OPERA America draws on resources and expertise from within and beyond the opera field to advance a mutually beneficial agenda that serves and strengthens the field through programs in the following categories: Creation: Artistic services that help artists and companies increase the creativity and excellence of opera productions, especially North American works; Presentation: Opera company services that address the specific needs of staff, trustees and volunteers; Enjoyment: Education, audience development and community services that increase all forms of opera appreciation. The association provides members with an array of publications and online resources, regional workshops, an annual conference and network-specific services such as conference calls, listservs and direct contact with staff with expertise in opera production, administration and education. OPERA America provides members with tools to maximize the effectiveness of financial and human resources, expand the scope of repertoire and programs, and extend their reach to new and diverse audiences. Founded in 1970, OPERA America has an international membership that includes nearly 150 Professional Company Members, 300 Associate and Business Members, 2,000 Individual Members and over 16,000 subscribers to its electronic news service.
Passionate, provocative, and deeply Jewish, CBST champions a Judaism that rejoices in diversity, denounces social injustice wherever it exists, and strives for human rights for all people. • We are a house of prayer, offering both traditional and liberal services and lifecycle events. • We are a house of learning, continually expanding our knowledge and deepening our understanding of our religious and cultural heritage. • We are a house of refuge and healing, offering community support and pastoral care. • We are a house of conscience, fighting for the full equality of LGBTQ people locally, nationally and internationally. • We are committed to Israel and engaged in supporting efforts to secure peace, justice and equality for all. Join us to celebrate Shabbat. Our main service meets every Friday night at 7:00pm at 296 9th Avenue at 28th Street. Everyone is welcome!
Urban Stages is an award-winning, not-for-profit, Off-Broadway Theatre Company founded in 1984 by current Artistic Director Frances Hill. We have developed into a bigger and more diverse organization since our beginnings. Urban Stages reach thousands of New Yorkers every year in over 100 neighborhoods while also offering theatrical and performance art experiences like no other at our theater in Manhattan (259 West 30th Street). Development and MainStage For over 30 years, Urban Stages have produced dozens of world, American and NYC premieres including Pulitzer Prize Finalist BULRUSHER (2007) by Eisa Davis. We have been honored with awards, nominations and recognition from the Drama Desk, Obie Awards, Audelco, Outer Circle critics and much more. For instance, our world premiere of the musical LANGSTON IN HARLEM by Walter Marks (music and book) and Kent Gash (book and direction) garnered a Drama Desk Nomination, a Joe A. Calloway award and 4 Audelco awards including Best Musical Production of 2010. More recently, our 2014 spring premiere of JIM BROCHU CHARACTER MAN was nominated for a Drama Desk and Outer Theater Critic’s award for Best Solo performance. Many of the plays we produce are found through open submissions via our Development Program and Literary Committee. Before production, plays are offered staged readings (open to the public) where they can see their works handled by professional actors and directors and hear audience feedback. Some plays are offered workshops catered specifically to each project. After production, most plays move on to larger venues such MEN ON THE VERGE OF A HISPANIC BREAKDOWN, by Guillermo Reyes, and MINOR DEMONS by Bruce Graham; both moved to commercial theatres. CHILI QUEEN, a play by newscaster Jim Lehrer, transferred to the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. (1989). HONKY (2013) by Greg Kalleres saw a regional run at San Diego Rep. MY OCCASION OF SIN (2012) by Monica Bauers won critical acclaim when it moved to Detroit Rep. Bill Bowers has toured the United States and the world with his two Urban Stages premieres blending mime and theatre – BEYOND WORDS (2012) and UNDER A MONTANA MOON (2002)! Some Urban Stages premieres have even been developed into film and television projects such as SCAR by Murray Mednick, CONVERSATIONS WITH THE GODDESSES by Agapi Stassinopoulos, and COTTON MARY by Alexandra Viets. In addition to plays and musicals, annually we hold a music festival called WINTER RHYTHMS that features famous and up-and-coming Cabaret, musicians, lyricists and other music artists. In 2015, Winter Rhythms was celebrated by the Manhattan Association of Cabaret with a Ruth Kurtzman Benefit Series Award! Outreach For over 20 years, our OUTREACH PROGRAM has brought plays and workshops to all 5 boroughs of NYC in over 200 events a year. We have a repertoire of 20+ multi-cultural programs, ranging from plays that explore science, plays that spotlights historical figures and dance and mime workshops. Each show caters to specific age groups, from toddlers to families to Adult Learners. Many of the neighborhoods we reach (and return to multiple times) have little to no theatre and arts programming. Our programs travel mainly to libraries and non-profit organizations. They are all admission-free for patrons. For artists, our Outreach Program offers paid opportunities. We commission plays, pay royalties and fees allowing writers, directors, designers, actors and teaching artists to be working artists. Under the Outreach Umbrella are our art residencies. We are able to offer extended theater and art related residencies for weeks to months at a time to places like to senior citizens centers, community centers and schools. In the past, we offered programming to LGBTQ homeless centers, centers helping women reclaim their lives from incarceration and drug abuse and various non-profit agencies. Finally, annually we hold a Summer Theater Camp for children 10-14 years old. Professionals teach our campers about all aspects of theatre and the campers collaborate to put on a musical. We offer partial scholarships making our summer theater camp more accessible.
