CHST 4900 Professional Perspectives and Children: Organizations and Programs

Our mission is to protect LGBTQ youths from the harms of homelessness and empower them with the tools needed to live independently.

Beacon programs are school-based community centers serving children age six and older, and adults. There are currently 91 Beacons located throughout the five boroughs of New York City operating in the afternoons and evenings, on weekends, and during school holidays and vacation periods, including the summer.

Founded in 1995, The Brotherhood/Sister Sol (Bro/Sis) provides comprehensive, holistic and long-term support services to youth who range in age from eight to twenty-two. Bro/Sis offers wrap around evidence-based programming.The organization focuses on issues such as leadership development and educational achievement, sexual responsibility, sexism and misogyny, political education and social justice, Pan-African and Latino history, and global awareness. Bro/Sis provides four-six year rites of passage programming, thorough five day a week after school care, school and home counseling, summer camps, job training and employment, college preparation, community organizing training, and international study programs to Africa and Latin America.

Callen-Lorde is the global leader in LGBTQ healthcare. Since the days of Stonewall, we have been transforming lives in LGBTQ communities through excellent comprehensive care, provided free of judgment and regardless of ability to pay. In addition, we are continuously pioneering research, advocacy and education to drive positive change around the world, because we believe healthcare is a human right.

DRUM was founded in 2000 to build the power of South Asian low wage immigrant workers, youth, and families in New York City to win economic and educational justice, and civil and immigrant rights.

The Dignity in Schools Campaign-New York (DSC-NY) is a local chapter of the national Dignity in Schools Campaign coalition. DSC-NY is made up of 23 New York City organizations led by students, parents, educators, and advocates working to end school pushout, stop the overuse of suspensions, and end school-based arrests and summonses. We call on the New York City Mayor and Department of Education to implement positive approaches to school discipline, like restorative justice practices and mental health supports.

The Door’s mission is to empower young people to reach their potential by providing comprehensive youth development services in a diverse and caring environment.

FIERCE is a membership-based organization building the leadership and power of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) youth of color in New York City. We develop politically conscious leaders who are invested in improving ourselves and our communities through youth-led campaigns, leadership development programs, and cultural expression through arts and media. FIERCE is dedicated to cultivating the next generation of social justice movement leaders who are dedicated to ending all forms of oppression.

Girls for Gender Equity (GGE) promotes the physical, psychological, social and economic well-being of girls, women and ultimately the entire community. GGE believes that widespread violence against women and girls of color points to deeply rooted racial and gender discrimination that must be tackled as a peace-building and human rights priority. A Brooklyn, New York-based coalition-building and youth development organization, GGE acts as a catalyst for change to improve gender and race relations and socio-economic conditions for our most vulnerable youth and communities of color. In order to put an end to the barriers of segregation and discrimination based on gender, race, and class oppression, GGE takes a dual approach of community organizing and service provision. GGE mobilizes 600 NYC boys and girls ages 8-19, women and men under Title IX of the Education Amendment and its ten points, to work as a collective toward systemic change in all of the support networks that shape the development and achievement of girls and women. Concurrently, we nurture the optimal development of girls, women and, ultimately, the entire community through programs and campaigns.

At Global Action Project youth make media, grow their leadership, and create innovative stories that promote and amplify movements for social justice from low-income, new immigrant, TGNC (trans and gender non-conforming) and LGBQ (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Queer) communities.

Global Kids educates, activates and inspires youth from underserved communities to take action on critical issues facing our world.

Young people are New York City’s single largest resource. Our continued success and prosperity depend on how well we prepare them for the future. But in neighborhoods stressed by poverty, all too many children and youth don’t get the opportunities that can allow them to achieve long-term success. Good Shepherd Services goes where children, youth, and families face the greatest challenges and provides resources that build on their inherent strengths to help them thrive. We operate over 80 programs, which help nearly 30,000 youth and family members in struggling neighborhoods throughout New York City. All of our programs are united by a common goal—to create opportunities that help our participants succeed at school, at home, and in their community.

Hetrick-Martin Institute believes all young people, regardless of sexual orientation or identity, deserve a safe and supportive environment in which to achieve their full potential. Hetrick-Martin creates this environment for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and questioning (LGBTQ) youth between the ages of 13 and 24 and their families.
Through a comprehensive package of direct services and referrals, Hetrick-Martin seeks to foster healthy youth development. Hetrick-Martin’s staff promotes excellence in the delivery of youth services and uses its expertise to create innovative programs that other organizations may use as models.

Our model integrates four core strategies for concrete change that millions of families feel every day:
1. Legal and Survival Services to tackle discrimination, abuse and poverty;
2. Transformative Education to develop community members’ abilities to lead our organization, our movement, and society;
3. Community Organizing to transform the systems and power structures impacting our communities; and
4. Policy Innovation to rewrite unjust rules and make our democracy truly accountable to all of us.

The New York Civil Liberties Union (NYCLU) is one of the nation's foremost defenders of civil liberties and civil rights.

The NYSYLC was the first undocumented youth led organization in New York. We work to empower immigrant youth through leadership development, grassroots organizing, educational advancement, and self-expression. Our goal is to give undocumented youth the tools and space to organize and create change in our communities.

We as students have been ignored far too long in the education system. The Department of Education of New York refuses to allow us any control over our own education. The government marginalizes us to mute our opinions, but our voices will be heard. The NY Student Union is a movement meant to put control in the hands of the students. We are not waiting for our teachers, parents, or principles to fight for us. WE ARE FIGHTING FOR OUR SELVES! Let it be heard that we will fight together as students for what is right despite what anyone else says. The education system tells us "pass or die," but we yell back "Whose Schools? Our Schools?!"

RHI believes that social change to overcome systemic inequities begins with empowered youth. In partnership with community adults, we nurture young people in Red Hook to be inspired, resilient and healthy, and to envision themselves as co-creators of their lives, community and society. We envision a Red Hook where all young people can pursue their dreams and grow into independent adults who contribute to their families and community.

Led by students, the Urban Youth Collaborative (UYC) brings together New York City students to fight for real education reform that puts students first. Demanding a high quality education for all students, our young people struggle for social, economic, and racial justice in our schools and communities.

The Center for Court Innovation seeks to help create a more effective and humane justice system.

YouthPower! is a youth-led program that builds the leadership and power of low-income Desi youth in NYC to win educational and immigrant justice. YouthPower! members are ages 13-21 and attend NYC public schools, public colleges, and/or are low-wage workers. Through political education and campaign skills development, we seek to build a new generation of working class community leaders, runs campaigns led by youth to change public policies that impact their own lives, and build alliances with youth of color across the city and nationally for power.