FINAL_CI Newsletter-ppgs

Community Impact
Columbia University

TOGETHER WE CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE FALL 2016

2016 Community Impact Gala – A Night to Remember

On October 25, 2016, more than 200 of Community Impact’s alumni and board members, along with Columbia University Trustees
and members of the community, convened at the elegant New-York Historical Society to celebrate the work of our volunteers and
distinguished champions.

The night included cocktails, hors d’oeuvres and a silent and rousing voice auction. The evening program was emceed by Community
Impact Board member and Columbia Trustee Emeritus, George Van Amson (CC ’74). The Making a Difference Award honoree was
Susan Feagin (GS ’74), and the Community Service Award was presented to Donna Satow (GS ’65) and Phillip Satow (CC ’63).

We would like to give an enormous thank you to everyone that attended. We could not have raised $290,000 to support our programs without you!

Susan Feagin Donna Satow and Phillip Satow

Susan Feagin (GS ’74), is a long-time supporter In addition to having extraordinary careers,
of Community Impact. Over the years, she the Satows have dedicated themselves to
has served on Community Impact’s Gala addressing a very critical area of need in our
Committee and has tirelessly helped develop society for an improved mental health system,
funding and resources to create a strong especially serving young adults. In 2000, the
community service program at the University. Satows co-founded The Jed Foundation, a
From 2002 through 2010, Susan served as Executive Vice President national nonprofit that focuses on emotional health and suicide
for Development and Alumni Relations at Columbia overseeing prevention in teens and young adults. Phillip Satow is a University
The Columbia Campaign, as well as the creation of the Columbia benefactor, a former Director of the Columbia College Fund, a
Alumni Association. In 2011, she received the Columbia Alumni former President of the Columbia College Alumni Association
Medal for Distinguished Service. As President Lee C. Bollinger and a 2004 recipient of a John Jay Award for distinguished
stated at the Susan K. Feagin Welcome Center dedication last professional achievement. Additionally, Mr. Satow was presented
November, “The defining characteristic of Susan’s extraordinary with the 2014 Alexander Hamilton Award and currently serves on
accomplishments lies in her deep capacity to draw people in multiple boards and committees throughout the University. Mrs.
and to work together to achieve seemingly unattainable goals. Satow serves as the Treasurer and Secretary of the Jed Foundation
Columbia, and higher education generally, have been grateful and was the organization’s first Executive Director. She is also a
beneficiaries of this remarkable ability.” Currently, Susan serves founding and active member of the National Council for Suicide
as President of John Brown Limited, Inc., a boutique fundraising Prevention. Prior to dedicating herself to the Jed Foundation,
firm dedicated to building sustainable major gifts/planned giving she was the Associate Publisher of the Columbia College alumni
programs, successful campaigns, and providing ongoing counsel to magazine, Columbia College Today.
development staff and volunteer leaders.

