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Beam Center: Partners with Youth

When I welcome a new group of young people to Beam Center, I thank them for shaping Beam’s future. I tell them that by choosing to collaborate on the world’s largest Shadow Puppet Theater at Beam Camp or by training to teach 3rd graders in a citywide summer school program, they are making Beam better and the world brighter.

While preparing this annual review for you, we came upon a stat that underlines my point: in 2025, 53% of Beam Center’s 141 part- and full-time instructional staff were former Beam program participants. 

Some, like Josias Gonzalez (who you’ll learn more about below) are college graduates, while others are still completing their degree. All of them are doing exactly what we hoped for when they started with Beam: putting their passion for creating and sharing knowledge in service of bettering lives, expanding horizons, and sustaining communities.

Since 2005, Beam Center has welcomed over 45,000 young people from 80+ New York City public schools into a culture of learning and service. Together we’ve built ambitious projects and experiences that integrate community, craft, academic knowledge, and career skills. 

This coming year, as we launch a strategic plan that aims to transform our model into formal evidence and expanded reach, I look forward to collaborating with you in achieving our shared vision: to prepare New York City youth facing structural adversity for the complexity, collaboration, and adaptability that defines the future of work and life.

Thank you for Beaming,

Brian Cohen
Executive Director & Co-founder

Our Impact

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Profiles in Partnership

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Josias Gonzalez Project Designer

Josias Gonzalez

Project Designer

Djenabou Diallo SkillCETT 2025

Djenabou Diallo

SkillCETT 2025

Shirley’s Journey

Shirley’s story reminds us that when young people are authentically engaged and given space to grow into their whole selves, they discover pride, purpose, and the confidence to chase their dreams. We’re inspired by her path and excited to see her become an advocate for young people who share her story. Shirley's experience shows how Beam Center's focus on making and learning prepares young people to exercise agency and leadership.

LISTEN TO SHIRLEY SHARE HER BEAM JOURNEY:

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Program Highlight

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OTHERWORLDS FAIR: WHERE YOUTH LEAD THE WAY

On August 16th, OtherWorlds Fair welcomed 300+ New Yorkers to explore the minds of young people through this year's Fair theme—“What’s Under the Surface.”

What fair-goers didn't see were the 12 weeks that 85 young people spent teaching, designing, planning and creating a variety of multimedia disciplines. All that hard work resulted in 4 workshops, 2 films, 3 public artworks, 10 performances, countless garments, and much more at OtherWorlds Fair. This growing initiative reflects one way Beam Center brings its mission of Big Projects to New York–sharing the kind of enriching, project-focused, creative experiences our youth participate in every day.

Beam Center amplified OtherWorlds Fair’s message this year through streaming audio to social media reaching more than 75,000 people across New York City to share the Fair’s magic.

“What makes the festival such a special event is that the projects and experiences the youth create to share with the public capture this buzz and energy, and what it can look like when young people show up as their authentic selves.”
— Serena (Director of Public Programming)

With a renewed focus on public engagement, we’re excited to bring OtherWorlds Fair to more New Yorkers, inviting them to explore Governors Island, an integral part of Beam Center’s ecosystem for youth opportunity.

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What’s Next

In the year ahead, we are launching the first stage of our strategic plan. This phase focuses on making Beam’s impact more visible and shareable: building a unified evaluation framework across all programs, partnering with external researchers, and creating new systems that trace the learning journeys of our young people over time.

This work will take partnership, imagination, and shared belief. In early 2026, we will invite you into this next chapter through community conversations and opportunities to learn alongside the young people and educators who are shaping Beam’s future.

We hope you’ll join us.

Our Finances

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Beam Center Financial Analysis

Bar graph showing Beam Center's income, expenses, and net assets from 2021 through 2025.

FY 2025 Finances (ending August 31, unaudited)

Income:

$4,521,563

Pie chart showing Beam Center's 2025 income: 64% NYC public school & DYCD contract income, 29% philanthropic support, 8% camp tuition.

Expenses:

$4,381,161

Pie chart showing Beam Center's 2025 expenses: 74% program expenses, 22% administration, 3% fundraising.

