Sadie Nash Leadership Project

Simply the best!

I sing their praises every year as I have watched the young women in action discussing issues with Coach Springer of Rutgers, Speaker Christine Quinn of the NYC Council, Tina Fey at the 10th anniversary fund raiser and at guest breakfasts during summer session. I have also housed a young Summer Institute dean and seen how the program impacted her and her continuing interest in her "girls" and other deans a year later.

Sadie Nash Leadership Project just goes from strength to strength. The NYC projects are thriving as is Newark NJ. The young women who go through this experience largely go on to good colleges and beyond, the majority becoming professionals, and they tend to stay involved in social justice causes. Many come back to Sadie Nash to teach or be a Summer Institute Dean. The bonds they form while there endure, creating a real network of strong women to help each other in ongoing ways for the long term. This is not just summer camp, this is life changing.

Long resistant to growing faster than than they can assure the quality of their programs, yet consistently asked to bring Sadie Nash to venues around the country, Cecelia and her team are now developing a model to train people in other cities in their methods. This will allow for independent sister programs around the country that are tailored to each city's specific areas of ethnic diversity and youth issues while not impacting the financial resources of the NYC area organization or the quality of its programs. The pilot for this out reach will probably be in Baltimore,

All this, and they still consistently waste the least amount of $ of any non profit out there. Check out the videos on young women who have graduated on their web site. You will be blown away.

Alida Morgan

Far and away one of the best non-profits I have ever seen in action. It is visionary in concept, and hands-on in terms of results -- and what results! Sadie Nash Leadership Project transforms the lives and futures of girls, and empowers them to lead productive, rewarding lives ... taking them on a voyage of discovering, recognizing and developing their talents and potential. This is truly an exceptional organization, of great merit.

I am convinced that the day that LeeAnn Fletcher called my house to say that I got off of the Sadie Nash waiting list is among the most life-path-altering days of my life. The most important concept I learned at Sadie Nash was that of safe space. At first, the idea of creating a safe space with a group of teenagers who I had never met before seemed ludicrous. I expected to be confronted with drama and rivalries and the general chaos I’d seen on “reality” tv shows. But we all gave communal safe space a chance because deep down, despite our doubts of its existence, I think we all desperately wanted it to be real.

Our efforts certainly paid off. As the summer progressed, we came to realize that a safe space wasn't a place where there were no judgments or opposing opinions. Rather, in our safe place we
acknowledged that judging is inevitable but what was most important was how we acted once our opinions were formed.

We learned to challenge ideas rather that the people who held them.

We became conscious of the fact that respecting other people’s points of view is what allows us to stop surviving and start living.

We created a safe space.

I came to Sadie Nash as a dean in the summer of 2008 and I can without a doubt say that my experience there with those girls changed my life and like most volunteer work I got out of it much more than I put in. My experience there lead me to join the Peace Corps and find other ways to help people. Currently serving in the Peace Corps I am hosting a Girls Empowerment Camp in the middle of August...it is because of my work at Sadie Nash that I got selected to be a host.

Sadie Nash Leadership Project helped me find who I am and who I want to be. It sparked my interest and made me want to do more for my community. I can not begin to explain the feeling I gained from meeting so many diverse women from all walks of life and learn that we all share common issues, feelings, and so much more then society leads us to believe . I will never forget PIP (a core class in the program) were we discussed our flower of power and other major social issues. In the flower petals we put our race, religion, gender ,citizen status, sexual orientation and other things about ourselves . Each week we discuss a different petal and issue. Each week I realized who in society really had poweror an advantage just because they were born or choose to be a certain. I wanted this to change so did the other girls in my class. Over all Sadie Nash gave me hope that change is possible. I felt like I could be a leader and I'm not alone in my fight for social change . Sadie Nash was a program that I am thankful for being apart of and looking forward to going back to.

This organization really helps girls understand that they are lots more than just "what they look like" (which is the message our culture seems to send, as their most important quality). SNLP participants are confident, and able to act on that confidence in any number of settings. They are quite impressive!!

