Beam Center logo in white

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Our Enduring Connections

Since building our first big project with 27 campers at Beam Camp in a New Hampshire forest in 2005, Beam Center has empowered young people to do spectacular things no matter who they are or where they start.

We now collaborate with 4000+ New York City kids and teens annually to set and achieve ambitious goals in school, at work, and in life by making mentorship, creation, and collaboration central to their in- and out-of-classroom learning and college or work-preparatory experiences.

As Beam Center’s 19th year closes and we look to what comes next, this 2023 Annual Review celebrates both this year’s spectacular projects — whether in forest or classroom — and the duration and depth of the relationships that made them possible. Though we and our collaborators — youth, artists, educators, supporters like you — draw energy from the moment of big collaborative achievement, it is the durable connections accrued over hours, days and years of reciprocal learning and shared accomplishment that make all of us stronger as individuals and as a community.

Whether a first time camper, a third grader on the first day of a classroom project, a high schooler starting their Apprenticeship journey, or a Principal exploring a partnership with Beam, we begin with the same message: we want to make something powerful with you over the long-term.

Our History of Connections

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Featured
2005
2005

Beam Summer

27 kids follow Brian and Danny into the New Hampshire forest to build

2012
2012

Youth Employment

1 former camper works as an assistant at Beam's Inventgenuity Workshop after-school program

2012
2012

School Partnerships

Our first school partnership: 12 students from School of International Studies build the Open Stoop project designed by Playlab, Inc.

2011
2011

Beam Staff

1 full-time Beam Center employee

2013
2013

Dedicated Donors

Beam Center receives its first donation as a nonprofit

2023
2023

2023: Beam Summer

1,125 young people build Beam Projects in 21 locations with a staff of 318

2023
2023

Youth Employment

432 young people embark on early employment experiences

2023
2023

School Partnerships

60 schools, including the original 2, partner across five programs

2023
2023

Beam Staff

31 full-time Beam Center employees, including 3 former youth participants and 6 of whom have worked at Beam for 6+ years

2023
2023

Dedicated Donors

30% of those original donors continue to collaborate with us today

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Our Community

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Who We Serve:

Circle chart moving gif, showing that 50% of those served are multilingual learners
Circle chart moving gif, showing that 87% of those served are Black, Hispanic, and Asian
Circle chart moving gif, showing that 77% of those served come from low income households

Our impact:

Gif of moving numbers showing that 4,007 youth were served in 2023
Gif of moving numbers showing that Beam Center had 219 apprentices in 2023
Gif of moving numbers showing that Beam Center employed 426 project leaders and externships in 2023
Gif of moving numbers showing that $856,800 was earned by youth in 2023
Gif of moving numbers showing that Beam Center had 60 New York City public school partners in 2023
Gif of moving numbers showing that there are 15 schools that have been partners with Beam Center for 5+ years in 2023

Connected Futures

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From a Fish Parade in the Bronx to an Escape Room in Queens, Beam’s projects and places of 2023 were glorious celebrations of what we as learners, teachers and builders can achieve when we invest in our shared, connected futures.

How Beam Connects

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  • —Kieran Pierre, a 2015 camper ran the Beam Camp woodshop in summer 2023

    From Camper to Woodshop Specialist

    “Camp was just an incredibly supportive and loving environment that I’ve never really experienced before. As staff it’s our job to trust campers and make sure that they have an environment in which anything they might need to create is available to them, whether that’s materials or an experienced mentor in the shop with them.”

  • —Laya Yagersys, a former Brooklyn International High School student, now a junior at Brooklyn College.

    From Student to Teacher

    “As a Project Leader, my job is to design and teach projects to children. But before that was my job, I was just a student. A student who has always dreamed of changing the world. Beam Center has given me the chance to have an impact on each child I work with, and that is absolutely a way to begin changing their worlds.”