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Our 2025 Partners

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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    • District 75

    • Benjamin Banneker Academy

    • Bronx Arena

    • Brooklyn School of Inquiry

    • City Polytechnic High School

    • Bronx International High School

    • Brooklyn International

    • Brooklyn STEAM Center

    • International High School at Lafayette

    • Essex Street Academy

    • Facing History High School

    • Sunset Park High School

    • Food & Finance High School

    • MS 935

    • Health Opportunities High School

    • PS145

    • Queens Satellite

    • High School for Hospitality Management

    • IS 136

    • IS 145

    • IS 204

    • MS 354

    • James Madison High School

    • MS 419 Q 

    • Khalil Gibran International Academy

    • PS 938

    • Liberty High School Academy for Newcomers

    • Lower East Side Preparatory High School

    • Lyons Community

    • MS 676

    • IS 429

    • International School for Health Sciences

    • IS 218

    • Manhattan Academy for Arts and Language

    • East Brooklyn Community High School

    • International High School at Union Square

    • International High School at Prospect Heights

    • South Bronx International Middle School

    • Manhattan Bridges High School

    • Manhattan International High School

    • Medgar Evers Preparatory High School

    • MS 217

    • MS 442

    • MS 582

    • MS 278

    • New York Harbor High School

    • PS 346

    • PS 182

    • The High School for Global Citizenship

    • Newcomers High School

    • Pan American International High School

    • PS 1

    • PS 110Q

    • PS 111

    • PS 124

    • PS 127Q

    • PS 14

    • PS 166Q

    • PS 330

    • PS 6

    • PS 67

    • PS 86

    • PS 89Q

    • PS 96

    • PS MS 206

    • The Lexington Academy/04

    • Thomas A. Edison CTE High School

    • UA Maker

    • UASDC: Urban Assembly School of Design & Construction

    • Van Siclen Community Middle School

    • Bedford Academy High School

    • [Salon]718

    • Abib Newborn Learning Garden

    • Arbon, Inc.

    • Billion Oyster Project

    • Bracketville Books

    • Brooklyn Children's Museum

    • Brooklyn Combine

    • Brooklyn Magic Shop

    • Building Beats

    • CAMBA 

    • Collective Food Works

    • Cool Hand Movers

    • Councilmember Shahana Hanif

    • Cysana

    • Daiso

    • Dukode Studios

    • Earth Matters

    • ExpandEd Schools

    • FAB NYC

    • Global Citizen

    • Imagine Swimming

    • Intrepid Air & Space Museum

    • It's About Time TV1

    • Joseph P. Addabbo Family Health Center

    • Kids In The Game

    • Kitchen at Cobble Hill

    • La Mansion

    • Los Angeles Public Library

    • New York Edge

    • New York Presbyterian

    • New York Public Library

    • New Youth Leaders

    • NYC Department of Youth and Community Development

    • NYC First STEM Center

    • NYC Office of Technology and Innovation

    • NYC Parks

    • NYC Public Schools Division of Inclusive and Accessible Learning

    • NYC Public Schools Office of Multilingual Learners

    • NYC STEM Educators Network

    • One Love Foundation

    • People 4 People

    • Plaza Proleteria

    • Shandaken Projects

    • Soul Well

    • The Point CDC

    • United Way of New York City

    • Velvet Ropes Group

    • Volovox Labs

    • West Harlem Art Fund

    • Why Not Art

    • Work-Based Learning Coalition

    • World Explorers

    • Youth Inc.

    • Jon Shmulevitch

    • Fitgi Saint-Louis

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Our Supporters

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

This list reflects philanthropic support from September 1, 2024 to August 31, 2025.

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    • Robin Hood Foundation

    • Booth Ferris Foundation

    • MacMillan Family Foundation

    • Altman Foundation

    • Hollyhock Foundation

    • New York Community Trust

    • NYC Department of Cultural Affairs

    • Juliette & Aaron Adams

    • Auchincloss Creative Fund

    • BT Charitable Foundation

    • The Concordia Foundation

    • ConEdison Foundation

    • Fordham Street Foundation

    • National Endowment for the Arts

    • New York State Council on the Arts

    • Robert & Adele Schiff Family Foundation

    • Arch Capital Group

    • Beta Foundation

    • Derek Fordjour

    • Sarah Friedman

    • Jaques & Natasha Gelman Foundation

    • Fabian Jabro & Rene Epps

    • Danny & Anita Kahn

    • Nicole & Philip Kim

    • Jennifer Mangino & Jim Falick

    • National Grid Foundation

    • Joseph Steinberg

    • The Tow Foundation

    • Anonymous

    • Marc & Isabelle Baigneres

    • Maggie Poxon & Brian Cohen

    • Liz Elting

    • Cindy Levit

    • Ultracamp Foundation

    • Van Beuren Charitable Foundation

    • Kelly Bird

    • Amy Batallones & Cody Brown

    • Ahmad Choudhry

    • Bess Cohen

    • Kirsten Cole

    • Leslie Ehrlich

    • Monica Figueiredo

    • Why Not Art?