SNLP was probably one of the most formative experiences of my post-graduate life. As a Duke graduate with a degree in Women's Studies and Sociology and a passion for social change, finding this organization was truly a blessing! As a Dean I was responsible for the close supervision and mentoring of a small group of young women, supporting their growth directly during short sessions three days a week and indirectly throughout their time in the program. Additionally, I acted as a co-teacher for one of the core programmatic courses: Power, Identity and Privilege. I supported my faculty member in creating and executing innovative and engaging curriculum that challenged our students to critically examine inequalities that exist, and understand how we can be allies and/or speak from our experiences of oppression o fight for a better world. I learned as much as the participants that summer. Every young woman should have the opportunity to participate in a program like this one!

Sadie Nash does incredible work putting true feminism into action. It empowers young women to be leaders and make a difference in their communities. As a former teacher with the organization, I was impressed with the projects the "Nashers" took on successfully. Great work!

I started a non-profit in honor of the service by a philanthropist in my community named Thomas Colson Woody; T. Colson Woody was born and lived in Orange, New Jersey. He attended the Orange Public Schools and, except for his attendance at Virginia State College and New York University, he lived in Orange for his entire life. He was proprietor of the Woody Home for Services, a funeral home in Orange on Oakwood Avenue. Colson (as he was called), took over the funeral business started by his mother, Mary Colson Woody, whose business was located on Central Place. Mrs. Woody was the first female funeral director in the State of New Jersey.

Because the nature of the funeral business, Colson worked 24 hours a day, seven days per week (24/7) as a businessman in Orange, he contributed to a long list of causes. He even helped young businessmen studying for the mortuary business, helping them to set up businesses even if it meant competition. He was active in the Oakwood Branch of the YMCA, Boy Scouts, NAACP, and the Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity. Additionally, he served on the Orange Planning Board and the Orange Board of Education.

He lived an exemplary life in Orange and this city is better for his having contributions to his life here.

The Mission of TCW is TCW is a non-profit organization based in Orange NJ. The TCW Orange Community Foundation is a not-for-profit organization committed to providing funding efforts that will enhance educational and community initiatives that best serve to improve the quality of life for the residents within the City of Orange Township, NJ.
The Foundation works to accomplish this mission in the following ways:
1. By supporting Community development efforts, which serve to enhance the quality of life for all residents;
2. By enhancing educational opportunities through the creation and/or funding of specific academic programs;
3. And by supporting the efforts of affiliate organizations seeking to build a strong and healthy Orange community

Sadie Nash time and again finds exceptional people to work for them, and to lead the young women in deep self transformation. Parents of Sadie Nash participants are blown away by the growth they witness in their young women, as they develop their critical thinking and leadership skills. I also deeply respect and learn from Sadie Nash's holistic approach to social justice. I think it should be implemented in organizations across the country.
Sadie Nash Leadership Project is the best place on earth

Sadie Nash Leadership Project has been a big part in opening me up to the world. They were unbias toward our merit, race, and sexual orientation. In fact, in the two summers I've spent in the Sadie Nash Leadership Project, I've met the most diverse group of young women. The workshops the project provides includes workshops that promote finding our inner-self/self esteem, ranging from DJing classes to Art. We also meet with phenomenal speakers every single week.

Not only does Sadie Nash have a famous summer program, but they also have classes that are held sporadically/routinely in the weekends for other general women's empowerment purposes.

I became a nasher when I was 17, years old and never regretted any moment apart of this organizations. They have taught me leadership skills: how to be proficient, how to work with others from other ethnic groups and it has taught me about the world beyond what I thought I already knew. The summer program was a great experience!! Implementing ideas we(the nashers) wanted to inform others about and most importantly how to help others.
I believe one of my best acquirements of being in Sadie Nash is knowing how to give to others, building courage for myself, learning how to respect others from different backgrounds and how to make a difference in society.

Sadie Nash Leadership Project was one of the most incredible experiences I could have had in my life. The summer I spent with the Nashers as a Dean in the 2010 Summer Institute was one of the most powerful and inspirational opportunities I could have been given. Sadie Nash works to empower women, but in truly unconventional ways. Teaching young women that they are experts on their lives was one of the most incredible lessons I could have taken away from the Summer Institute. In retrospect, objectively thinking of the impact Sadie Nash has on young women is something to be proud of. This organization inspires women to make choices, be knowledgeable about the world, and advocate for justice for all people. Nothing I have experienced has ever had this type of impact on my social awareness of how to liberate people in my own community. Praise to Sadie Nash for being an incredible organization, with hard working women, and even greater results.