To view more photos from the event, check out our Facebook page: @CIatCU

A Message from the Executive Community Impact Needs
Director: Thank You! You to Help Us Complete our
Endowment Campaign
Dear friends, supporters, volunteers, special honorees
and alumni, The continued need for services in our surrounding
neighborhood led Community Impact (CI) to
As we celebrate those of you who help us Make A launch a $5 million endowment campaign in
Difference, I wanted to thank you for helping to make 2012. The endowment funds will help CI improve
it possible for our program participants to realize a and expand community programming, enhance
better future. students’ volunteerism and leadership, and sustain
current programs such as those highlighted in our
Recently, Big Sibs (formerly Big Brother/Big Sister) newsletter this month.
alumna Samara Roth-Furbush (CC ’95) sent me a
lovely email attesting to the power of her experience as a As of today, CI has raised over half of the $5 million
CI volunteer and its impact on her life. target. We are asking that you help us reach our final
goal by June 2017. Our endowment gifts range from
“I met my little sister Melisa Paez in 1993 when she was one-time to yearly pledges of $500 to $500,000 or
six and I was 20. One of the things I really liked about more. Your support as a CI endowment pledger
being in the program was that it got me to do a lot of will help us provide quality services to community
interesting things in NYC that I wasn’t doing previously, members for years to come.
as I had been wrapped up in college life. We went to
museums, parks, the Statue of Liberty, Chinatown, To learn more information about or donate to the
and Broadway plays – it was really good for me as well endowment campaign, contact Sonia Reese, Executive
as for her. After I graduated from Columbia in 1995, Director, at 212-854-2617 or [email protected].
Melisa came to my graduation and sat with my family.
CI assigned her a new big sister, but while I attended A Spotlight on the
NYU Law School, I maintained my relationship with Best Buddies Program
Melisa and saw her often. After graduating law school, I
moved back to California and still Melisa and I stayed in Our Best Buddies program
touch through letters and phone calls. At this point, all of promotes the social inclusion
my family, in-laws, and friends know Melisa as my sister. and acceptance of individuals
She is my three daughters’ favorite Tia. The bottom line with intellectual or development
is, I joined the Big Brother/Big Sister program in order disabilities (IDD) by matching
to help others; what I gained was a true sister in every Columbia students with
sense of the word.” community members that have
IDD. In the past, Best Buddies has used its platform to
Reading stories like this one reminds me why I come to highlight IDD issues relevant on college campuses. Best
work every day, and why it is important to give, especially Buddies at Columbia University organized countless
to our endowment campaign. I am constantly awed by students around campus to take a pledge against using
the sheer number of Columbia, Barnard and community the “R-word.” Together, our participants and volunteers
member volunteers who continue to dedicate countless launch advocacy efforts, volunteer, and attend bonding
hours to serve others. events such as picnics, museum outings, bake-offs, and
sports games. A highlight from this semester was the
I hope you will read through the newsletter to see the Monster Mash Halloween Bash where the buddies got
many ways we make a difference in the lives of those together for an afternoon of pumpkin painting, face
we serve. mask decorating and sharing a ton of treats!

A special thanks to those of you who have already Keep up with Best Buddies on Facebook!
contributed to the Endowment Campaign. We hope @BestBuddiesColumbiaUniversity
that these stories inspire you, our community and
supporters, to help us continue furthering the mission
of Community Impact by giving today.

Thank You

Sonia Reese

Beyond the Stats: Peace by PEACE Impact on Students

Community Impact’s Peace by PEACE is a conflict resolution skill development
program for elementary school students. Each year the program concludes with
a festival during which the students are invited to Columbia’s campus to spend
a day and celebrate their progress.

Our volunteers’ success with this year-long program is noteworthy – among
our 200 participants served yearly in the last three years, there has been a 59%
decrease in reported classroom conflicts. And, as with any mentoring program,
the positive effects go far beyond the reported results. Peace by PEACE helps
students gain confidence, communicate more effectively, and connect with
additional adults that they not only trust, but view as role models.

For further evidence of the impact this program has on its students, please take
a look at a letter that one of the kids wrote to one of our volunteers:

Dear Shoshana,

I had a wonderful time with you. I’ve learned so much about bullying. One
thing about bullying is, when you see someone get bullied, stand up for them. I
love learning from you. What I mean by that is, I like the way you teach. There
are different types of bullying. One is verbal, second is physical, and the third is
cyber bullying. You are one of my favorites. I hope I have you in my class next
year. Love, Lisbeth (Community Impact Peace by PEACE child participant)

A Bridge from CI’s College Road

Community Impact’s services help improve the lives of many residents of Upper Manhattan, and we
are especially proud when one of our Columbia student workers or volunteers is honored by a partner
Community Based Organization (CBO). An example of that can be found in the relationship Emily
Dannenberg (GSAS ’16) built with Girls Educational and Mentoring Services (GEMS).

In the fall of 2014, Emily was working on CI’s College Road team, a program that helps adults in
our High School Equivalency (HSE) program explore college options and transition into college. In
her role to develop relationships with CBOs who might refer students to our HSE program, Emily
reached out to Magaly Melendez, the Director of GEMS, an organization that advocates for young
women and girls who are survivors of commercial sexual exploitation or domestic trafficking.

