We are taking a pause..
After persevering through the challenges of the Trump era, the pandemic and its economic impact, team transitions, and the end of our NY Dream Act campaign, and beyond, NYSYLC continues to be committed to immigrant justice and to our mission.
As we reflect on our journey and look towards the future, we recognize the importance of pausing and reevaluating our strategies to ensure long-term sustainability and impact.
We will be taking an organizational pause to assess our organization’s inner workings and take necessary steps to address critical questions about NYSYLC’s future. This pause will involve slowing down or canceling certain activities that may be impeding our capacity and hindering community involvement. By doing so, we aim to create space for focused attention on key areas that require our immediate attention.
Our primary objectives during this period include restructuring our goals, our work, our roles, and to better align ourselves with the demands of our members. We hope to develop comprehensive goals to streamline our efforts and to engage in a thorough mediation process to address internal team challenges.
Through this deliberate pause and restructuring, we are laying the groundwork for a stronger, more resilient NYSYLC that is better equipped to serve in community, fulfill our mission, and meet the challenges ahead with purpose and clarity.
We are deeply grateful for the continued support of our stakeholders and partners as we embark on this important journey of reflection and renewal.
Timeline: We aim to be on pause from May until the end of July/beginnings of August.
Thanks for your patience and care,
The NYSYLC Team
We are looking for a Board Chair!
NYSYLC is looking for a Board Chair!
Undocumented youth organization NYSYLC seeks a Board Chair to support our team in restructuring our Board from the ground up. The ideal candidate is someone who has experience being on grassroots boards for small organizations looking to scale up. We want to develop a new Board team that is aligned with the organization’s fundraising priorities and is equipped to support Co-Directors through high-level issues. Being a Board Member is an unpaid position.
Who We Are:
The New York State Youth Leadership Council (NYSYLC, or YLC for short) is the first undocumented youth led organization in New York. We work to empower immigrant youth to drop the fear attached to undocumented status and challenge the United States’ broken immigration system through leadership development, grassroots organizing, educational advancement, and self-expression. Our goal is clear: to give undocumented youth the tools and space to organize and create change in our communities.
What We Do:
Our main programs throughout the year are:
Undocu Academy: a college access, career planning, professional development, and political education program for 10-15 immigrant high school seniors.
Dream Team Network: A network of school and campus-based advocacy hubs led by and supporting undocumented students.
Undocu Support Group: A monthly virtual talk space for gender-oppressed immigrants of undocumented experience
Undocu Adulting 101: Life skills workshops for youth without working papers
In addition, we offer trainings, workshops, and other public programming throughout the year.
NYSYLC has 4 full-time salaried employees (including 2 co-directors) and 5 part-time employees, contractors, or fellows. We frequently collaborate with the following organizations/institutions: NYU Law School’s Immigrants Rights Clinic, VOLS, John Jay College Immigrant Student Success Center, and Brooklyn College Immigrant Student Success Office. We currently work from a rented office in Midtown, Manhattan. We incorporated as a nonprofit in 2008, and our 2023 Budget was ~$700K in expenses.
Board Chair Responsibilities
Board of Directors
Leads regular quarterly board meetings and retreats
Serves as liaison between the Board and the Co-Directors of the organization
Monitors committee progress and aligns all activities to organizational goals
Develops and maintains board governance practices
Each individual on the board is expected to make a stretch financial donation in accordance with their means on an annual basis.
Strategic Planning
Plans, implements, and evaluates finance plans with necessary stakeholders*.
Plans, implements, and evaluates fundraising plans with necessary stakeholders*
Ensures sound risk management practices with NYSYLC staff
Fundraising
Each individual on the board is expected to make an ambitious fundraising commitment in accordance with their capacity on an annual basis.
Builds and maintains relationships with external stakeholders and community leaders
Plans, implements, and evaluates fundraising plans with necessary stakeholders*
Directs board involvement in all major fundraising campaigns and fundraising events, in partnership with the Development Director.
Secures external funding for the organization each year
*Necessary stakeholders include, but are not limited to, NYSYLC’s Co-Directors and Development Director
Qualifications
This is a great opportunity for an individual with prior program management and board leadership experience to help our organization achieve success within our mission. We are looking for board members who have compassionate views towards immigrants and are aligned with our mission and values. In particular, we seek folks who are brave, bold, transparent, and aware of how power dynamics impact youth. We are looking for board members who are not afraid to represent NYSYLC unapologetically and bring our work into new spaces.
Requirements
Prior experience in board leadership, fundraising, and fiscal management is mandatory
8+ years of professional experience, with at least 4 years of leadership experience
Prior experience in the nonprofit sector is mandatory
A proven track record of securing external fundraising and motivating teams to do the same
Proven commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion (continued on next page)
Strong project management skills
Ability to build a strong team and take initiative
Deep understanding of the nonprofit sector and how to run successful organizations
Excellent presentation and verbal and written communication skills
Excellent relationship building skills
Forward thinking self-starter, able to lead a team, set clear priorities, and delegate
To apply, please send a resume/CV to donations@nysylc.org with the subject line, “Board Chair - [Your Name]”. In the body of the email, please include a brief introduction to yourself and why you are interested in this role. This can be in written or video format.
YLC Insider: Undocu College Panel, Political Education, & More
Hey friends!
We created this monthly newsletter to give donors and supporters an inside look at our organization. You're a part of our community and we want you to see our wins and our struggles.