Sadie Nash is more than a non-profit organization for young women, it is a movement that is nourishing the women who will be leaders in all areas of society. I know this for a fact because in the 9 weeks I worked with them in Newark, NJ I learned more about what it means to be a leader than in any other job or school activity I had in college. It does an impeccable job of balancing theory with practicality. The young women were told they had value for their first time in their lives that was outside of academic and I think that is what makes this program successful.
If I could I would do it all over again.

I LOVE Sadie Nash Leadership Project (SNLP). I have had the opportunity to teach young women in their Brooklyn and Newark Summer Institutes and have been impressed by the consistency of their mission in all aspects of their work. They believe that young women are leaders and this belief pervades all of their activities. The Summer Institutes offer AMAZING coursework - like Theater of the Oppressed and the Poetry of Women Prisoners. Over a six-week period, I have borne witness to the transformation of young women - specifically, in terms of how they connect with social justice work and how they view themselves.

In addition, I love that SNLP is hyper-organized. I sometimes have experienced youth organizations be a little sloppy in their bookkeeping or administration. I find that SNLP is always on top of it which makes them a pleasure to work with.

Sadie Nash delivers first-rate educational services to the young women in its constituency. The values they instill in individuals resonate with their families and communities. When I speak to young women who have been in the program I am always struck but their ability articulate their goals, and act on them. I am also impressed by their commitment to service and leadership.
On an institutional level the leadership of SNLP has built a tensile, achievement oriented organization, with a culture of honest self-assessment , and creative problem solving.

Providing high level leadership training for young women to become
empowered in their home communities is a most basic idea that is not addressed often enough. Sadie Nash Leadership Project has had the
foresight to put together a program that supports this obvious approach.
High quality leaders within the organization who choose other high quality and passionate young women who are both the trainers and the
trainees. Young women must be guided in understanding how to recognize and develop their own self- worth and I think that mentoring
for leadership is the smartest route to take and Sadie Nash is taking it
far!!

Eight years ago I enrolled in the Sadie Nash Leadership Project summer program. Everyday my beliefs, prejudices and potential we brought to the forefront of conversation. Sadie Nash exposed me to powerful women from different walks of life and inspired me to embrace the power within myself.

My faith in the power, innovation, and beauty of feminist community-building can be fully credited to the Sadie Nash Leadership Project (SNLP). The insightful leadership of the staff and board, the heart and humility of the teachers, plus the fierce brilliance of the students make SNLP a unique community for holistic empowerment.

During the summer Leadership Institute, for example, students engage in interactive classes that creatively synthesize knowledge(s), building collaborative and activist leadership skills, learning new channels of self-expression and communication etc. In addition, students meet social, political, intellectual and spiritual leaders on a weekly to discuss the meaning of positive change and personal growth.

What I learned from SNLP is incredibly value, and has helped me understand my strengths as an immigrant woman of color. As a former ELLA fellow, a program dedicated to give young women a chance to lead a social justice project in communities they identify with, I started my project at one of the worst times in my life-- fresh out of college, away from home, etc. Through mentorship of the coordinators, as well as my peers, I came to understand the support system I had, and learned a great deal about grassroots organizing. To this day, I thank SNLP for the incredible year they gave me, and helped me realize the confidence within me.

I participated in the Summer Institute at SNLP and it has honestly changed my life. It opened up new pathways that I had never considered. Prior to my experience, I never thought of myself as a leader. At SNLP, we were engaged in discussions and it was there that I learned that I had a voice and that I should use it. Since that summer, I have taken on many leadership roles and am looking forward to continue my leadership. I am even now considering starting my own project for the community--a feat that I never would have considered!

Sadie Nash was a fantastic experience. I learned so much about myself and my potential. It was one of the greatest learning experience I had in my years of high school. Because of Sadie Nash, I learned what I truly believe it and I stand up for it.

