs in a new, permanent home facility in Brooklyn with classrooms, courts and administrative offices. In the first year in our new home, New Heights served over 1,000 youth – more than three times the number served during the previous year. Our vision is to ultimately reach thousands of additional youth and families annually through a range of quality academic and athletic programs.
What are the organization's capabilities for doing this?
The foundation for New Heights began in 2001 when a public school teacher and coach in New York City began to offer students the opportunity to play basketball in the gym after school and on weekends, but only if they first completed their homework. He quickly recognized the motivating power of basketball, and realized that it could be an excellent tool to engage struggling students in academic activities. With this in mind, a pilot program that combined basketball with tutoring and college application assistance was formed under the Children’s Aid Society from 2001 - 2004. In 2005, the pilot program became New Heights, an independent nonprofit organization. Since that time, we have grown to 15 full-time and 42 part-time staff and over 50 volunteers.
Throughout our nearly 20-year history, New Heights has used innovative, sports-based strategies to level the playing field and create opportunities for underserved youth. Our programming has been highly effective at engaging them in positive relationships, building their self-esteem and self-confidence, and improving their school performance. We were one of the first organizations in New York City to use basketball to promote college and career
readiness for underserved boys and girls, and we continue to be a leader in this field today. While other programs have replicated our model and followed in our footsteps, few offer a set of services as holistic as ours or demonstrate a track record as successful. For this reason, young people and their families consistently seek our support and services both on and off the court.
What have they accomplished so far and what's next?
Our strategy of positive coaching and intensive educational support has guided hundreds of girls and boys to and through high school and college, and has produced a strong track record. Since our inception in 2005, our College Bound program has demonstrated 100% high school graduation, 98% college matriculation and over 75% college graduation rates. We have also secured over $65 million in scholarships and financial aid for our students. Beyond the numbers, our youth show increases in self-esteem and self-confidence that prepare them for leadership roles throughout their lives.
New Heights is now taking on significant growth as we scale these services and introduce new programs in a new, permanent home facility in Brooklyn. After years of preparation and planning, New Heights is proud to report that we transitioned our offices and all programming to our new headquarters at the Major R. Owens Health and Wellness Community Center in October 2021. With multiple classrooms, study spaces, a technology lounge, three full-sized basketball courts and administrative offices, our new home brings together our academic, athletic and social emotional learning services under one roof to create greater efficiencies for our student-athletes and collaboration between our coaches, tutors, staff and volunteers.
In the first year in our new home, New Heights served over 1,000 youth – more than three times the number served during the previous year. Our vision is to ultimately reach thousands of additional youth and families annually through a range of quality academic and athletic programs.
How we listen
Seeking feedback from people served makes programs more responsive and effective. Here’s how this organization is listening.
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How is your organization using feedback from the people you serve?
To identify and remedy poor client service experiences, To identify bright spots and enhance positive service experiences, To make fundamental changes to our programs and/or operations, To inform the development of new programs/projects, To identify where we are less inclusive or equitable across demographic groups, To strengthen relationships with the people we serve, To understand people's needs and how we can help them achieve their goals
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Which of the following feedback practices does your organization routinely carry out?
We collect feedback from the people we serve at least annually, We take steps to get feedback from marginalized or under-represented people, We aim to collect feedback from as many people we serve as possible, We take steps to ensure people feel comfortable being honest with us, We look for patterns in feedback based on demographics (e.g., race, age, gender, etc.), We look for patterns in feedback based on people’s interactions with us (e.g., site, frequency of service, etc.), We act on the feedback we receive
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What challenges does the organization face when collecting feedback?
It is difficult to get the people we serve to respond to requests for feedback, The people we serve tell us they find data collection burdensome
Financials
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Operations
The people, governance practices, and partners that make the organization tick.
Connect with nonprofit leaders
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- Analyze a variety of pre-calculated financial metrics
- Access beautifully interactive analysis and comparison tools
- Compare nonprofit financials to similar organizations
Want to see how you can enhance your nonprofit research and unlock more insights? Learn More about GuideStar Pro.
Connect with nonprofit leaders
SubscribeBuild relationships with key people who manage and lead nonprofit organizations with GuideStar Pro. Try a low commitment monthly plan today.
- Analyze a variety of pre-calculated financial metrics
- Access beautifully interactive analysis and comparison tools
- Compare nonprofit financials to similar organizations
Want to see how you can enhance your nonprofit research and unlock more insights? Learn More about GuideStar Pro.
NEW HEIGHTS YOUTH INC
Board of directorsas of 09/06/2023
Mr. Mark Patricof
Patricof Co
Term: 2022 - 2024
NINA LESAVOY
MARK PATRICOF
EDWARD SMITH
VICKI ZUBOVIC
ANDREW NATHAN
LANCE THOMAS
JON MAROTTA
TY WALLACH
LARRY BROWN
ALAN SCHRAGER
RICHARD ROBERTS
RICH KLEIMAN
DUANE FIEDLER
WILLIAM BLODGETT
TROY DIXON
JOSH GREENBERG
CAMERON LEWIS
JEREMY SCHIFFMAN
NICHOLAS SILVERS
LINDA CHOONG
JOHN GILMORE
BYRON JONES
DAVID THOMPSON
Board leadership practices
GuideStar worked with BoardSource, the national leader in nonprofit board leadership and governance, to create this section.
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Board orientation and education
Does the board conduct a formal orientation for new board members and require all board members to sign a written agreement regarding their roles, responsibilities, and expectations? No -
CEO oversight
Has the board conducted a formal, written assessment of the chief executive within the past year ? No -
Ethics and transparency
Have the board and senior staff reviewed the conflict-of-interest policy and completed and signed disclosure statements in the past year? No -
Board composition
Does the board ensure an inclusive board member recruitment process that results in diversity of thought and leadership? No -
Board performance
Has the board conducted a formal, written self-assessment of its performance within the past three years? No
Organizational demographics
Who works and leads organizations that serve our diverse communities? Candid partnered with CHANGE Philanthropy on this demographic section.
Leadership
The organization's leader identifies as:
The organization's co-leader identifies as:
Race & ethnicity
Gender identity
Transgender Identity
Sexual orientation
No data
Disability
No data
Equity strategies
Last updated: 09/06/2023GuideStar partnered with Equity in the Center - an organization that works to shift mindsets, practices, and systems to increase racial equity - to create this section. Learn more
- We ask team members to identify racial disparities in their programs and / or portfolios.
- We analyze disaggregated data and root causes of race disparities that impact the organization's programs, portfolios, and the populations served.
- We disaggregate data to adjust programming goals to keep pace with changing needs of the communities we support.
- We employ non-traditional ways of gathering feedback on programs and trainings, which may include interviews, roundtables, and external reviews with/by community stakeholders.
- We disaggregate data by demographics, including race, in every policy and program measured.
- We have long-term strategic plans and measurable goals for creating a culture such that one’s race identity has no influence on how they fare within the organization.
- We have a promotion process that anticipates and mitigates implicit and explicit biases about people of color serving in leadership positions.
- We seek individuals from various race backgrounds for board and executive director/CEO positions within our organization.
- We have community representation at the board level, either on the board itself or through a community advisory board.
- We help senior leadership understand how to be inclusive leaders with learning approaches that emphasize reflection, iteration, and adaptability.
- We measure and then disaggregate job satisfaction and retention data by race, function, level, and/or team.
- We engage everyone, from the board to staff levels of the organization, in race equity work and ensure that individuals understand their roles in creating culture such that one’s race identity has no influence on how they fare within the organization.