Not long after becoming executive director of City Year Rhode Island, the AmeriCorps-supported nonprofit that serves underprivileged youth, Jennie Johnson came to the realization that its attempt to be a statewide presence was limiting its effectiveness. So in consultation with CYRI’s advisory board, Johnson decided to concentrate the services of the program on the area most in need of them – Providence.
She then reached out to the city, the Providence school district and the Providence After School Alliance to coordinate a program that would make the best use of the resources she had to combat children dropping out of school.
It was an approach that comes from listening to her father, the person she identified as the most influential in her life. He became an executive vice president at his company through hard work and dedication, yes, but most importantly by “building strong and meaningful relationships.”
By “putting people and the needs of others first,” said Johnson in her 40 Under Forty application, she has transformed City Year Rhode Island.
The needs in this case are those of at-risk children in the city. Johnson has focused the program on early intervention by the CYRI corps in schools identified collectively by the city school department, PASA and Johnson’s team. From a geographically diffuse, part-time approach to one that allows for full-time corps member engagement in classrooms and after-school programs, Johnson’s team is making an impact.
By showing the donor community that the program is specific, targeted and dedicated to meeting identifiable goals, CYRI is gaining support. Johnson has brought lapsed donors back into the fold and doubled the number of “champions” of CYRI.
Next year, Johnson expects the program to grow 10 percent, with the goal of doubling its size by 2013, giving it the ability to reach half of the Providence students at risk of dropping out of school. •
