Variety Boys & Girls Club
Great futures start here!
Programs and results
What we aim to solve
The Annie E. Casey Foundation's KidsData report found that children whose parents did not finish high school tend to experience higher rates of poverty and deep poverty than children in families with higher levels of educational attainment. A University of Southern California analysis of educational attainment in Boyle Heights between 2005-2009 found that 59% of adults lacked high school diplomas. The L.A. Times Mapping L.A. project reported that only 5% of current residents held college degrees. City-Data reports that 27% of Boyle Heights residents live below the poverty level, 35% of whom are children. Breaking the cycle of poverty for families in Boyle Heights begins with a college education.
Our programs
What are the organization's current programs, how do they measure success, and who do the programs serve?
Academic Excellence & Equitable Access to Higher Education
Before becoming Club members, many neighborhood kids were unaware that attending college was an option - from keeping up academically with their peers in affluent areas to the financial burden of tuition - for youth living in poverty, college can seem like an unattainable goal. VBGC provides members with a pipeline of support, teaches skills, and provides the resources required to break the cycle of poverty by promoting a college-going mindset from the moment members walk in the doors. Club staff reinforce the idea that higher education is an attainable goal regardless of a member’s background, socio-economic status, or current living situation. The aim is to ensure that members get good grades, advance, and graduate on time. Through the College Bound program, Variety Boys & Girls Club provides:
•Academic support such as homework help, tutoring, and counseling
•Scholarships for the pursuit of higher education
•Continuing support to help college grads find work opportunities
Healthy Lifestyles & Equitable Access to Sports
Variety Boys & Girls Club programming helps youth take charge of their health and wellness by increasing daily physical activity, imparting good nutritional habits, and learning how to avoid risky behaviors such as drug and alcohol use and gang involvement. Mental health and wellness are just as important as physical health. The Club provides mental well-being programs with a whole-self approach. Staff participate in ongoing professional development to ensure they are well informed and prepared to help members navigate the world, especially when it seems less hopeful. The program also increases young people’s capacity to nurture their well-being, set personal goals, and grow into self-sufficient adults.
The Club also facilitates organized sports leagues for baseball, basketball, flag football, soccer, swimming, and volleyball, all free of charge to members.
Good Character & Responsibility
Club staff partner with young people to create a safe and inclusive environment. Within this nurturing environment, youth can develop into future world leaders by following a character-building trajectory.
Youth practice and build social-emotional skills by participating in Club programming and interacting with caring adult staff. These essential skills include having healthy relationships with others, making sound decisions, and communicating effectively.
Youth take on developmentally appropriate leadership opportunities. By confronting familiar and unfamiliar challenges, youth see the world through a new lens and identify how they can create positive change.
Youth take on increasing leadership opportunities in and outside of the Club by identifying pressing issues affecting their peers, community, and the world to build a more positive environment. They galvanize their peers and partner with Club staff to develop solutions.
The Arts
The Club is creating equitable access to the arts through enriching experiences and hands-on opportunities through the Arts Program.
Topics include local art history, painting, drawing, ceramics, and clay studio, and ranging from beginner to advanced skill levels. Members have the opportunity to get to know local artists from Boyle Heights. Additionally, members are learning career-related STEM skills, whether in the Club's new music studio learning about music production and sound mixing or in the Digital Media Center creating digital artwork using Photoshop.
Summer Programs & Mitigating Learning Loss
To ensure the school year’s progress is not lost and to reduce summer vacation-related learning loss, the Club offers a full- and half-day summer camp. Provided over ten weeks from June to August, summer programming is an extension of school year programming, still focused on academic enrichment activities and geared toward preparing members for school in the fall. Of course, members also have lots of fun swimming in the pool and playing fun games and sports.
Mentoring
The vast majority of VBGC staff are from the Boyle Heights neighborhood, former Club members, and scholarship recipients who returned to make a difference in the community. They are caring adults who can identify with Club members and uniquely understand their challenges, hopes, and dreams. Club members can see themselves in these positive role models who they can look up to and envision what their own future success might look like. Programming is more effective because it is developed utilizing staff members’ intimate understanding of the community and the issues they encountered during their own academic and professional journeys.
Where we work
External reviews
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Our results
How does this organization measure their results? It's a hard question but an important one.
Average daily attendance
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Related Program
Academic Excellence & Equitable Access to Higher Education
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Holding steady
Context Notes
Variety Boys & Girls Club Operations & Outcomes Trends Report
Number of academic scholarships awarded
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Population(s) Served
Children and youth, At-risk youth, Economically disadvantaged people
Related Program
Academic Excellence & Equitable Access to Higher Education
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Increasing
Context Notes
The Club awarded 20 members with college scholarships totaling $108,500 in May 2022; as of June 2022, the Club has awarded a grand total of $3,105,300 in scholarships to 774 members over the duration
Total dollar amount of scholarship awarded
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Population(s) Served
Children and youth, At-risk youth, Economically disadvantaged people
Related Program
Academic Excellence & Equitable Access to Higher Education
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Holding steady
Context Notes
In 2021, VBGC provided 25 of our members with college scholarships totaling $118,000. As of June 2022, VBGC has awarded $3,105,300 in scholarships to 774 members.
Number of participants engaged in programs
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Related Program
Academic Excellence & Equitable Access to Higher Education
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Holding steady
Context Notes
Number of members served through the College Bound program
Our Sustainable Development Goals
Learn more about Sustainable Development Goals.
