Executive Summary

Rocking the Boat has offered youth development education and community service programs in the Bronx for over 25 years. The impact is tremendous but we are still addressing the same entrenched challenges for economically and socially marginalized communities of color as when it began. The Bronx has retained the highest household and child poverty rates of any borough; negative health effects from environmental injustice remain high, access to educational enrichment activities and outdoor recreation remains low.

In the Rocking the Boat's unique model, wooden boatbuilding, sailing, and environmental research and restoration are powerful tools for technical and academic education, empowerment, and social/emotional development. Situated on the banks of the Bronx River, its educational activities give students a role in creating the means to access, enjoy, and conserve this extraordinary natural resource and a platform for developing their own success resources.  Through multi-year engagement in Rocking the Boat’s cornerstone Youth Development Program, high school students become deeply involved in ongoing project work and skill development while receiving academic and social/emotional support, college counseling, and job readiness training.  Participants are supported through the processes of completing high school, identifying and applying to college or trade schools, and transitioning into and completing post-secondary opportunities.  The impact of Rocking the Boat’s programs follows participants from introductory programs for middle school students, through an intensive high school afterschool and summer program, to ongoing college mentoring and alumni support for six years following high school graduation.

Organizations may provide budget and employee data based on this proposal or the organization as a whole. For more information on this proposal or organization, please email us.