The Asian American Writers’ Workshop is the preeminent national literary arts nonprofit dedicated to the belief that Asian American stories deserve to be told. We’ve garnered coverage from the Wall Street Journal, New York Times, Huffington Post, Associated Press, Atlantic, Slate and NPR. Invited to the White House, named one of the top Asian American groups nationally, we seek to invent the future of Asian American intellectual culture. Check us out at http://www.aaww.org. 1. WE CURATE UNFORGETTABLE ART EVENTS. We hold fifty events a year at our Chelsea space. They’re fresh, progressive, funny, interdisciplinary, and community-based. We have curated events with Salman Rushdie, Jhumpa Lahiri, Michael Ondaatje, Zadie Smith, Maxine Hong Kingston, Ha Jin, Das Racist, Eddie Huang, Tea Obreht, Junot Díaz, Roxane Gay, and other writers, activists, and scholars. 2. WE PUBLISH THE ONLINE MAGAZINES THE MARGINS AND OPEN CITY. The Margins magazine (aaww.org) seeks to invent the future of Asian American arts and ideas and imagine ethnic identity as counterculture, both aesthetically and politically. We have published Pulitzer Finalist Chang-rae Lee, National Book Award Finalist Jessica Hagedorn, and MacArthur Genius Vijay Iyer. Open City magazine (opencitymag.com) publishes stories about communities of color, those excluded from traditional power structures, and incubates the underprivileged writers who can write about them. Almost a third of a million readers have read our magazines. 3. WE INCUBATE EMERGING WRITERS OF COLOR. We give out grants to eight emerging Asian American writers a year. We hold open mics, writing workshops, and a big publishing conference. As Pulitzer Prize-winner Jhumpa Lahiri, arguably the most celebrated novelist in America, said at our 2009 PAGE TURNER literary festival: “I felt that AAWW was a secret door that opened and cared about and supported my work as a writer.”
Initiated as an organizing effort by a coalition of LGBTSTGNC People of Color, The Audre Lorde Project was first brought together by Advocates for Gay Men of Color (a multi-racial network of gay men of color HIV policy advocates) in 1994. The vision for ALP grew out of the expressed need for innovative and unified community strategies to address the multiple issues impacting LGBTSTGNC People of Color communities. ALP secured and moved into its Fort Greene home, in the parish house of the Lafayette Avenue Presbyterian Church, during the summer of 1996.
(RED) was created by Bono and Bobby Shriver in 2006 to engage millions of people in the greatest challenge of our time – the fight to end AIDS in Africa where 2/3 of the world’s estimated 37 million people with HIV/AIDS live. We work with the world’s most iconic brands and organizations to develop (RED)-branded products and services, that when purchased, trigger corporate giving to the Global Fund. These contributions are then invested in HIV/AIDS programs in Africa, with a focus on countries with high prevalence of mother-to-child transmission of HIV.