  • —Serena Seshadri, has a PhD in Chemistry from University of California, Santa Barbara and as Project Designer at Beam Center, works in schools and at Beam Camp City

    From Chemist to Beam Project Designer:

    “We don’t try to enforce just one type of learning, we advocate for seeing what the kids want to learn and what they bring for it, then kind of molding the projects as they go on to shape that.”

  • —David Choi, Humanities teacher at Bronx International High School, a Beam school partner since 2012

    From Teacher to Youth Co-Worker:

    “Being able to work with high schoolers in [the Beam] context, we were kind of like coworkers, and that shaped my view towards students a little more. It felt more like a mentor relationship with my students.”

From Apprentice to Board Member: Ahmad Choudhry

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From Camp Parent to Decade-long Donor: Bobby McCain

What’s Next?

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Our enduring connections provide the strength and knowledge to continue to build ambitiously into Beam Center’s third decade. To this end, in 2024 we will:

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Implement a year-round credentialing program in 3 career disciplines

Plan a new Beam Center facility to increase our program space by 50%

Expand our donor network to support our Beam 2030 Strategic Vision

Our Finances

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Beam Center 5-Year Financial Analysis

School and Community Programs Combined

Animated bar graph gif showing the growth of Beam Center's income and expenses from 2019 to 2023.

Income:

$4,060,573.80

Animated pie chart gif showing the percentage of Beam Center's 2023 income from general contributions, public grants, private grants, NYC Public School and DYCD Contract Income, and camp tuition

Expenses:

$4,032,861.00

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Our 2023 Partners

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These partners show up in big and small ways, all working together for the good of our youth and enabling us to connect their potential to brighter futures.

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    • Bronx Arena High School

