Ifetayo Cultural Arts Academy – Community Development: Excellence In Cultural, Educational & Arts Programming

ABOUT THE ORGANIZATION

Ifetayo Cultural Arts Academy is an arts and cultural organization dedicated to supporting the creative, educational and vocational development of youth and families of African descent in Flatbush, Brooklyn and surrounding communities in New York City. Ifetayo was born in the spring of 1989 as a six-week series of free modern dance classes for 50 students.

It has since grown to encompass six integrated programs that serve over 2,000 students annually through on-site academic and literacy training classes, performing, martial and visual arts classes, personal skills development, community development, cultural heritage classes, socially responsible art making and an additional 5,000 youth and families through affiliated programming and public performances.

SERVICES PROVIDED

  • Institutional capacity building
  • Program development
  • Curriculum development
  • IT development
  • Fiscal systems development
  • Board development
  • Staff and board capacity building
  • Fund development
  • Organizational assessment
  • Leadership development

RESULTS

  • Designed effective board trainings and development strategies that resulted in improved governance and fundraising
  • Assisted staff with leadership coaching for executive, senior and mid-management to take on increased responsibilities
  • Designed IT Systems that created efficiency, transparency and integration
  • Developed project management strategies that improved monitoring and evaluation procedures throughout the organization
  • Created and implemented succession planning strategies that successfully transitioned the then 25 year old organization from founder to new sustainable management team
  • Established transparent and integrated fiscal systems
  • Developed processes that encouraged 100% of alumni to reengage with the organization to work as faculty, Board members, and volunteers
  • Increased outreach to community members to secure a consistent student body of over 2,000 youth annually, and provided executive production services to secure an additional 5,000 youth, families and adults through related programming and public performances
  • Developed award winning programming and curriculums that yielded the following improved outcomes:
    • 100% of graduates in Rites of Passage program attended college, in communities where only 9% of students are college-ready (NYC Department of Education 2010/11).
    • 90% of college students graduated from college and obtained an Associate and/or Bachelor’s Degree.
    • 90% of Rites students maintained high academic achievement in school assessed by marinating above 80 percentile in two or more subjects.
    • Increased student retention to serve 20,000 youth through programming from 1989 to 2012.
    • 100% of the parents/guardians of Rites students engaged in organization in multiple ways, including volunteering, participating in the Parent Teacher Coalition, and attended adult classes and workshops.