Through this relationship, CI and GEMS were able to form a partnership in which several GEMS young women were fast
tracked into our HSE program. Emily helped orient these young women and met with their teachers to ensure a non-threatening
environment. She then went on to further assist some of them as their college counselor. This past February, Emily was honored
by GEMS at their Educational Initiative Ceremony with the GEMS Outstanding Service Award for her compassionate effective
work with their program participants.

Reflecting on her experience, Emily remarks:

“What makes CI unique is that the staff, volunteers, and student workers are a uniquely supportive, empathetic, and encouraging
group of people. When Magaly, the Director of GEMS, told me about the immense hardships that the women she works with have
gone through, I was proud to confidently tell her that I work for an organization that would do everything in its power to ensure
that any GEMS participant who chooses to enroll in a CI program would receive all of the attention and support needed in order
to succeed in furthering their education.”

We are so proud to have student workers and volunteers who do such impactful work in our community and in our city. We are
also honored to work with the young women from GEMS on improving their lives through education. We are inspired daily by the
work of our community partners and our dedicated volunteers and student workers.

Congratulations, Emily!

*Thank you to our 2016 donors

CI Champions Cynthia Green Darryl T. Downing COMMUNITY IMPACT BOARD OF DIRECTORS
Kingdon Foundation Jesse Horwitz Meredith Dubree Maria Davila-Peguero, Co-Chair
Philip L. Milstein Elaine Hutchinson Magdy El Mihdawy Rose A. Kob, Co-Chair
Matthew Pincus Brian C. Krisberg Hilary Feldstein Marcia Lynn Sells, Treasurer
Richard E. Witten Cheryl L. Kunis Genine and Josh Fidler Donna Badrig, Secretary
Benefactors Donna MacPhee Santiago Figueroa Ralph Alfonso
Robert Berne Marc B. Mazur Mark Foggin Joe Brambil
Columbia Keith McDermott Steve Galpern Nicole Gallant
Michael Paranac Andrew Genn Whitney Green
Community Service PepsiCo Foundation Michele Godiner Richard S. Greenberg
Columbia University Judith Pietrasiewicz Sean Graber Robert Hanning
PNC Bank Whitney Green Jesse Horwitz
Government & Joseph Quinlan David Greenberg Howard A. Jacobson
Community Affairs David Stern Toni Gunthrope-Hardee Cheryl L. Kunis
Deloitte George Van Amson Robert W. Hanning Jessica Marinaccio
Fried, Frank, Harris Vodafone Americas Foundation Fritz Herrick David Maurrasse
Shriver & Jacobson LLP Pauline Yoo Noa Heyman Keith McDermott
Goldman Sachs Foundation, Scott Zucker Annette Insdorf Jeffrey Nabi
Esta Stecher Gold Supporters Howard A. Jacobson Donald C. Notice
Maxine Griffith Peter J. Awn Karen Jewett Sharyn O’Halloran
Josh Lee Peter Balsam Martha H. Joyce Moha Desai Patel
H.F. Lenfest Jonathan E. Barbee Polyxeni Kaliabakos Father Raymond Rafferty
Donald A. Parker Yanstey Brinsley Mark Kerman Ellen S. Smith
Patterson Belknap Gail Van Brugge Anne Klaeysen George Van Amson
Webb & Tyler LLP Barclay Edwards Rose A. Kob
Proskauer Rose LLP Friedman, Kaplan, Marilyn Kohn STUDENT EXECUTIVE BOARD
Philip & Donna Satow Donald F. Krott Miranda Kantor CC ’17
Partners Seiler & Adelman LLP Anne Labowitz Klee Tamsin Kantor CC ’18
AR Capital, LLC Sigrid N. Gallant Justine Lai Margaret Kaye* BC ’19
Catholic Charities of the Mark Glaser Pamela L. Landberg Julia Leff* CC ’17