    • Bronx International High School

    • Brooklyn Frontiers High School

    • Brooklyn International High School

    • Brooklyn School of Inquiry

    • Crotona International High School

    • East Brooklyn Community High School

    • Essex Street Academy

    • Humanities Prep

    • International Community High School

    • International High School of Health Sciences

    • IS 145

    • Lyons Community School

    • Manhattan Comprehensive Day & Night School

    • Manhattan International High School

    • MS 442

    • MS 582

    • MS 676 Harbor Middle School

    • PS 178

    • PS 938

    • Queens Satellite

    • South Bronx International Middle School | MS 593

    • Thomas A. Edison CTE High School

    • UASDC: Urban Assembly School of Design & Construction

    • Van Siclen Community Middle School

    • Wheels | Washington Heights Expeditionary Learning School

    • Health Opportunities High School

    • James Madison High School

    • Liberty High School Academy for Newcomers

    • Lower East Side Preparatory High School

    • Manhattan Academy for Arts and Language

    • Khalil Gibran International Academy

    • Newcomers High School

    • Sunset Park High School

    • PS 130

    • PS 111

    • PS 191

    • PS 155

    • PS 16

    • MS 311

    • PS 76

    • PS 70

    • PS 333

    • PS 376

    • PS 188

    • City Polytechnic High School

    • New York Harbor High School

    • Food & Finance High School

    • Manhattan Bridges High School

    • High School for Hospitality Management

    • Medgar Evers Preparatory High School

    • Brooklyn STEAM Center

    • Benjamin Banneker Academy

    • Facing History High School

    • The High School for Global Citizenship

    • Collective Fare

    • Building Beats

    • Van Cortlandt Park

    • Compére Collective

    • GI Trust

    • City of Chelsea Massachusetts

    • Boston Museum of Science

    • CAMBA

    • Why Not Art

    • ExpandEd Schools

    • NYC STEM Educators Network

    • Work-Based Learning Coalition

    • Big Reuse

    • Billion Oyster Project

    • Brooklyn Children's Museum

    • Brooklyn College Haitian Studies

    • Building Beats

    • CAMBA PS 361

    • City Growers

    • Coditivity

    • Collective Fare

    • cysana

    • FADMarket

    • Flying Leap Productions

    • Hospitality on site

    • IHSHS

    • ISHPH

    • IKEA

    • Kids In the Game

    • Lamont Doherty

    • LMCC

    • MakerState

    • NPS

    • NYEdge

    • NY Presbyterian Hospital

    • QWANQWA

    • Reelworks

    • Reti Center

    • Secret Riso

    • Shahana Hanif

    • Shandaken Projects

    • Shapeshifter Lab

    • South Street Seaport Museum

    • SteamChamps

    • Teknikio

    • The Point CDC

    • Textile Arts Center

    • World Explorers NYC

    • United 4 Social Change

    • Shervone Neckles

    • Tijay Mohammed

    • Andre Kong

    • Rube Correia

    • Michael Runge

    • Mayowa Tomori

Our Supporters

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These generous donors serve a bridge, connecting our vision with the tangible impact of our work.

This list reflects general operating support from September 1, 2022 to August 31, 2023.

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    • Robin Hood Foundation

    • Amazon

    • Jacques and Natasha Gelman Foundation

    • Mary Millstone Family Foundation

    • NYC Department of Cultural Affairs

    • New York Community Trust

    • New York State Council On The Arts

    • Brian and Maggie

    • National Endowment for the Arts

    • Robert and Adele Schiff Family Foundation

    • Altman Foundation

    • Youth Inc.

    • ConEdison

    • Danny Kahn & Anita Merk

    • Doss Cunningham

    • Fabian Jabro & Renee Epps

    • Fordham Street Foundation

    • Hillman Family Foundation

    • Jacques and Natasha Gelman Foundation

    • Jennifer Mangino & James Falick

    • Joseph Steinberg

    • Manish Patel

    • National Grid Foundation

    • Sally Cohen

    • NYC City Council

    • The Diller-Von Furstenberg Family Foundation

    • Albert M. Redd Jr.

    • Bobby and Sarah McCain

    • Carleen Borsella & Jonathan Hoefler

    • Cindy Levit

    • Beta Fund

    • George Loening

    • Juliette and Aaron Adams

    • Kelly Bird

    • Lisa Barbaris

    • R/GA

    • Sarah Friedman

    • Standard Architects

    • The Kappler Marrack Foundation

    • Young Lee Chalker

    • Alex Stachelberg

    • Ann & Ken Harrell

    • Bar None Inc.

    • Carlyle Group

    • Derek Fordjour

    • Gino Polizzotto

    • Grace & Michael Freedman

    • Holly Halvarson & Jim Macnie

    • Ian McRae

    • Jeanne Messing Walsh

    • Jennie Quinn

    • Jill & John Hurst

    • Julie Penney

    • Karol Todrys

    • Katherine Larchian & Marco Perry

    • Kenneth J Montgomery Esq.

    • Laura Kirk

    • Leslie Ehrlich

    • Michael J. Hirschhorn & Jimena Martinez

    • Mitchel Friedman

    • Nancy Hoffman

    • Nicole Kim

    • Robert and Anita Jacobson

    • Senchak Family Donor Advised Fund

    • Shannan Schuster

    • Stephen Maharam

    • United Brotherhood of Carpenters & Joiners of America Local Union 926

    • Why Not Art

    • Anita Merk

    • Ann Mangino

    • Christina Kirk

    • Christine Larchian

    • David Herbstman

    • Ebony Bolt

    • Edward Mafoud

    • Illinois Tool Works

    • James McKenna

    • Jennifer Hanlin

    • John Rathgeber

    • John Reinfelder

    • Julia Bator

    • Keith White Esq.