    • Patrick Gallagher

    • Holly Halvarson & Jim Macnie

    • Ann & Ken Harrell

    • David Herbstman

    • Michael J. Hirschhorn & Jimena Martinez

    • Nancy Hoffman

    • The Kappler Merrack Foundation

    • Christine Larchian

    • Katherine Larchian & Marco Perry

    • Anne Stark Locher

    • Joseph Luesse

    • Stephen Maharam

    • Mary Markell

    • Jeanne Elise Messing

    • Glenn Morrow & Elizabeth Van Itallie

    • Punit Naik

    • Julie Penney

    • Sandra & Harry Sacks

    • Cas & Alex Stachelberg

    • Doug Steiner

    • Traci Thomas

    • Kathryn Wallem & Jeff Sisson

    • Aaron Weymouth & Josephine Pietanza

    • Craig Wood

    • Peter Wright

    • Mark & Amy Zimet

    • Dov Alperin

    • Carlos & Amy Baez

    • Lazaro Baez

    • Katie Benrubi

    • Stacey Bosworth

    • Kerrie & Ken Brayman

    • Taewook Cha

    • Michael Craig

    • Marissa Feddema

    • David Frackman

    • Mitchel Friedman

    • David Green

    • Laura Hansen

    • Douglas Horowitz

    • Emma Hurst

    • Tim Janicki

    • Sunmoon Jang

    • Nancy Jeffries

    • Emily Jenkins

    • Jack & Diana Kahn

    • Robert Mangino

    • Daniel Marco

    • Kristopher Marx

    • Darius Mehraban

    • Chris O’Brien

    • Shannon O’Brien

    • Andrea Pincus

    • Jennie Quinn

    • Lynne Rathgeber

    • Brendan Reynolds

    • Nancy Robinson

    • Laura Rosenthal & Mark Williams

    • Barbara & Andrew Senchak

    • Phillip Shung

    • Bobbie Silber

    • Diane & Ted Slafsky

    • Sara Solomon

    • Edward Sopher

    • Jaidev Sridhar

    • Nancy Sussman

    • David van Hoogstraten

    • Eloisa Abislaiman

    • Christine Apostolou

    • Gil Aronow

    • Gregg August

    • Yelena Belzer

    • Richard Bengloff

    • Jenifer Berman

    • David Bither

    • Stacey Bosworth

    • Joanne K Bouknight

    • Elsie Brown

    • Jim Cain

    • Barbara Carswell

    • Kimberly Carter

    • Jill Coplan

    • Tory Cullen

    • Tara DelGado

    • Julie DeLoria

    • Katherine Desmet

    • Michael Driscoll

    • Valerie Eason

    • Rita Erickson

    • Lucas Falick

    • Marc Fernandes

    • Miriam Feuerman

    • David Frackman

    • Sylvie Freedman

    • Daniel Goldberg

    • Christine Goodman

    • Kaj Haley

    • Jennifer Henriquez

    • Jane Herships

    • Sharelle Hicks

    • Andrew Hilsberg

    • Quin Hulamm

    • Brad Hunt

    • Jill Hurst

    • Shawon Jackson

    • Danny Jagoda

    • Si Kahn

    • Vicki Karant

    • Steven Kleinberg

    • Stuart Koonce

    • Jennifer Pearman Lammer

    • Nathan Larsen

    • Stephanie Lauto

    • Marie Lindner

    • Sharon Mah

    • Sofia Mangino

    • Abby Marcus

    • Marovato Industries, inc

    • Sophia Marsh

    • Tony Martinez

    • Kristopher Marx

    • Steve Mayotte

    • Nora Melendez

    • Kenneth J Montgomery Esq.

    • Shervone Neckles

    • Scott Padden

    • Alexandra Panzer

    • Sam Penney

    • Lucy Perry

    • Donna Petrozzello

    • Cathy Pietanza

    • Jonah Pregerson

    • Giuseppe Riso

    • Matthew Robinson

    • Daniel Rose

    • Abby Rothschild

    • Julie Sacks

    • Malissa Smith

    • Sebastian Solomon

    • Calvin Stalvig

    • Janet Stern

    • Tim Sullivan

    • Michelle Talis

    • Emily Terry

    • Joseph Van Orsdel

    • Julia van Hoogstraten

    • Chris Whipple

    • Jody Winer

    • David & Ayano Wood

    • Richard Yancey

    • Adeline Zvosec

    • Marni Aarlev

    • Don Alan

    • Kimberly Alonso

    • Julianne Arts

    • Mike Barnes

    • Ebony Bolt

    • Watson Bosler

    • Breanna Hayes

    • Rachel Brush

    • Anelise Chun

    • Pearl Cohen

    • Pierre Coleman Jr

    • Rob DiRenzo

    • Give Lively Foundation

    • Erika Miller

    • Michael Parker

    • Elizabeth Picou

    • Ivette Rivera-Giusti

    • Sara Salaway

    • Romina Schulz

    • Shawn Seth

    • Matt & Sarah Shanes

    • Gina Sonder

    • Dan Spino

    • Charlie Tandoi

    • David Terreri

    • Thane Tierney

    • Gabriel Tolliver

    • Nishan Varatharajan

    • Danielle Vera

    • Caleb Wheeler