Dear Friends:

As the first student alumni of HarlemLive’s Board of Directors, I am inviting you to become a charter member of HarlemLive; a youth service organization that publishes www.HarlemLive.org, a fantastic online magazine completely produced by a group of dynamic teens in New York City. Teens at HarlemLive have the opportunity to speak on panels, interact with corporate executives, interview celebrity legends, design and implement workshops and participate in entrepreneurial projects. As a result, their personal, academic, and professional options are expounded, exponentially.

HarlemLive is currently in the midst of a capacity building initiative and would love your support. Capacity building is a curious phrase that means the organization needs to raise money to increase its ability to help other young people in the way that it helped me. HarlemLive builds the capacity of everyday kids in New York City by assisting them in discovering their voices, abilities and passions. In order to incessantly report the news, young people must know the news. HarlemLive forces them to engage in the world in deeper, more meaningful ways than they might have otherwise chosen. HarlemLive provoked me to become more critical of the world, more perceptive, more driven. It deepened my connection to my community while enlarging the boundaries of my life.

Through access to media – film, reporting, photography, the internet, and learning how to use them effectively -- I have been empowered to understand that I am a citizen of the world. The possibilities for my future have expounded in ways I’d never fathomed before HarlemLive.

When young people leave HarlemLive, they are able to think faster, write better, produce more, reach further, shoot higher, and speak to just about anyone with a level of comfort and charisma that most would find uncanny for someone their age. Abilities honed at HarlemLive assisted me in launching The Ivory Tower Project, a college prep and enrichment program for gifted, low-income high school students. Lessons learned through my HarlemLive experience have provided insights I’ve relayed in my travels, designing and teaching journalism workshops in rural townships of South Africa. And, old lessons continue to serve me now; while studying abroad at Oxford University, I’m an international correspondent for a range of American magazines.

I implore you to become one of our charter members. You will receive a unique set of membership benefits listed on the membership application (see PDF ). More importantly, your membership will assist HarlemLive in continuing to build the capacity of New York City youth. Please visit our staff pages, www.HarlemLive.org, and meet the young people who will directly benefit from your generosity. Your support will be tremendously appreciated!

Yours,

Danya Steele,
HarlemLive Alumni and Board Member

Please become one of our charter members and join this growing list of supporters.

HarlemLive
525 W. 120th ST Box 144
NY, NY 10027