    • Kelly Bird

    • Laura Hansen

    • Lauren and Alan Klein

    • Nancy Jeffries

    • Sandra Sacks

    • Steve Sampson

    • Taewook Cha

    • The Joyner Family

    • Wendy Adams McCain

    • Abby Rothschild

    • Alexandra Panzer

    • Alice Haynsworth Hendricks

    • Allen Downey

    • Allisyn Levy

    • Amanda Vender

    • Andrew Hilsberg

    • Ann Mangino

    • Anna Schechter

    • Artesia Balthrop

    • Benjamin Jackson

    • Benjamin Kornfeind

    • Brad Hunt

    • Breanna Hayes

    • Catherine Hnatov

    • Chris Whipple

    • Christine Apostolou

    • Clayworks On Columbia

    • Dana Hawkins

    • Darrin Geraffo

    • David Beattie

    • David Green

    • David Silva

    • Deborah & Ira Heffan

    • Diana Kahn

    • Diane and Ted Slafsky

    • Entegris, Inc.

    • Flavia de Souza

    • Gargi Seshadri

    • Gina D'Addario

    • Gina Sonder

    • Gregg August

    • Holly Halvarson

    • Jacqueline Jaber

    • Janet Stern

    • Jeffrey Franklin

    • Jennie Quinn

    • Jennifer Mangino

    • Jennifer Morris

    • Jody Winer

    • John Berman

    • Joseph A. Van Orsdel

    • Judith Ruland

    • Judy Schwartz

    • Julie Sacks

    • Kate Apostolou

    • Kathleen Deems

    • Kathleen Rucker

    • Kathryn Wallem

    • Katie Benrubi

    • Kerrie and Ken Brayman

    • Kim Muench & Chris Marx

    • Kimberly Carter

    • Kimberly Carter

    • Laure Sullivan

    • Linda Hagan

    • Linda Wexelblatt

    • Lisa Downey

    • Lisa Lenz

    • Lisa Smith

    • Louise Diamond

    • Marc Fernandes

    • Marisol Castañeda

    • Mark Righter

    • Marvin Bass

    • Mary Stokinger

    • Matthew Wishnow

    • Michael Preston

    • Michael Zeh

    • Miriam Feuerman

    • Misha Macnie

    • Molly Schneider

    • Molly Schwartz

    • Monika Wuhrer

    • Nancy & Ken Robinson

    • Nancy Otero

    • Neil Platt

    • Nilesh Seshadri

    • Phi Pham

    • Phill Shung

    • Phuoc Ngoc

    • Rebecca Weller

    • Richard Bengloff

    • Richard Yancey

    • Robbie Crawford

    • Roy Niederhoffer

    • Sam Penney

    • Sarina Green

    • Saskia Traill

    • Scott Padden

    • Scott Pollack

    • Shannon O'Brien

    • Sharelle Hicks

    • Sherree Drezner

    • Stephen Craig

    • Steven Kleinberg

    • Todd Beeby

    • Tony Martinez

    • Watson Bosler

    • Yasmin Kudrolli

    • Yolanda Wu

    • Allen Riley

    • Ana Otero

    • Arlette Sanders

    • Benjamin Weber

    • Calvin Stalvig

    • Cassie Broadus-Foote

    • Claire Penney

    • Clark Halpern

    • Crockett Macnie

    • Cynthia Riley

    • David Bobrowitz

    • Dexter Cohen

    • Emily Terry

    • Erin Kuschner

    • Gary Maltz

    • James Venetsanakos

    • Jessica Spohn

    • Jill Coplan

    • Joanne Bouknight

    • Jody Drezner Alperin

    • Jonathan Pleva

    • Juli Lopez-Castillo

    • Julie DeLoria

    • Liz Koch

    • Logan Pfister

    • Lynn Shon

    • Malissa Smith

    • Marie Vadillo-Glasier

    • Matthew Robinson

    • Maya Ennis

    • Megan Hodges

    • Michael Lonchar

    • Mike Barnes

    • Natalie Deely

    • Niurka Campusano

    • Pearl Cohen

    • Purna Rodman Conare

    • Raven Conrad

    • Rob Direnzo

    • Sarah Wisnoski

    • Scott Jackson

    • Scott Kayhart

    • Sylvie Freedman

    • Taewook Cha

    • Teresa Boguta

    • Tiffany Mathias

    • Ye Zhu

Help us meet our goals

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