Overview
When Lori Kaplan went to volunteer at the Latin American Youth Center in 1979, she found a “beehive of activity" where kids and young adults were working side by side, helping one another learn, grow and find their way in a new culture. Most of the young people were newly arrived immigrants from Spanish-speaking Caribbean countries. Their young lives had been marked deeply by the stress of dislocation, poverty, language barriers, and feeling unwelcome. At LAYC, they found a place to be themselves, to sing, to dance, to learn, and to tell stories that celebrated who they were.
LAYC has grown considerably over the years and serves a broad population of young people from Latin America and other regions, but for Lori, who has been its director since 1984, the essence of the center is the same. “I am touched every day by something that reminds me that we are making a difference in people’s lives. Some days it’s a beautiful piece of art that reveals a young person’s hopes and dreams, or something they write about overcoming their fear and hurt."
“I was just 11 years old when I first stepped in the LAYC,” writes 18-year-old Jesus Amaya in an LAYC newsletter. “Coming to the LAYC was a chance to escape the gangs and drugs and violence that were going on around me. The LAYC has been my home away from home. It had resources I couldn't get other places.” Through his participation in several programs and activities at LAYC, Jesus and many of his friends see a new world of possibilities. He is planning to go to college to study engineering and architecture. “If it weren't for the LAYC, I would have probably been on the streets, involved in a gang. The youth center helped me get my life going.”
Investment Fact Sheet
Latin American Youth Center
http://www.layc-dc.org
1419 Columbia Rd, NW
Washington, DC 20009
202-319-2225
Founded in 1974
Executive Director: Lori Kaplan
Board Chair: Tony Marquez
Mission and History
The Latin American Youth Center (LAYC) was founded in 1974 to serve the needs of Caribbean, and later, Latin American youth who had recently arrived in Washington, DC. Its mission is “to support youth and families in their determination to live, work, and study with dignity, hope and joy.” As the demographics of the Adams Morgan, Columbia Heights, and surrounding neighborhoods changed, LAYC programs grew to include Latino, African and African-American, and Asian teens and young adults. Today the organization provides a wide range of educational, social, and job-related programs targeting youth between the ages of 12 and 21. Within its multilingual and multicultural environment, LAYC strives to counteract the effects of poverty and racism. Their programs help youth develop critical thinking and leadership skills, support educational success, and, through the visual and performing arts, address cultural differences and difficult social issues.
Services
LAYC provides academic assistance, employment, and wrap-around services for low-income and at-risk youth, serving approximately 1,000 youth on an ongoing basis and thousands more through a variety of outreach programs. The programs fall into three major categories:
- Educational Enhancement
LAYC’s complement of educational programs are designed to prevent in-school youth from dropping out by promoting academic achievement through tutoring, Saturday academies, college prep, and arts and recreational activities, including summer sports leagues. The center’s Upward Bound program provides educational enhancement and college preparation to 50 9th-12th graders and their parents. Next Step Charter School offers GED and ESL classes to 50 teen parents and other youth ages 13-21. - Work Skills
The center offers several programs to introduce students to career fields and to provide out-of-school youth with soft and hard skills job training, GED preparation, and case management. For example, each year, the Columbia Heights Youthbuild program provides 45 youth with construction jobs and leadership training. The Ben & Jerry’s Partnershop at Eastern Market trains and employs 30 teens and young adults. - Social Services
These programs assist in-school and out-of-school youth engaged in high-risk behaviors through prevention, diversion, and intervention services including individual and group counseling, drug treatment, housing, foster care, and family support programs. One such service, the Substance Abuse Prevention and Treatment Program, reaches over 1,000 youth with street outreach, school-based workshops, and counseling.
Charter Schools
The Next Step/El Próximo Paso Public Charter School was founded in 1996 as a learning environment for youth, many of them immigrants, who have dropped out of school or have never been enrolled in school in the U.S.
The Latin American Montessori Bilingual (LAMB) Public Charter School was founded in 2003 as a self-directed learning environment for youth ages 3-12, where students are learning a second language, either English or Spanish, in a multicultural environment.
The YouthBuild Public Charter School, which combines the proven YouthBuild employment skills program with a GED curriculum, opened in the fall of 2005.
Leadership
Lori M. Kaplan
Executive Director
Lori M. Kaplan began working as a volunteer at the Latin American Youth Center (LAYC) in 1979, joined the staff in 1980, and has served as executive director since 1987. She also serves as the executive director of The Next Step Public Charter School, a public charter school founded by the LAYC in 1996 for teen parents, recent immigrants, and youth who have dropped out of traditional public schools.
In addition to her work at the LAYC, Kaplan serves as treasurer of the board of directors of Youth Radio, an award winning national youth radio and media arts training program based in California, with a DC-based bureau located at the LAYC. She is mayoral appointee to the District of Columbia Workforce Investment Council, and serves on the boards of the Consortium of Child Welfare, Capital Area Assets Building Corporation, Council on Latino Agencies, and the Nonprofit Roundtable of Greater Washington. She was a member of the 1991-1992 Leadership Washington class and frequently presents at local and national conferences and serves on advisory boards and steering committees on issues related to youth development, Latino community, and social justice.
