My Nonprofit Reviews
boardmember-as
Review for The Art of Yoga Project, Palo Alto, CA, USA
This organization serves a high-risk, high-need group in a way virtually no other group does -- gender-responsive, small group attention to their most personal needs. AYP sows the seeds for lifetime changes in girls whose lives have started off on the wrong track. California and the country need more organizations like AYP.
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If I had to make changes to this organization, I would...
get the philosophy, approach, and curriculum into more organizations serving at-risk teen girls.
Will you volunteer or donate to this organization beyond what is required of board members?
Definitely
How much of an impact do you think this organization has?
Life-changing
Will you tell others about this organization?
Definitely
When was your last experience with this nonprofit?
2013
Review for The Art of Yoga Project, Palo Alto, CA, USA
I fell in love with the organization from the moment I watched the founder, Mary Lynn Fitton, teach a class in the San Mateo County juvenile detention facility for girls many years ago. I have had the pleasure of watching the organization grow from a tiny volunteer-dependent series of classes to a well-formed, stable organization that still provides outstanding service to local girls in need, but also is taking concrete steps to document its impact in order to broaden the impact of the program across the state, country, and even internationally. I consider it a privilege to serve on the board of this inspiring organization.
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Will you volunteer or donate to this organization beyond what is required of board members?
Definitely
How much of an impact do you think this organization has?
Life-changing
Will you tell others about this organization?
Definitely
When was your last experience with this nonprofit?
2012
Review for The Art of Yoga Project, Palo Alto, CA, USA
The Art of Yoga Project hooked me the minute I walked into a room in a secure facility full of teen girls all wearing their AYP t-shirts -- the only article of clothing they had that didn't say "Property of the County of _____" on it. As I watched them move through the yoga practice and art projects I was amazed at the level in which they were engaged in the activities, awestruck when a staff person pointed out two girls working together and told me they had been members of opposing gangs "on the outside." This program gives the girls a voice they often didn't know they had or never felt safe using. It provides them with vital coping skills that will no doubt help them overcome the challenges they will face upon their release and completion of the program. I can't imagine a more important service to girls who are preparing to start over on a better path. In addition to serving the incarcerated teens, AYP as an organization does a great job of developing teachers and leaders to bring their talents to this program and ones like it across the country.
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I've personally experienced the results of this organization in...
interviewing participants in the program and the staff at the facility who credit the positive changes in their thoughts, attitudes, relationships, academic achievement, and progress in other forms of treatment and with what they have learned through AYP
What I've enjoyed the most about my experience with this nonprofit is...
watching it grow from a tiny mostly volunteer group to a stable, growing organization that celebrates the potential of all the women involved from participants to the executive leadership.
The kinds of staff and volunteers that I met were...
dedicated, passionate, hard-working, tireless, resilient.
If this organization had 10 million bucks, it could...
dramatically change the way female teens are treated in the juvenile justice system across the country so that they can break the cycle of violence and crime and move forward with productive lives instead of cycling back into the adult corrections system.
How frequently have you been involved with the organization?
About every week
When was your last experience with this nonprofit?
2010