As an alumna of Sadie Nash Leadership Project (SNLP) Summer Institute in 2003 and 2004, a Dean of SNLP’s Summer Institute in 2007, and a member of SNLP’s Board of Directors from 2005 to 2007, I can attest that SNLP’s Summer Institute inspires and changes young women’s lives through their leadership-based education. What I learned from SNLP’s summer programming many years ago has and continues to inform the work I do now even after completing my college education.

The courses and workshops I participated in at SNLP were extremely beneficial to my social experience in high school because they enhanced my self-confidence and self-awareness. Even now, I clearly recall how workshops on topics such as body image and portrayals of women in the media helped me overcome the misconceptions I had about to societal norms of beauty and power and appreciate my own appearance and acknowledge my own strengths. This self-awareness slowly improved my self-esteem, which was integral to my increased participation at school. In the past, I almost never raised my hand in class for fear of seeming stupid. However after my first summer with SNLP, I started to raise my hand more often because I had become more confident in my abilities and my right to ask questions when I did not fully understand something in class. My grades improved due to my increased participation. The school year after my first SNLP summer, I ran and won the election to become the president of Key Club, a community service organization at my high school. As the leader of the largest organization in my school, I became more active in student affairs. My increased involvement at school naturally made me more devoted to attending school.

In addition to helping me in school socially, SNLP was also essential to helping me excel in school academically. The Summer Institute classes, ranging from Writing is Fighting, to Power, Identity and Privilege, focused on topics that were personal to us and that we felt passionate about. In this way, we were better able to learn because the topics that were being taught was enjoyable. For example, in my Role of Public Education in America course, we were asked to research, debate, and write on contemporary education issues such as, private school vouchers and affirmative action. I credit this highly rigorous course for not only teaching me about history, government and public policy in the United States, but also for honing my research methods and essay writing skills. The knowledge and skills I gained from that and other SNLP classes have been valuable to both my high school and college education.

However, unlike the other more traditional summer learning programs, SNLP taught us much more than the technicalities of what to learn- SNLP taught me how to learn. In my Power, Identity and Privilege class, I studied the power structures and institutions that shaped my life and my society and explored how they all affected me as a young woman of color. By realizing how oppressive many of the most powerful institutions in our societies are, I learned to be critical and to question everything- even the things that seem “natural” or “just the way things are.” Because I had become interested in empowering myself and others, I became a more active and engaged student at high school, and later, in college.

My SNLP education continued to influence me in college when I traveled to the Himalayan region of China to conduct independent fieldwork on ecotourism development in a matrilineal society in the area. My SNLP education not only nurtured my academic interest in gender and justice issues, but also my confidence to travel and work alone in a remote, unfamiliar place. My research was successful largely due to my comfort with nuance and critical analysis, and dedication to ethical and accountable scholarship which SNLP has always taught and exemplified.

I have visited Sadie Nash program in action twice and been incredibly impressed with the staff, the level of engagement and excitement that the girls express. Their office/home base is not that impressive - but that didn't matter one bit. The girls seemed to be absorbed and interested in the classes. Clearly this is an organization that throws all its resources into its clients . The teaching staff are warm, knowlegeable and seem to really enjoy and like the girls. I think this is so important - to enjoy one's job and like the kids.

I'm a professional who has worked with national, regional and local nonprofits benefiting women and girls for nearly seven years, and Sadie Nash Leadership Project is one of the most impactful and efficiently run that I've ever seen. I fell in love with Sadie Nash after spending an afternoon touring their summer program at The New School in NYC. I had the opportunity to sit in on classes and see firsthand the extraordinary educational and empowerment opportunities they provide to the young women in their program. Since then, I have actively participated in fundraisers and mentored SNLP interns who are some of the most motivated, eager-to-learn young women I've seen. Sadie Nash is truly an exemplary organization making a profound difference for our nation's future young women leaders!

