OUR IMPACT
Many young people across the U.S. know they have power, but they don’t always have the tools or support to use it. At Sadie Nash, we help them build skills, find their voice, and feel ready to make change. Over the last 20+ years, we’ve built a community of over 10,000 Nashers.
EACH YEAR SADIE NASH LEADERSHIP PROJECT…
Serves over 625+ NASHERS across New York City and Newark, NJ
Provides over 20,000 HOURS of youth-centered social justice education
AT THE END OF OUR PROGRAMS, NASHERS FEEL STRONGER AND MORE CONFIDENT
Understanding of who is working for social justice also grows by 16 points. This matters because it helps them join bigger movements and not feel alone.
The number of Nashers who can connect social justice issues to their own lives goes up 11 points, from 73% to 84%. This matters because change feels real when they see how it touches their own world.
81% feel sure they can explain what social justice means (up from about half at the start). This matters because knowing the words gives them power to speak up and be heard.
More Nashers say “I know how to make a difference,” with a 16-point increase. This shows that they believe their actions can change their schools, families, and communities.
TESTIMONIALS
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“To me, Sadie Nash means a world of possibilities. It means being able to find and foster your voice to create meaningful impact. Being apart of Sadie Nash provides an outlet for empowerment and self discovery for so many girls.”
- Nasher, Shola F.
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The knowledge I gained at Sadie Nash helped me find my voice and pushed me to advocate on things that I feel are not right for me and for others. The friends I've made have given me so many memories of laughter and true companionship.
- Alum, Caryssa Perez
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“One thing is clear about Sadie Nash Leadership Project: it is a community because no one’s doing anything by themselves. The belief that power with, rather than power over, can fundamentally forge a path towards a better world is intrinsic to Sadie Nash. At Sadie Nash, community equals collective power.”
-Founder of SNLP, Cecilia Clarke
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“She really helped revolutionize my thoughts on so much from education to sexuality. Sadie Nash helped her make connections that she passed on to me.”
- Father of a Nasher
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“Sadie Nash taught me that I needed to have radical love for myself before serving others. For years I deprived myself of my own needs, and as a result, my time and energy for others began to also deplete. Sadie Nash gave me a community who allowed me to recharge and celebrate myself.”
- Nasher, Darlene F.
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“By the end of the summer, it was unbelievable how far we had all come in our processes of unlearning “truths” that we have believed our whole lives about Blackness. I would not have changed anything about that summer, and I treasure it as my most fond and fruitful teaching/learning experience.”
— Summer Institute Faculty, Natasha Camille
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“ELLA really showed me that leadership is actually collaborative, and no one can do anything without community.”
- ELLA Fellow, Adesoye Taiwo
OUR AWARDS
We have a history of recognition from the community for our outstanding work.
Victoria Foundation 2024 Centennial Impact Award
2020 Brooklyn Community Foundation Spark Prize Winner
2017 Finalist - Diane von Furstenberg People’s Voice Award
Michelle Obama presents the 2013 National Arts and Humanities Youth Program Award to Sadie Nash in Washington, DC.
2010 New York Times Gold Prize Winner for Overall Nonprofit Management Excellence
2010 National Summer Learning Association’s Excellence in Summer Learning Award
OUR RESEARCH
We’ve partnered with researchers to explore the power and impact of our programming.
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“To be our best selves”: Critical Dialogue with girls of color about their experiences in a social justice leadership program
Journal of Curriculum and Pedagogy, 2021 | Tashal Brown | This paper focuses on the experiences of six high school girls of color as they interrogate power, oppression, and privilege at the interpersonal and institutional levels through Sadie Nash Leadership Programming.
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“It’s About the Way I’m Treated”: Afro-Latina Black Identity Development in the Third Space
Youth & Society Journal, 2020 | Jomaira Salas Pujols | Through an ethnographic study with Sadie Nash Leadership Project, this study by a SNLP faculty member and professor at Bard College examines how girls who are ethnically Latina and racially Black embrace and articulate AfroLatinx identity. Understanding how Afro-Latina girls learn to embrace their Black identity challenges us to examine how to leverage curriculum and pedagogy to affirm the racial identities of all Black girls.
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"Leadership and Adolescent Girls, a Qualitative Study of Leadership Development"
American Journal of Community Psychology, 2008 | Michael A. Hoyt and Cara L. Kennedy | This research investigated youth leadership experiences of adolescent girls who participated in a comprehensive feminist-based leadership program [Sadie Nash Leadership Project]. This qualitative study utilized a grounded theory approach to understand changes that occurred in 10 female adolescent participants. Participants identified having examples of women leaders, adopting multiple concepts of leadership, and participating in an environment of mutual respect and trust as factors that contributed to their expanded conceptualization.
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Building Positive Relationships with Adolescents in Educational Contexts: Principles and Practices for Educators in School & Community Settings,
In Toward a Positive Psychology of Relationships: New Directions in Theory and Research, 2017 | Gretchen Brion-Meisels, Deepa Vasudevan, and Jessica Fei., Harvard Graduate School of Education | This chapter describes a set of principles and practices that underlie positive relationships between adults and adolescents in educational settings, including schools and community-based programs.
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The Presence of Joy: Race, Space, and the Secrets of Teaching BIPOC Youth
NYU Center for Policy, Research, and Evaluation at the Metropolitan Center for Research on Equity and the Transformation of Schools, 2021 | This webinar is the culmination of a year of research, guided by a youth advisory board, that examines the culturally responsive-sustaining education and the secrets for teaching our children. NYU Metro Center hosted five organizations (including Sadie Nash) to share their programmatic and educational strategies for centering youth and challenging the systems that oppress them.