Kaplan is the recipient of numerous awards including the 1994 Distinguished Leadership Award from the National Association for Community Leadership, Washingtonian Magazine’s 1997 Washingtonian of the Year, and the 2001 Lewis Hine Award for Dedicated Service from the National Child Labor Committee. She has a BA degree from Antioch College and a master’s degree in education from George Washington University. She is the proud mother of Max and lives with her family in the District of Columbia.
Anthony Marquez
Chairman, Board of Directors
LAYC Board of Directors Chair Anthony Marquez has served on LAYC’s board for several years and has worked on various projects on both the finance and governance committees. In his day job, he has responsibility for HSBC's middle Atlantic commercial real estate lending business. In that capacity, he is charged with continuing to build and to enhance the real estate lending franchise of HSBC in the middle Atlantic region.
Investment Summary
Please note: this Investment Summary represents VPP's perspective at the time of the investment agreement, January, 2006.
In January, 2006 VPP entered into a multi-year investment partnership with the Latin American Youth Center (LAYC), a highly successful community-based organization providing academic assistance, employability development, and wrap-around social services to the most at-risk Latino and multicultural youth population in a number of Washington, DC neighborhoods. Through this partnership, VPP will provide up to $1.5M in capital and significant non-financial support including management assistance and access to VPP’s network of contacts and resources to LAYC to support the organization's expansion in to Maryland. As part of its strategic business plan, the LAYC is expanding its operations into Maryland, including sites in Montgomery and Prince George’s Counties, to better meet the needs of children and youth in a demographically changing National Capital Region. This multi-site expansion effort is called the Maryland Multicultural Youth Center.
In March, 2003, VPP supported LAYC's business planning process to determine growth strategies with approximately $324,000 in funding, so VPP's total commitment to the LAYC is $1,824,191.
OPPORTUNITY
VPP has an opportunity to play a significant role in supporting a well-respected community leader to effectively expand programs and services to needy populations in Maryland. The partnership framework that has been laid between the Archdiocese of Washington and key stakeholders in the community is significant and is gaining momentum. The initial focus on the Langley Park expansion to the Mother Teresa Center has heightened the need and awareness for LAYC services in Montgomery County, with positive results. Plans are now taking shape to work with both Prince George’s and Montgomery Counties, in collaboration with the Archdiocese of Washington, for the delivery of services with broader regional impact. A multi-year strategic investment and partnership with LAYC would provide the capital and strategic assistance necessary to guide the regional expansion of a DC-based, multi-service organization.
Accomplishing LAYC’s goals for growth and expansion will firmly place the institution as a regional leader in developing and delivering highly effective multicultural support services to the under-served youth of this area. The partnership with the Archdiocese of Washington, in collaboration with other regional stakeholders, could serve as a model for the successful expansion of support services, across geographic boundaries, for the neediest populations of the region.
INVESTMENT RATIONALE
Key factors that underpin the thinking behind an investment in LAYC include:
1. Leadership: Lori Kaplan is a proven leader who has accomplished much for LAYC. She is considered one of the top non-profit leaders in the region. Over the past year Lori has elevated her thinking and become much more of a strategically opportunistic leader, developing explicit criteria for screening growth opportunities. The business planning process has been very helpful to Lori, her management team, and board to identify prerequisites for successful growth.
2. Outcomes Focus: The LAYC is one of the few youth serving organizations in the region with a senior level person dedicated exclusively to outcomes measurement. Isaac Castillo was hired in February 2005 to implement an effective outcomes measurement discipline and system within the LAYC family of organizations. Isaac has a very strong background in program evaluation and outcome measurement across a variety of youth development areas including: education, health, gang and violence prevention, substance abuse prevention, and life skills development. In a very short time frame Isaac has focused and advanced the definition of outcomes for youth through the LAYC’s Social Change Model, and has begun to lay the framework to integrate effective outcomes-based programming and measurement systems within the organization.
3. Leverage: The LAYC’s partnership with the Archdiocese of Washington is laying new ground for faith based and community based organization collaboration. The Archdiocese has brokered meetings on behalf of the LAYC with Cardinal McCarrick, Senator Mikulski, County Executive Duncan and other political and civic leaders. By investing in the LAYC, VPP has the opportunity to leverage the LAYC’s partnership with the Archdiocese of Washington, one of the strongest proponents of community development and social justice for low-income and marginalized youth and their families. Based on feedback from representatives of the Archdiocese, the partnership with the LAYC sets precedence in the Diocesan network, and they would like to expand the model to other communities in the country.
SUCCESS FACTORS
1. Management Team & Board: Lori has assembled one of the most high performing management teams in the region, including a new Managing Director for DC, Maryland Managing Director, Director for Learning and Evaluation, Director for Development, Director of Creative Enterprises, and Chief Financial Officer. The strength of the LAYC board of directors is exceptional. Over the past year Lori has repopulated her board of directors with 12 new directors, representing the skill set and geographic mix needed to represent the region. The board of the LAYC has also established a Maryland Advisory Committee responsible for making recommendations and providing background for Maryland related board decisions.