UNITE HERE boasts a diverse membership, comprising workers from many immigrant communities as well as high percentages of African-American, Latino, and Asian-American workers. The majority of UNITE HERE members are women. Through organizing, UNITE HERE members have made apparel jobs in the South, hotel housekeeping jobs in cities across North America, and hundreds of thousands of other traditionally low-wage jobs into good, family-sustaining, middle class jobs.
We build schools, support teachers and provide student scholarships that change lives. $25 educates a child and $25,000 builds a new school.
Fighting Discrimination against Gender Non-Conforming People: Focusing on People of Color and Poor People Transgender, transsexual, intersex and other gender non-conforming people face persistent and severe discrimination in employment, education, health care, social and legal services, criminal justice and many other realms. Simultaneously, all low-income people, and particularly those in communities of color, are suffering from the severe cutbacks to anti-poverty programs, increasing militarization of the police, and rising rates of incarceration. Low income people and people of color who experience gender identity discrimination are particularly vulnerable in this climate. Low-income people and people of color are overrepresented in systems such as prisons, group homes, shelters and detention facilities. Because so many of the systems are sex-segregated, many people face serious problems of inaccessibility, harassment or violence if their gender identity or expression does not conform to their birth sex. Many are turned away outright from essential services like homeless shelters, drug treatment or mental health services, while others experience discrimination or violence in these settings because of their gender identity or expression. Police harassment and violence, and mistreatment in juvenile and adult justice systems, are widespread in our communities. Furthermore, those who seek legal and social services to help get on their feet or fight for entitlements often encounter ignorance or discrimination at the door. The result is that transgender, transsexual, intersex and gender non-conforming people are disproportionately poor, homeless, and incarcerated, and are 7-10 times more likely to be a victim of murder. The Sylvia Rivera Law Project’s work seeks to address both the root causes and effects of discrimination and violence on the basis of gender identity and expression. The right to self determine gender identity and expression and be free from violence is only one facet of a multi-issue movement for justice and self-determination of al people. We believe that justice does not trickle down, and that those who face the most severe consequences of violence and discrimination should be the priority of movements against discrimination. Our agenda focuses on those in our community who face multiple vectors of state and institutional violence: people of color, incarcerated people, people with disabilities, people with HIV/AIDS, immigrants, homeless people, youth, and people trying to access public benefits. We work through a collective structure built on the idea that our work should be by and for our community, and should be focused on maximizing political voice and power while providing desperately needed services.
Magen David Adom in Israel - the Red Star of David - is recognized by the State of Israel as its only first aid and disaster relief organization which operates according to the principles of the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies. The first seeds of Magen David Adom in Israel were planted at a meeting held in Philadelphia in October, 1918, attended by David Ben Gurion, Golda Meir and Henrietta Szold. There was great concern that the Jewish Legion of Palestine, otherwise known as the 38th Battalion of the Royal Fusiliers of the British Army during World War I, who were fighting to liberate Eretz Yisrael from Turkish rule, needed medical help. A Magen David Adom organization was organized to aid both the Jewish Legion and the settlers in Palestine. It was disbanded at the end of the war. Magen David Adom (MDA) was officially chartered and recognized as an emergency lifesaving service as a result of the murderous riots of 1929, when Jewish farm and urban settlements were attacked by the Arab population, and were found to be lacking in even the most elementary first aid services. It was founded in Tel Aviv on June 7, 1930, by a group of seven Israeli doctors, as a one-room emergency medical service. MDA's first home was a dilapidated hut on the corner of Rothschild and Nahalat Benyamin streets in what was then the center of town. A second MDA group formed in Haifa in 1931 and a third in Jerusalem in 1934. In 1935, a national organization was formed to provide medical services to the public and the Haganah. Its founding members were physicians, members of the Haganah and private citizens. At the time, the society's resources consisted of a small truck converted into an ambulance and several dozen dedicated volunteers. In the years that followed, the society grew, especially in the wake of a second wave of anti-Jewish riots that broke out in April 1936 and lasted until the beginning of 1939. During that period, MDA gave first-aid training to the Haganah and the auxiliary police and medical aid to the wounded. During World War II, MDA worked within the general framework of Israel's Civil Defense Organization, as an arm of the Jewish Legion of the British Forces. Photographs from that period show Magen David Adom volunteers in official uniforms. Magen David Adom became the medical service of the Haganah, and MDA members administered first aid alongside the Haganah fighters throughout the 1930s and 1940s. With the establishment of the State of Israel, some of the society's most important members and volunteers were among those setting up the medical corps of the Israel Defense Forces. In July 1950, the Knesset (Israel's Parliament) ratified the Magen David Adom Law, which states that Magen David Adom will function as Israel's National Red Cross Society, acting in accordance with the Geneva conventions. Specifically, MDA was given responsibility for: Providing auxiliary service to Israel's Army Medical Corps in wartime, including providing emergency medical care for the wounded and war refugees. Providing civilian emergency transportation and medical and first-aid services and temporary shelter in emergency situations and disasters. Organizing blood donations and maintaining sophisticated blood banks for civilian and military use. Subsequently, MDA has played a major role in providing vital lifesaving services during each of Israel's wars, skirmishes and terrorist attacks, as well as in times of peace. The growing need and developing population of the new state brought about a parallel growth in MDA. New branches and first aid stations sprang up throughout the country. The first modern ambulances were purchased, and the society's blood, first aid and first aid instruction services were expanded.
