YMCA Black & Latino Achievers Program
YMCA Seeking Nominations Of Professionals Who Give Back
The YMCA of Greater Cincinnati is looking for professionals who share its vision of nurturing the potential of young people, and promoting healthy living and social responsibility. Selected and sponsored by their companies to represent them, YMCA Achievers who will be honored at the 2012 Salute to YMCA Black & Latino Achievers Gala will also commit to volunteering a year to inspire students toward paths of success. Nomination sponsorships are being accepted through June 1, 2012.
The 2012 Salute to YMCA Black & Latino Achievers Gala will be held November 16, 2011 beginning at 6:00 p.m. at the Sharonville Convention Center. For nomination, sponsorship or gala information, the public should call Toni Miles, YMCA Black & Latino Achievers executive director, at 513-362-YMCA (9622) or email her at tmiles@cincinnatiymca.org; or visit the YMCA of Greater Cincinnati website.
One of the largest regional programs of its kind, the YMCA Black & Latino Achievers Program motivates students of color to further their education and goals with help from successful, professional role models. Since its beginning, the Program has served over 6,000 teens, awarded over $250,000 in scholarships, assisted youth with over $4 million dollars in awarded scholarships and engaged more than 4,500 adult volunteers through a network of corporate and community partners.
YMCA Salute Gala Celebrated Achievers
I just wrapped up working on a wonderful project – the Salute to YMCA Black & Latino Achievers Gala.
David Garibaldi, known the world over for his amazingly unique stage entertainment, brought his show to our region for the very first time as he created four 6 ft tall masterpieces before a filled Bank of Kentucky Center arena with more about 550 seats sold – at the Salute to YMCA Black & Latino Achievers Gala. The evening was a celebration of the potential of young people when inspired by caring adult role models who are volunteers of the YMCA.
The YMCA Salute Gala honored local professionals who are giving back as volunteers of the YMCA’s college readiness program. Also honored were eight teens selected to receive YMCA scholarships, including Breana Marie Nicholson – who was honored as 2011 YMCA Teen Achiever of the Year. Lisa Martin-Patterson and Olivia Darks were honored as YMCA Black & Latino Achievers Program Community Volunteers of the Year. James T. Cowan, MBA, and Chrystal Davis, were honored as YMCA Adult Achievers of the Year.
One of the largest regional programs of its kind, the YMCA Black & Latino Achievers Program motivates students of color to further their education and goals with help from successful, professional role models. Since its beginning, the Program has served over 6,000 teens, awarded over $200,000 in scholarships, assisted youth with over $4 million dollars in awarded scholarships and engaged more than 4,500 adult volunteers through a network of corporate and community partners.
The Salute Gala also raised essential funding so that the Program can continue to offer this valuable experience to hundreds of area youth, paving their path toward college and a career.
(photos by Mark Bowen)
YMCA To Honor Greater Cincinnati Professionals
Their careers are in finance, 
graphic design, broadcast media, education, nonprofit management, strategic brand marketing, recruitment and retail. They have achieved milestones in their personal lives and their careers – and they ALL have a common interest in wanting to help young people succeed. On November 4, 2011 the YMCA of Greater Cincinnati will celebrate these 37 professionals as YMCA Achievers at the 33rd annual Salute to YMCA Black & Latino Achievers Gala. Unique to this event is that all YMCA Achievers are selected by their respective companies and commit to volunteering for the YMCA Black & Latino Achievers Program that motivates students of color to further their education and goals.
Honoree bios are here: 2011 YMCA Achiever honoree bios
Featured entertainer for the Salute Gala is David Garibaldi, who is known the world over for his amazingly unique stage entertainment combining exhilarating music with hip-hop moves as his arms flail with paint transforming a blank canvas into a graffiti-style masterpiece. David knows from his own childhood the important role of adults who care, or perseverance, and of believing in your dreams. It was as a young, impressionable boy growing up in unfriendly streets when he was first lured to the urban art called graffiti, but David’s ability to focus on bigger goals transformed that talent into a sought after performance artist who has been featured on MTV, NBC, PBS and others.
For the past several months, I’ve been spending a lot of time on the Salute Gala. My overarching role is to coordinate the messaging and communication surrounding it – which includes relationship building with the honorees and their circles, writing their bios, and this year putting together video snippets of them sharing their personal thought about the honor; coordinating the copy and graphics for much of the printed program; working with our three media partners, as well as other media and social media relations and other efforts to raise awareness about the Program and event; and writing the script for the Gala evening. This is my fourth or fifth year working on the Gala and it is such a meaningful project for me.
Listen to what Kimberly Forsyth, a 2011 YMCA Achiever honoree has to share.
2011 Salute to YMCA Black & Latino Achievers Gala
November 4, 2011 beginning at 6:30 p.m.
Bank of Kentucky Center on NKU Campus
To read about all of the 2011 YMCA Achiever honorees, please click here.
To learn more about the YMCA of Greater Cincinnati Black & Latino Achievers Program & the Gala, please click here.
To reserve your seat for the upcoming YMCA Salute Gala, please call 513-362-2012.