2. Fiscal Sustainability: Through the business planning process, a rational plan to fund the LAYC’s expansion was developed. LAYC has deployed a full time, senior level development person to exploit a diversified funding pool of resources. The LAYC has implemented a rather aggressive approach to fundraising, recognizing the importance of a diverse funding base.
3. Community support: LAYC has strong support in many communities in DC, including its service recipients and their families, the broader Latino community, foundations, local government, and corporate communities. These supporters will help ensure LAYC’s success over the long-term, and help ensure that the organization remains a viable and prosperous entity.
USE OF FUNDS
VPP’s investment capital of $1.5 million will be available to: 1) support the LAYC’s expansion into Maryland; 2) implement an outcomes-based programming model and measurement discipline, organization-wide; and 3) provide the management/functional infrastructure to effectively run a multi-site, regional organization.
Synopsis
The LAYC is a stronger organization and considerably better positioned to extend its reach and impact to serve communities of dire need in Maryland, following regional demographic trends, than it was in 2003. Its effectiveness and sustainability have increased as well. The LAYC surpassed original expectations, which resulted in VPP increasing its multi-year investment by an additional $900,000 for a total investment of $1,824,191.
Key Accomplishments
The LAYC has established three new centers in Montgomery and Prince George's Counties in Maryland, projected to serve thousands of youth with a select group of its services. Central to this strategic expansion is the unique partnership established with the Archdiocese of Greater Washington, critical ties to county agencies, secured funding streams in the new jurisdictions, and strengthened operations at its headquarters to manage new growth. Other noteworthy accomplishments that contributed to improved capacity and increased effectiveness include:
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Planning and Focus: Completed business planning in April 2004, facilitated by Monitor Group, resulting in a well-defined expansion plan for Maryland and the demographic data needed to make strategic choices about service provision.
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Human Capital-Board Management:
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Greatly strengthened senior management team, integrating Maryland Managing Director, DC Managing Director, Chief Financial Officer, Director of Development, and Learning and Evaluation Specialist.
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Better defining processes and utilization of staff across sites and charter schools as organization expands.
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Good board strengthened by addition of strategic members. Advisory board with local expertise and network created for Maryland expansion and also coordinates with charter schools.
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Capitalization/Revenue: Raised approximately $2 million for Maryland expansion over one year from multiple sources including local foundations, federal earmarks, public funding, and individual donors. Most notably, leveraged federal appropriations totaling $950 thousand, up from $100 thousand in the previous two years. Helped influence a gift of $1.25 million from the Fernandez Foundation to the Archdiocese partnership.
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Outcome Assessment: Extensive new outcomes assessment system designed and established for managing 40+ programs under the leadership of a full-time Learning and Evaluation Specialist.
Key Information
- Date, years, and stage of VPP Investment:
- March 2003; five years (complete)
- Capital committed and disbursed by VPP:
- $1,824,191 committed and funded
- Revenue increase and % budget growth:
- $5.3 to $15 million - 183% increase in four years
- Leveraged funding:
- $2.5 million
- Expansion to new places and coverage:
- Three new centers in two new Maryland counties and opened LAYC YouthBuild Charter School
Case Study
Responding to Needs, Measuring Results
For more than 40 years, the Latin American Youth Center has evolved and looked at ways to enhance its own performance so it can be an anchor in the rough seas that have buffeted the lives of multi-cultural youth in the region it serves. Since its founding in 1968, LAYC has offered vulnerable youth living in some of the region’s toughest neighborhoods the opportunity to escape from the negative influences of gangs, drugs, and neglect.
Over the years, LAYC responded to the changing needs of the communities it serves, growing from a small volunteer-focused effort serving primarily Latino youth to a network of centers and charter schools serving more than 4,800 multilingual youth in Washington, DC and Maryland.
In the early 2000’s LAYC Executive Director Lori Kaplan saw major changes on the demographic horizon and knew that LAYC needed to change as well. While one of LAYC’s greatest strengths is its multi-service delivery model, this method also presented some significant challenges as the organization contemplated expansion beyond its home base of Washington, DC into suburban jurisdictions.
With the development boom in the District in the late 1990s and early 2000’s, low-income families were finding they couldn’t afford to settle or continue to live in the District; they had to move to Maryland and Virginia. Housing in those locations was more affordable but the kinds of services LAYC provided were limited or not available.
“Many of our youth and families were moving to suburban Maryland, while young people and families who originally settled in suburban Maryland were coming to the LAYC seeking support. As a result in early 2000, the LAYC formed an exploratory committee on their Board of Directors to explore expansion into Maryland and Northern Virginia. These families were living there but coming to DC for services and we knew that things were changing and we had to look at that,” says Lori Kaplan, Executive Director of LAYC.
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