Every year, hundreds of journalists are attacked, imprisoned, or killed. For more than 30 years, CPJ has been there to defend them and fight for press freedom.
The International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees (full name: International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees, Moving Picture Technicians, Artists and Allied Crafts of the United States, Its Territories and Canada) was founded in 1893 when representatives of stagehands working in eleven cities met in New York and pledged to support each others’ efforts to establish fair wages and working conditions for their members. Our union has since then evolved to embrace the development of new entertainment mediums, craft expansions, technological innovations, and geographic growth. Today, the IATSE is the largest union representing workers in the entertainment industry. Our members work in all forms of live theater, motion picture production, television production, television broadcasting, trade shows, exhibitions, and concerts, as well as the equipment and construction shops that support all these areas of the entertainment industry. We represent virtually all the behind-the-scenes workers in crafts ranging from motion picture animation to theater ushering. During a period when private sector union membership has been in sharp decline the IATSE has continued to flourish. Since 1993 our membership has increased from 74,344 to over 125,000 in 2016. This growth is attributable to our willingness to adapt our structure to protect our traditional jurisdiction and accommodate new crafts. But that alone is insufficient. The IATSE has maintained and enhanced its position in the vanguard of the entertainment industry through effective rank and file empowerment, political engagement, and our dedication to grass roots organizing. On both the International and local union levels, the motivating principle of the IATSE is to represent every worker employed in our crafts.
OPERA America draws on resources and expertise from within and beyond the opera field to advance a mutually beneficial agenda that serves and strengthens the field through programs in the following categories: Creation: Artistic services that help artists and companies increase the creativity and excellence of opera productions, especially North American works; Presentation: Opera company services that address the specific needs of staff, trustees and volunteers; Enjoyment: Education, audience development and community services that increase all forms of opera appreciation. The association provides members with an array of publications and online resources, regional workshops, an annual conference and network-specific services such as conference calls, listservs and direct contact with staff with expertise in opera production, administration and education. OPERA America provides members with tools to maximize the effectiveness of financial and human resources, expand the scope of repertoire and programs, and extend their reach to new and diverse audiences. Founded in 1970, OPERA America has an international membership that includes nearly 150 Professional Company Members, 300 Associate and Business Members, 2,000 Individual Members and over 16,000 subscribers to its electronic news service.
Every year, hundreds of journalists are attacked, imprisoned, or killed. For more than 30 years, CPJ has been there to defend them and fight for press freedom.