Goals & Strategy
Reports and documents
Download strategic planLearn 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?
At Variety Boys & Girls Club, we know that a broadened worldview leads to post-secondary education and a physically/emotionally healthier life filled with more opportunities. Our primary goal is to expose youth to a world beyond Boyle Heights and create a college-going culture for everyone that comes through our doors. We do this by providing a consistent presence and access to the resources they are lacking in comparison to peers living in more affluent communities. Club staff guide members as they learn how to create lasting and meaningful change in their own lives.
What are the organization's key strategies for making this happen?
Before becoming Club members, many neighborhood kids were unaware that attending college was an option - from keeping up with their peers academically to the financial burden of tuition - for youth living in poverty, college can seem like an unattainable goal. Variety Boys & Girls Club provides members with a pipeline of support, teaches skills, and provides the resources required to break the cycle of poverty by promoting a college-going mindset from the moment members walk in the doors. This pipeline is the core of all programming built on three foundational pillars:
1. Academic Excellence
2. Healthy Lifestyles
3. Good Character & Responsibility
What are the organization's capabilities for doing this?
Over 73 years, Variety Boys & Girls Club has developed the cultural expertise and community’s trust to reach the historically under-resourced youth in the neighborhood. We have deliberately chosen to incorporate the culture of our youth into our program development. At both of our sites, our staff mirrors our clients in many ways. Many staff members and some of our board members are from the community that we serve. Consequently, the staff used their own experiences to develop programming to address issues they encountered during their own academic and professional journeys. The fact that our staff members are reflective of the community provides our Club members with the opportunity to see themselves in the staff and reinforce the notion that they will realize their full academic and professional potential. The vast majority of our team were former members and scholarship recipients of the Club who came back to the Club to make a difference in their community.
Variety Boys & Girls Club is a safe haven for neighborhood youth to spend hours after-school. From the time they walk into the Club, members know that they are welcome, in the right place, and feel like they belong. Members know that VBGC staff will help them meet the challenges of the moment and teach them to be resilient in the face of these challenges. Because of this, many Club members will become the first in their families to attend college, a remarkable feat that takes tremendous commitment, backed by staff who are truly dedicated to their success
What have they accomplished so far and what's next?
Since 1949, VBGC’s programming has been effective at transforming individual lives and bringing positive change to youth, and has operated to create transformative change in the lives of our members for decades. Club staff work every day towards advancing racial, social, and economic justice, playing a vital role in the recovery efforts from the disproportionate impacts of COVID-19 on our community. Outcome data affirm that Club youth graduate with a plan for the future, become leaders and change agents, and make decisions that promote their health and wellness. At Variety Boys & Girls Club, we believe that every one of our members is resilient and has what it takes to build a great future.
Here are some of examples of recent accomplishments:
•In December 2021, VBGC renovated our Brent’s Club room in partnership with the Justin Turner Foundation so that our teen members had a space that was sophisticated and similar to a room in a college campus.
•In July 2022, the Club celebrated the grand opening of a new Music Studio at our main site. In the Music Studio, staff will utilize instruments and technology as learning tools to build interest in different related jobs. We continue to add hands-on technology and add new equipment such as new laptops and software such as Adobe Illustrator and Photoshop. The goal is for the first Club member to attend the Berklee School of Music.
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 engage the people who provide feedback in looking for ways we can improve in response, We act on the feedback we receive, We tell the people who gave us feedback how we acted on their feedback, We ask the people who gave us feedback how well they think we responded
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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
Financials
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Operations
The people, governance practices, and partners that make the organization tick.
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.
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.
Variety Boys & Girls Club
Board of directorsas of 05/01/2023
Mr. Gabriel Marquez
CohnReznick, LLP
Term: 2021 - 2023
Shaun Barber
Lionsgate Entertainment
Scott Forman
Warner Bros. Pictures
Pat Gonzalez
Paramount Pictures
Lyndon Golin
Regency Theatres
Michael Alvarez
P3 Global Services
Dale Davison
Metropolitan Theatres
Stephen Dem
Attorney at Law
Hortencia Garcia
Oakwood Worldwide
Steve Glusker
Pacific Properties Group
Debbie Graziano
Business Consultant
John Menchaca
Menchaca & Company LLP
Juan Ramos
Attorney at Law
Jay Swerdlow
Retired, Pacific Theatres
Yehuda Haziza
Flight Adventure Park
Dulce Acosta
USC
Frank Brown
City National Bank
Ben Ceja
City of Los Angeles
David Kohn
American Business Bank
Will Tiao
Tiao Properties
Sandy Wilk
Retired
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? Yes -
CEO oversight
Has the board conducted a formal, written assessment of the chief executive within the past year ? Yes -
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? Yes -
Board composition
Does the board ensure an inclusive board member recruitment process that results in diversity of thought and leadership? Yes -
Board performance
Has the board conducted a formal, written self-assessment of its performance within the past three years? Yes
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:
Race & ethnicity
Gender identity
Transgender Identity
Sexual orientation
No data
Disability
No data
Equity strategies
Last updated: 10/06/2022GuideStar 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 review compensation data across the organization (and by staff levels) to identify disparities by race.
- 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 use a vetting process to identify vendors and partners that share our commitment to race equity.
- 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.