I attended the Sadie Nash Leadership project in the summer of 2010 and honestly it was the best summer of my life. I learned about leadership and about issues such as immigration laws, women's oppression, LGBTQ struggles, and unethical behavior in certain industries. I would say that I am a new person because of my experience. For example, before Sadie Nash I was not aware of the struggles of people from the LGBTQ community and now I can say that I am an ally. The community was very welcoming and accepting. The atmosphere was laid-back and supportive, a place where everyone could be her true self. I also learned life lessons that I live by today. For example, I learned that all of our struggles are connected and in order to change one form of oppression we must change all forms of oppression.

I have watched Sadie Nash grow from a small organization in Brooklyn to one serving teenaged girls from all over the City. Their rapid growth - while keeping their core program values intact - was truly amazing to me. Sadie Nash makes a difference in the lives of inner city girls - one girl at a time. Their methods are so effective that they have an unheard of record of success - all on a real shoe-string budget. They expanded to Newark, NJ less than 3 years ago where they are the only organization in that city that only services girls. By their second summer session they were oversubscribed - a testimony to the excellence of their program. I have acted on behalf of Sadie Nash to introduce the Executive Director to potential corporate funding sources in Newark. The organization was funded on the first try. I am always impressed by how Sadie Nash keeps its donors informed of what is happening with individual program participants and with the organization. I can't think of a single thing they could do better.

Sadie Nash Leadership Project (SNLP) is an AMAZING non-profit. I started out as a teacher for their summer program and witnessed first-hand the transformation of dozens of young women from New York City's public schools over the course of a six-week summer leadership institute. Since then, the program now operates year-round and makes a meaningful impact in young women's lives. As a Board member now, it is a privilege to be part of an extremely dynamic and well-run organization (SNLP was awarded the New York Times prize for best managed non-profit last year).

When I was applying to the Summer Institute I read that I was expected to work with a community of diverse, young women and that is exactly what happened, in such an educational, enjoyable, and memorable way. I shared my personal experiences with girls that I didn’t know and they did the same, and they accepted me. It was the very first time that I have worked with so many females and I felt so comfortable. I didn't have to worry about what anyone thought of me and I was glad to have that state of mind because it's what I think of myself that matters. My Dean was like the big sister that I never had. When I talked to her, it felt really good. We had so many connections on different levels and that was the same with all of the Nashers. Our talks consisted of fierce, beautiful, and powerful ideas with smiles, laughs and sometimes tears.
I learned about things that I had never heard of. Power, Identity, Privilege (PIP) had such a positive impact on my life and has inspired me to become an educator! And Leadership Seminar strengthened my leadership skills. My creative and academic classes rewarded me with so much knowledge and changed my ignorance about the social construct.
I believe that every young woman should have the chance to be a part of a community like the Sadie Nash Leadership Project because it is an everlasting bond that I am so thankful to have.

As a social worker with extensive experience working with youth, I was delighted to come across the Sadie Nash Leadership Project upon the recommendation of a friend and fellow social worker. The folks at Sadie Nash are firm believers of the need for feminist social change and for women who are directly impacted by inequality to be at the center of change making efforts.
This program encourages young women to view themselves as the experts of their experiences and provides them opportunities to redefine what it means to be a leader and take on leadership roles in their own communities.
I am excited to see all the contributions that Sadie Nash graduates will make in the years to come.

SNLP is the greatest! They empower young women to be leaders in unique and innovative ways. They truly believe in the young women they serve and the outcomes are extraordinary!

The staff at SNLP worked very hard to create a diverse environment. I believe that they did an excellent job, not just with racial, sexual, gender, religious, socio-economic, nationality, diversity, but also with skill sets. Every participant in the program, Deans, Staff, and Nashers all brought something to the table which greatly improved at least one other individual and the community as a whole.

SNLP was the major catalyst for expanding my gender and sex related research into Chicana feminism, integrating class, race, and many other aspects of ones identity into a feminist context.

I have visited Sadie Nash classes many times and I am always amazed and inspired by the work the young women do there and how the program transforms their lives. No other organization approaches leadership the way Sadie Nash does: by giving participants the tools and support they need to define leadership for themselves and then act as leaders within their own communities.

I have been to quite a few Sadie Nash events . They are always fun and inspiring. They showcase the young ladies who participate in their amazing programs in the most straightforward thus smart way. They let the girls shine with their confidence and poise. A great organization!