On January 19th Undocu Academy members gathered at John Jay ImSSC to discuss the college experience. High school seniors were able to ask questions and hear from current college and grad students.
Undocu College Panel
Even though undocu students have fought for and won many reforms over the years, they continue to face challenges with paying tuition, finding work, and navigating everyday challenges with minimal support.
Undocu Academy is not only a support space for college and career planning, but also for critical discussions around oppression. On January 26th, members developed their "Story of Self" to explore what calls them to action. We also watched a video on Alejandra Pablos's experience of the US deportation machine, sparking a conversation on policing. We saw a need for a shared understanding of what all the terminology means: misdemeanors, felonies, violations, and so on.
In other news, we've been working with Community Resource Exchange on creating a plan and vision for the future of YLC.
Visioning ideas from a planning meeting
So much has changed since our org was started in 2007. We're reflecting on how we've evolved and how we're responding to changes in needs. More updates to come.
Join the YLC community as a sustaining member by donating monthly.
Upcoming Events:
Feb. 28: Virtual Chat: Deferred Action for Immigrant Worker Whistleblowers
Now through June: Undocu Adulting 101 Workshops for youth without working papers
Support needed:
We're looking for a volunteer to speak about getting an ITIN and filing taxes with an ITIN for our Undocu Adulting 101 workshop on April 5th at 5PM. Email us at info [at] nysylc [dot] org.
Warmly,
The YLC
The New York State Youth Leadership Council stands in solidarity with Palestine
The New York State Youth Leadership Council stands in solidarity with Palestine. As an immigrant rights organization, we believe in the mobility and fight for liberation, freedom, and self-determination of Palestinian people.
The New York State Youth Leadership Council stands in solidarity with Palestine. As an immigrant rights organization, we believe in the mobility and fight for liberation, freedom, and self-determination of Palestinian people. The agenda of this apartheid regime has remained the same since 1948, to systematically remove Palestinians from their homelands through ethnic cleansing. For 75 years, Palestinians have fought for the Right to Return. We are against border enforcement of any kind. We are against genocide, white supremacy, and the militarized settler, apartheid state of Israel that seeks to annihilate Palestine.
We are outraged with the murder of Palestinian lives. It has been 18 days of bombing in Gaza. We call for the protection of all Palestinian lives, including men, women, and children. While the murder of women, especially children is horrifying, we want to avoid unconsciously contributing to racist and Islamophobic tropes of Muslim and Arab men. All Palestinians should be allowed to live. All Palestinians are innocent under the occupation from the colonizer state of Israel. Negating this concept allows Israel to make excuses for their genocidal actions, to redirect focus and to continue controlling the global narrative.
October 23 has been the deadliest day since October 7, with a Palestinian death toll of 700, during an overnight Israeli attack. As of October 25, 2023, it is estimated that 6,500 Palestinians have been killed by Israel. They have cut off water, food, medical aid, and have prevented international aid from entering Gaza. We are outraged by the role of the United States government in the ethnic cleansing of Palestinians through our taxes and government spending. We do not support the ongoing pro-zionist propaganda out of the NYC Mayor's office, the New York State government, and CUNY system. We should not condemn Palestinian resistance under occupation. The U.S. is hypocritical in the continued support of Israel’s persistent violence against Palestinians, before October 7 and beyond.
We take this moment to recognize the millions of Palestinian refugees, asylees and undocumented immigrants around the world and share feelings of rage and grief.
We demand a ceasefire in Gaza and the end of the occupation of Palestine.
From the river to sea, Palestine will be free. Within our lifetimes
How this impacts us all locally:
Islamophobia and hate crimes in our communities
CUNY supports Israel’s tactic to sanitize their image and engage in global propaganda by hosting tours to Israel.
CUNY then doubled down with their support of Israel’s Zionism with a campus-wide statement on 10/11/2023.
Globally:
Politicians are exploiting this crisis to push for more extreme immigration laws and policies, calling for deportations of pro-Palestine activists, a renewed Muslim ban, and stricter enforcement along the U.S.-Mexico border.
Corporations involved in the prison industrial complex are invested in both the Israel apartheid and the “security” measures against immigrants around the world and (see pages 63-64 and read more here)
Israel has fueled displacement by supporting repressive governments in Latin America.
Actions we can take:
Attend our Palestine discussion on 10/26 at 6pm sign up here
Sign on and support: The Urgent Demand to Hold Adjunct Professor Tamy Ben-Tor Accountable
Sign on statement: CUNY Stands with Palestine
Raise awareness about: The AAANY: Safe Haven Project
Undocumented Youth Redefine Education through Community
We sat in conversation and answered questions about our roles as community educators.
We give immigrant youth the trust, power, and tools to create the change they want to see.
We sat in conversation and answered questions about our roles as community educators. We talked about how we empower immigrant youth through leadership development, educational advancement, and self-expression. We shared our own experiences as undocumented youth in New York City schools; spoke about the lack of resources available for undocumented high school students; and how we support and educate each other through community.
Video produced by UndocuEdu members Guadalupe Ambrosio, Laura Pamplona, Isamar Jimenez-Vazquez, Carlos Pérez Valle and filmed by Lucas Gonzalez.
Where to learn more about our work:
Dream Team Network - students hubs in high schools and colleges;
The Undocu Senior Academy - a year long program for seniors to get support post-graduation;
Our work with educators and the immigrant liaison pilot program;
College access resources for undocumented immigrant youth.