Dear Friends,

Each year, the Mission Society’s students, parents, and educators reaffirm that there is unyielding hope and possibility around every corner. With creativity, dedication, and heart, they pen the stories of a better tomorrow, and show us the brighter futures we can build together.

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That is why, when we set out to reflect on the last twelve months, our first thoughts were of the lessons we learned from the individuals that make our work possible.

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From our students, we learned resiliency, watching as they developed new literacy and critical thinking skills, thrived in unique internships, and sparked important advocacy and service projects in their communities during a challenging time. Our educators taught us innovation, while they worked around the clock to adapt our programs to a virtual environment and shape exciting, new opportunities for young people across our city.

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And unforgettably, when families were met with unprecedented hardship, they showed us the true meaning of compassion. Hundreds of individuals across New York came together to share vital resources with those who needed them most, and with their ongoing efforts, we hope no one will be left behind.

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Though we are fortunate to have accomplished so much in 2020, we also faced unimaginable heartbreak. It would be easy to look back and feel discouraged and overwhelmed, but instead we choose to join our community in turning our grief into a powerful force of change.

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The Mission Society is shaped by people who lead with courage, perform simple acts of kindness, and face challenges with unrelenting hope, and we are grateful for these lessons and their example as we enter a new year. Thank you for bringing your own creativity, dedication, and heart to our work, and for teaching us about who we are and who we can be every day.

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With this in mind, we are excited to share the impact we’ve achieved together last year, and to see what new stories we write together in the days ahead.

Sincerely,

Elsie McCabe Thompson

President & CEO

Matthew W. Mamak

Chair, Board of Directors

BUILDING BRIGHTER FUTURES

“I’m excited to be part of an organization that recognizes students are smart, insightful, and have big dreams, and that we help them achieve those dreams.”

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– Nanda Prabhakar, Senior Vice President of Program Operations

LEARNING TO WORK

Each year, the Mission Society's Learning to Work program addresses the education opportunity gap experienced in under-resourced communities - alleviating barriers to high school graduation, attending college, and finding employment. In 2019-20, we served nearly 1,900 over-age and under credited students across seven transfer public high schools in Manhattan, Brooklyn, and the Bronx.

INTERNSHIP PROGRAM

318 Mission Society students joined our paid internship program, earning a total of $983,379 as they worked alongside professionals in their fields of interest.

MENTORSHIP HOURS

We provided 1,900 mentorship hours, as well as career development opportunities - like one-of-a-kind tours - to give students insight into the variety of professions within their reach post-graduation.

COLLEGE COUNSELING

Our team of educators offered 3,100 hours of college counseling, and created vital resources to assist students on their college application journeys.

POWER ACADEMY

Over 1,400 elementary and middle school students participated in Power Academy, our afterschool and summer academic enrichment program. In five schools across Manhattan and the Bronx, we created and provided interactive curricula to help young people develop valuable literacy, STEAM, and social and emotional learning skills for the classroom and beyond.

STRONGER READERS

Through the interactive literacy learning activities of LitUp! and Pages to Stages, 92% of our students indicated that they became stronger readers over the course of the year.

INCREASED CONFIDENCE

Students participated in over 66,300 hours of arts programming that increased confidence, boosted communication skills, and sparked imaginations.

STEM EDUCATION

15,000 hours of STEM education were provided through our Innovation Station program, fostering young engineers and cultivating a passion for these increasingly important subjects.

MISSION ACCOMPLISHED

WELCOMING

NEW PARTNERS

Brooklyn Democracy Academy - a transfer school for over-age, under-credited students - joined the Mission Society family last year. Through the newly established Learning to Work site, we facilitated comprehensive academic and career development programs for over 200 students.

“I believe that everyone is capable of doing whatever they want to do. My guiding principle is ‘how can I make this better?'”

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– Carmen Rosario,

Program Director, PS 192

CELEBRATING OUTSTANDING EDUCATORS

Mission Society educator, Carmen Rosario, was given a 2020 PASEsetter Award on February 25 in recognition of her hard work over the past 15 years - furthering the field of afterschool programming; encouraging the academic, social-emotional, and creative development of her students; and serving as a role-model for our community.

TRANSFORMING COMMUNITIES

Under the mentorship of the American Planning Association (APA) and Nate Heffron, ELLIS students shared their proposal for the expansion of the BX9 bus route with urban planning professionals throughout the year. At the end of 2020, the project was one of six to receive the William H. Whyte Award for Creativity and Ingenuity in the field of planning from the New York Metro Chapter of the APA.

Photo by Paul Bruinooge of Patrick McMullen and Getty Images

EXPRESSING

GRATITUDE

In 2019, the Mission Society hosted our annual Fall Harvest Feast and Winter Celebration. Each event was an opportunity to show our gratitude to our community, sharing food and fun with our students, parents, staff, and neighbors in Harlem. At the Fall Harvest Feast, volunteers served over 400 individuals, and distributed 156 turkeys to local families. At our yearly Winter Celebration, 70 guests enjoyed games, food, music, and a festive photo booth.

BEYOND THE CLASSROOM

GIVING THE GIFT OF IMAGINATION

Many of the young people that come through our doors are unable to build their own home libraries, which can be a crucial for developing literacy skills and kicking off a learning journey. With the help of inspiring partners and community members, we gave the gift of imagination, donating over 4,000 books to students across the city.

PROTECTING STUDENT WELL-BEING

Each year, we prioritize the social and emotional health of our community and demonstrate to every student that they are not alone. In 2019-20, our licensed social workers offered over 2,550 hours of counseling, and created resources to show student’s how to navigate self-care and manage stress during an unprecedented year.

SERVING THE COMMUNITY

Our educators worked alongside 370 students on community service projects throughout the city. Projects included mentoring youth, advocacy work, volunteering at food kitchens, participating in park clean ups, delivering meals to individuals in need, and more.