Magen David Adom in Israel - the Red Star of David - is recognized by the State of Israel as its only first aid and disaster relief organization which operates according to the principles of the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies. The first seeds of Magen David Adom in Israel were planted at a meeting held in Philadelphia in October, 1918, attended by David Ben Gurion, Golda Meir and Henrietta Szold. There was great concern that the Jewish Legion of Palestine, otherwise known as the 38th Battalion of the Royal Fusiliers of the British Army during World War I, who were fighting to liberate Eretz Yisrael from Turkish rule, needed medical help. A Magen David Adom organization was organized to aid both the Jewish Legion and the settlers in Palestine. It was disbanded at the end of the war. Magen David Adom (MDA) was officially chartered and recognized as an emergency lifesaving service as a result of the murderous riots of 1929, when Jewish farm and urban settlements were attacked by the Arab population, and were found to be lacking in even the most elementary first aid services. It was founded in Tel Aviv on June 7, 1930, by a group of seven Israeli doctors, as a one-room emergency medical service. MDA's first home was a dilapidated hut on the corner of Rothschild and Nahalat Benyamin streets in what was then the center of town. A second MDA group formed in Haifa in 1931 and a third in Jerusalem in 1934. In 1935, a national organization was formed to provide medical services to the public and the Haganah. Its founding members were physicians, members of the Haganah and private citizens. At the time, the society's resources consisted of a small truck converted into an ambulance and several dozen dedicated volunteers. In the years that followed, the society grew, especially in the wake of a second wave of anti-Jewish riots that broke out in April 1936 and lasted until the beginning of 1939. During that period, MDA gave first-aid training to the Haganah and the auxiliary police and medical aid to the wounded. During World War II, MDA worked within the general framework of Israel's Civil Defense Organization, as an arm of the Jewish Legion of the British Forces. Photographs from that period show Magen David Adom volunteers in official uniforms. Magen David Adom became the medical service of the Haganah, and MDA members administered first aid alongside the Haganah fighters throughout the 1930s and 1940s. With the establishment of the State of Israel, some of the society's most important members and volunteers were among those setting up the medical corps of the Israel Defense Forces. In July 1950, the Knesset (Israel's Parliament) ratified the Magen David Adom Law, which states that Magen David Adom will function as Israel's National Red Cross Society, acting in accordance with the Geneva conventions. Specifically, MDA was given responsibility for: Providing auxiliary service to Israel's Army Medical Corps in wartime, including providing emergency medical care for the wounded and war refugees. Providing civilian emergency transportation and medical and first-aid services and temporary shelter in emergency situations and disasters. Organizing blood donations and maintaining sophisticated blood banks for civilian and military use. Subsequently, MDA has played a major role in providing vital lifesaving services during each of Israel's wars, skirmishes and terrorist attacks, as well as in times of peace. The growing need and developing population of the new state brought about a parallel growth in MDA. New branches and first aid stations sprang up throughout the country. The first modern ambulances were purchased, and the society's blood, first aid and first aid instruction services were expanded.
Passionate, provocative, and deeply Jewish, CBST champions a Judaism that rejoices in diversity, denounces social injustice wherever it exists, and strives for human rights for all people. • We are a house of prayer, offering both traditional and liberal services and lifecycle events. • We are a house of learning, continually expanding our knowledge and deepening our understanding of our religious and cultural heritage. • We are a house of refuge and healing, offering community support and pastoral care. • We are a house of conscience, fighting for the full equality of LGBTQ people locally, nationally and internationally. • We are committed to Israel and engaged in supporting efforts to secure peace, justice and equality for all. Join us to celebrate Shabbat. Our main service meets every Friday night at 7:00pm at 296 9th Avenue at 28th Street. Everyone is welcome!