Archdiocese of New York Mary Hanrahan Nadia Laniado Michael Price* GS ’17
Lisa L. Carnoy Joseph A. Ienuso Roger Lehecka Renata Sayao* BC ’19
Chicago Title Melissa James Florence Levenson Yiming Sun SEAS ’17
Insurance Company Melanie Meyers Robert A. Levine *CI Board Representative
Desai Foundation Adam P. Milavec Carol Liebman
Con Edison Sharyn L. O’Halloran Michael Lorch COMMUNITY IMPACT STAFF
Susan K. Feagin Cheryl A. Parham Francisco A. Lorenzo Sonia Reese, Executive Director
Dennis Franklin Dorothy and Charles, Jr Plohn Katrina Martell Sandy Helling, Associate Director and
Ingram Yuzek Gainen Robert Pollack Kevin Matthews
Carroll & Bertolotti, LLP Frances Pritchett David J. Maurrasse Director of Adult Programs
Michelle J. Kaiser Teresa Raczek Jason Mogen Ken Fay, Department Administrator
Kramer Levin Naftalis & Raymond Rafferty Margaret Morton Kent Katner, ESOL Program Manager
Frankel LLP Gerald Rosberg Jeffrey Nabi Dora King, Adult Education Program Coordinator
Cindy W. Kruger John Schwartz Ipshita Pal Alissa Mayers, Youth Programs Manager
Jessica L. Marinaccio Vivian Taylor Rachel S. Persinger Alyssa Nittolo, Senior Program Coordinator
Kenneth Prewitt and Susan Vogel Silver and Marya Pollack Clayuri Parrilla, Adult Education Outcome Coordinator
Patterson Belknap Bronze Supporters Philippa Portnoy Sandra Pinzow, Administrative Assistant
Webb & Tyler LLP Anonymous Sonia Reese Erica Rosen, Administrative Assistant
James A. Tanaka Anonymous Felice Rosan Jeffrey Zeiler, Education for Success
Patrons Anonymous Michael Rosenthal
Michael N. Block, Constellation Energy Susan Rushing Program Coordinator
Sullivan Papain Kresge Foundation Susan R. Sacks
Loraine Gardner Novick, Edelstein, Lubell, Neal Scholpick NEWSLETTERS CONTRIBUTORS:
Lee Goldman Reisman, Wasserman & Kathleen Sengstock Ashley Heckstall
Greenberg Traurig, LLP Robert Y. Shapiro Melvilin Rodriguez
Laura B. Vogler Foundation Leventhall Clarence W. Sickles Erica Rosen
William M. Lewis Joseph Abruzzo Alexander Simpson Jeffrey Zeiler
Rivkin Radler LLP Amelia Alverson Ellen S. Smith
Charles Sullivan Yuzo Arima Nicholas J. Standish Community Impact at Columbia University
John P. White Josiah Austin David Stapleton 2980 Broadway, 105 Earl Hall, MC 2010
Blue and White Supporters Yaye A. Ba Clarence Steinberg New York, NY 10027
Ralph Alfonso Elizabeth Bacon Warren R. Stern (212) 854-5959  [email protected]
Stefan Antonsson Melissa Bell Steven Tesler
Donna R. Badrig Victoria Benitez Arthur Toback Community Impact is a 501(c)3 nonprofit
Joseph Brambil Joseph Berwind Pamela Van Der Meulen organization. Make your tax-deductible donation
Paul Carter Giancarlo M. Bonagura Susan Welber today to the address above.
The Chazen Foundation Laureen Bonin Geoffrey Wiener
Robert S. Cohen Aspasia Burnworth Gail S. Williams Connect with CI
Maria Davila-Peguero Anne E. Canty Karl Woitach Like us on Facebook:
Jerome Davis Kenneth Catandella Peter Wolfson Facebook.com/ciatcu
Joseph DeGenova Hahn Chang Holly Zinn Follow us on Twitter:
Megha Desai Camille Chwalek *list in progress twitter.com/CommunityImpact
EBA Foundation Kathryn Croft Visit our website:
Henry Ginsberg Nicholas Curcio Communityimpact.columbia.edu
Michael Gould Carlos Diaz
Jean-Franco Diaz
Paul E. Dinter

GET IN TOUCH!

Please contact me, Sonia Reese, at [email protected] or by phone at (212) 854-2617
with your updated e-mail and/or mailing address, or to find out more about Community
Impact’s upcoming regional trips.