RESPONDING TO COVID-19

The COVID-19 crisis had a profound impact on the Mission Society community - especially the 75% of families living below the poverty line that benefit from our programs. The onset of the pandemic required us to adapt, and ensure our offerings reflected the needs of each student and parent.

EMERGENCY

RELIEF FUND

With the help of our community, we established an Emergency Relief Fund, that allowed us to provide 258 care packages of essential household items, 262 warm meals, and $64,300 in cash assistance to families in need.

DISTANCE LEARNING LIBRARY

Our educators and specialists launched a Distance Learning Library, with daily STEAM, literacy, and physical fitness activities for our K-8 students.

In partnership with Scholastic Inc., BOKS Kids, and Weeks Lerman, we facilitated a seven-week Summer LearnIN program, providing 750 students with new books, art supplies, workbooks, and a weekly newsletter filled with interactive learning opportunities.

Dedicated Mission Champions ensured that high school students received much-needed technology for remote learning at the onset of school closures.

SUCCESS STARTS WITH STRONG LEADERSHIP

EXECUTIVE STAFF

BOARD OF DIRECTORS

John Bader

Chairman & Chief Investment Officer

Halcyon Asset Management

Peggy Jacobs Bader   

Marketing & Communications Consultant 

Kim Bingham

Founding Partner,
American & European Client Coverage

Global Frontier Partners

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Lloyd Brown*

Managing Director, CRA

and Fair Lending

Citibank

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Laura Flavin

VP, Global Compensation

& Benefits

Colgate-Palmolive Company

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Hannah Choi Granade

CEO & Founder
mLogg

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Burhan Jaffer

Chief Strategy Officer 

Conduent

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Timothy G. Little

Partner, Real Estate

Katten Muchin Rosenman

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Matthew W. Mamak, Chair

Partner

Alston & Bird

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Jay Moorhead, Treasurer

Managing Director
Global Power Partners

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Pamela J. Newman

President & CEO

PJN Strategies

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Katrina Peebles, Vice Chair

Principal & Creative Director

The Peebles Corporation

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James B. Peterson, Jr.

Principal

Pioneer Acquisitions

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Stanley H. Rumbough, Secretary

Architectural Photographer

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Jean Shafiroff

Author & Philanthropist

Derek Steinhiser**

Partner

Ernst & Young

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Alvarez Symonette

COO
Lady M Confections

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Elsie McCabe Thompson

President & CEO

Mission Society of New York City​

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Gregory Worrell

President
Scholastic Education

* Special Advisor to the Chairperson of the Board

** Honorary Board Member

OUR SUPPORTERS

$1,000,000+

NYC Department of Education

NYC Department of Youth and Community Development

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$100,000 to 999,999

New York City Council

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$50,000 to $99,999

Fiona & Stanley Druckenmiller

Fordham University

Lawrence Morris Charitable Trust

Stanley H.& Leah Rumbough

$25,000 to $49,999

Arnhold Foundation

Citibank

Cornelia T. Bailey Foundation

Gray Foundation

John & Peggy Bader

Martin & Jean Shafiroff

New York Community Trust

Time Warner

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$10,000 to $24,999

Alston & Bird LLP

BKD CPAs and Advisors

Cleveland H. Dodge Foundation

James B. & Lauren L. Peterson

Kramer Levin Naftalis & Frankel LLP

Michael Fisch

The Pamela J. Newman Foundation

Senator Investment Group

William C. and Joyce C. O’Neil

  Charitable Trust

$1,000 to $9,999

Brown and Brown of Garden City
C.L. & G.M. Galpin
Clara McDonald
Cos Bar Retail, LLC
Douglas Eillman Real Estate

Elsie McCabe Thompson
Eric Vorenkamp
Gregory Worrell

Hannah & Matthew Granade
Jay & Missy Moorhead
Jeannie & Brian Rosenthal
Jennifer & Seth Grossman

Jonathan Scott

Joseph J. Brooks

$500 to $999

Alan Schwartz

Colgate-Palmolive

L. Kelly Atkinson,Jr.

Lucy Hwong Gordon

Michael H. Singer

Rita Mitjans

Silda Spitzer

William & Mary Jane Driscoll

Kim Bingham

Laura B. Vogler Foundation

Laura Flavin

Matthew W. and Marie-Christine Mamak

Nothin’ Special

Partnership for Afterschool Education

Paul & Christine D’Amico

Philip Pilevsky

Prime Buchholz

Professional Computer Associates

S & E Bergman Charitable Fund

Shannon J. Hales

Stanley & Marion Bergman

Switzer Group

United Talent Agency

$100 to $499

Alberta Crum
Allison Ecung
Carol A. Cross
Celia Berk
Cynthia Filgueira
Edwin Deane Leonard
Evangelia Kingsley
G. & R. Kummer

James Frazier
Jewish Communal Fund
Kim Sillen
Laura Sanchez
George Steinhiser
Linda Hayakawa
Lynne Rubin
Robert Watt
Sally Guido
Scott Herz
Steve Corrales
Susan Borschel

In-Kind

Alston & Bird LLP

BOKS Kids
Katten Muchin Rosenman LLP
Molton Brown

Scholastic
Shearman & Sterling LLP
Weeks Lerman Group
White & Case LLP

RESPONSIBLE STEWARDSHIP

Organizational Revenue

Public Funding

Investment Returns

Contributions

Occupancy & Other Income

Funding Allocations

Program Services

Management & General

Fundraising & Public Relations

Operating Revenue Over (Under) Expenses

FORM 990

2020

$7,103,233

$1,213,886

$815,933

$133,641

$9,266,692

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$7,342,317

$1,265,263

$468,117

$9,075,696

$190,996