Become an Upstander today. In the bullying scenario there are three roles that play out, the victim, the bully and the bystanders. In 70% of bullying situations there is a third party witness, or bystander, who tacitly condones the harassment of their peers by observing but not speaking up. We believe that bystanders have a responsibility to get involved and stand up for their peers. To learn how you can become an Upstander, take our Upstander pledge at our website: www.tylerclementi.org/pledge
The Asian American Writers’ Workshop is the preeminent national literary arts nonprofit dedicated to the belief that Asian American stories deserve to be told. We’ve garnered coverage from the Wall Street Journal, New York Times, Huffington Post, Associated Press, Atlantic, Slate and NPR. Invited to the White House, named one of the top Asian American groups nationally, we seek to invent the future of Asian American intellectual culture. Check us out at http://www.aaww.org. 1. WE CURATE UNFORGETTABLE ART EVENTS. We hold fifty events a year at our Chelsea space. They’re fresh, progressive, funny, interdisciplinary, and community-based. We have curated events with Salman Rushdie, Jhumpa Lahiri, Michael Ondaatje, Zadie Smith, Maxine Hong Kingston, Ha Jin, Das Racist, Eddie Huang, Tea Obreht, Junot Díaz, Roxane Gay, and other writers, activists, and scholars. 2. WE PUBLISH THE ONLINE MAGAZINES THE MARGINS AND OPEN CITY. The Margins magazine (aaww.org) seeks to invent the future of Asian American arts and ideas and imagine ethnic identity as counterculture, both aesthetically and politically. We have published Pulitzer Finalist Chang-rae Lee, National Book Award Finalist Jessica Hagedorn, and MacArthur Genius Vijay Iyer. Open City magazine (opencitymag.com) publishes stories about communities of color, those excluded from traditional power structures, and incubates the underprivileged writers who can write about them. Almost a third of a million readers have read our magazines. 3. WE INCUBATE EMERGING WRITERS OF COLOR. We give out grants to eight emerging Asian American writers a year. We hold open mics, writing workshops, and a big publishing conference. As Pulitzer Prize-winner Jhumpa Lahiri, arguably the most celebrated novelist in America, said at our 2009 PAGE TURNER literary festival: “I felt that AAWW was a secret door that opened and cared about and supported my work as a writer.”
When a child must deal with serious illness or loss in the family. and you can't always be home for those crucial after-school hours. i-Shine provides homework help, snacks, dinner and fun in a supervised, relaxed environment. Mission I-Shine provides homework help, snacks, dinner and fun in a supervised, relaxed environment. On-site supervision is provided by parents, teachers, high school volunteers, social workers and psychologists. Our staff members are experts in bringing out smiles and laughter while offering homework assistance and exciting recreational activities for children of all ages. i-Shine is available free of charge to elementary and middle school children living with illness or loss in their family. Transportation is provided from local yeshivot. Snack and dinner Activity and play center Homework help Test preparation Supervised indoor and outdoor activities (weather permitting) The chance to form new friendships with other children also living with illness or loss
Mission Statement: The Les Paul Foundation inspires innovative and creative thinking by sharing the legacy of Les Paul through support of music education, recording, innovation and medical research related to hearing. The Les Paul Foundation is an approved IRC 501(c) 3 organization. The Les Paul Foundation: - Awards grants to music, music engineering and sound programs that serve youth. - Establishes music-related scholarships at schools and programs for students. - Provides grants for medical research and programs related to hearing impairment. - Supports public exhibits displaying Les Paul’s life achievements.
BalaSole Dance Company believes that the art of dance is for everyone. The company was established to address the following imbalances, which have prevented and/or discouraged individuals from participating or pursuing a career in dance: - Limited artistic freedom given to dance artists in most dance companies - Insufficient multi-ethnic representation of dance artists - Inadequate mentorship given to dance artists with regard to finding their artistic identity and strengthening their professional credentials - Limited opportunities for artistic collaboration in most dance companies - Typecasting restrictions that marginalize dance artists because of age, shape, size, ethnicity, and style - Generally only one stylized form of dance used in a dance company’s repertoire - Below average compensation given to a large number of dance artists working in smaller companies - Scarce opportunities for emerging dance artists to work alongside seasoned performers - Limited opportunities for dance artists to showcase their full artistic talents and identity within a dance company - Limited number of dance company programs providing access to the art of dance to under-served communities such as senior citizens living in senior centers, children and youth from low income families, and adults who don't have formal or prior dance training - Limited opportunities for male and female dance artists to become soloists - Low number of male dance artists entering the field - Limited connection between dance and non-artistic fields
UNITE HERE boasts a diverse membership, comprising workers from many immigrant communities as well as high percentages of African-American, Latino, and Asian-American workers. The majority of UNITE HERE members are women. Through organizing, UNITE HERE members have made apparel jobs in the South, hotel housekeeping jobs in cities across North America, and hundreds of thousands of other traditionally low-wage jobs into good, family-sustaining, middle class jobs.