Inspire children to pursue post-secondary education. Volunteer for the ERDA Schools Speaker Series.

Since 2004, the East River Development Alliance (ERDA), an innovative nonprofit located in Long Island City, Queens (ten minutes from Midtown) has been working hard to provide public housing residents with the tools and resources necessary for self-sufficiency and economic success. ERDA believes that the cycle of poverty in public housing can be broken by taking a holistic approach to strengthening neighborhoods through four key initiatives: workforce development, building wealth, community revitalization, and youth development. A major component of the youth development initiative is the ERDA Schools Speaker Series, a program that brings professionals into 5th grade classrooms of four Long Island City elementary schools. The goal is to provide children with the rare opportunity to see people they respect, aspire to become, and can identify with. We are looking for professionals who would be willing to speak at one or more 5th grade classrooms about their educational journey and career path. The Speaker Series begins in October 2009 and continues through May 2010. Classroom visits take place on Fridays at 9AM or 1PM. Before visiting classrooms, professionals are asked to provide a 2-3 paragraph biography which is distributed to students and added to their “Dream-Building Binder, “ a collection of biographies and notes about intriguing speakers and careers. At the end of the year, students write an essay about their favorite speaker for a chance to win a $250 savings bond! Here's what a past student says about Speaker Series: “My favorite ERDA speaker is Adriana Miller…Adriana is a book publisher. I was impressed with how many books she’s published. Lastly my family and she both come from South America, which I thought was very cool.” To learn more about the ERDA Schools Speaker Series, or to sign up, please send an email to Bethany at Bethany@erdalliance.org.