The Summer Youth Employment Program (SYEP) provides New York City youth between the ages of 14 and 24 with paid summer employment for up to six weeks in July and August. Participants work in a entry-level jobs in a variety of industries including:

• Arts and Recreation
• Educational Services
• Financial Services
• Healthcare/Medical
• Hospitality/Tourism
• Information Technology
• Manufacturing
• Marketing/Public Relations
• Media/Entertainment
• Real Estate/Property
• Retail

On Saturday, January 28, more than 600 young people participated in DYCD’s Chess Masters Tournament at the Police Athletic League’s Harlem Center. The event gave youth an opportunity to compete among their peers and sharpen their chess skills. Please view photos from this event on our DYCD Facebook page. A news segment created by CBS 2 is available to view here.

DYCD is renaming the Young Adult Internship Program, the In-School Youth Program, and the Out-of-School Youth Program and we need your help!

Come up with 1 (one) new name for each program and enter for a chance to win an Apple iPad Air 2! All participants must sign the Participant Agreement Form and submit it, along with their entries by February 17th.

Download and fill out the Participant Agreement Form and email along with your entry to youthconnect@dycd.nyc.gov or mail it to, Youth Connect, c/o NYC Department of Youth and Community Development, 123 William Street, 17th floor, New York, NY 10038.

Questions: Email youthconnect@dycd.nyc.gov or call DYCD Youth Connect at 1.800.246.4646.

Three (3) winners will be announced on our website on Friday, March, 17, 2017.

Read the rules here.

Sunday, February 19, 2017 – Friday, February 24, 2017, 10:00am – 5:00pm
Brooklyn Children’s Museum
145 Brooklyn Avenue, Brooklyn, NY
Included with general admission
Join the Brooklyn Children’s Museum for their annual Black History Month celebration week. Throughout Mid-Winter Recess, families will learn about five influential Black women leaders Ruby Bridges, Wilma Rudolph, Shirley Chisholm, Michelle Obama, and Sojourner Truth; investigate African American cultural objects from BCM’s collection; and enjoy art making, block play, and kid-friendly screenings. For more details, visit brooklynkids.org.

Monday, February 20, 2017 – Friday, February 24, 2017
Free for 12 and under
The kids are out of school, now get them out of the house. Head to the park and join Urban Park Rangers for “Kids Week” programs. Immerse your kids, and yourself, in the natural world. Experience history, wildlife, birds, bugs and more. Follow the links for more details, and keep an eye open for additions as Kids Week approaches.

Kids’ Week in the Bronx!
Kids’ Week in Brooklyn!
Kids’ Week in Manhattan!
Kids’ Week in Queens!
Kids’ Week in Staten Island!

Monday, February 20, 2017 – Friday, February 24, 2017, 12:00pm – 3:00pm
Audubon Center and Lefferts Historic House
Prospect Park, Brooklyn, NY
Free for all ages
Join the Prospect Park Alliance during the Mid-Winter Recess for family-friendly activities at the Prospect Park Audubon Center and Lefferts Historic House. Bundle up and find out what your favorite park animals are doing this winter. Join Alliance naturalists for the Great Backyard Bird Count, a world-wide conservation effort established in 1989 by the Cornell Lab of Ornithology and National Audubon Society. Visit prospectpark.org for more information on this week-long program.

Friday, February 24, 2017, 5:00pm – 8:00pm
Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum
1071 Fifth Avenue at 89th Street, New York, NY
Free for ages 13 – 18
Teens are invited to meet at the Guggenheim for an after-hours, teens-only event exploring works on view with teen guides, enjoying tea specially prepared by tea brewers as part of the exhibition Tales of Our Time, and listening to music with friends. Free, but registration required via guggenheim.org. Please bring your current middle school or high school ID badge for check-in.

Currently through Winter 2018
Brooklyn Historical Society
128 Pierrepont Street, Brooklyn, NY 11201
This major, long-term exhibit explores the unsung heroes of Brooklyn’s anti-slavery movement—ordinary residents, black and white—who shaped their neighborhoods, city and nation with a revolutionary vision of freedom and equality. Also on long-term view is a replica of the Brooklyn Historical Society’s rare copy of the Emancipation Proclamation. This exhibition tackles the impact the document had—and has continued to have over the past 150 years. These exhibits are apart of the groundbreaking In Pursuit of Freedom public history project that features new research on Brooklyn’s abolition movement in partnership with Weeksville Heritage Center and Irondale Ensemble Project. For more information, visit the exhibition website at pursuitoffreedom.org.

The Brooklyn Accelerator Incubator Project at Brooklyn Community Foundation aims to support promising local leaders and organizations. Each year, the Foundation will help build the capacity of up to three small, innovative organizations dedicated to sparking change for a more fair and just Brooklyn. The 2015-16 Incubator Project participating groups are Be More, an organization using technology to build a movement to combat racial inequities, Domestic Workers United, an organization advocating for the rights of caregivers and housekeepers, and The Precedential Group, a neighborhood-based approach to reducing gun violence. The Foundation selected these three Incubator Project organizations for their strong leadership, unique approaches, and connection to the Foundation’s strategic priorities.

The Incubator Project will support nonprofits, community groups, and community leaders working in one or more of the following areas of focus: housing rights; immigrant rights; gender equity; environmental justice; criminal justice; and arts and culture. Please visit, the Foundation’s website for details on program offerings and submission and selection criteria. Priority will be given, but not limited to, community organizations and leaders that are based in Crown Heights, Brooklyn. The online application must be submitted by Tuesday, February 21, 2017.

Blacks at Microsoft (BAM) is a company-sponsored employee network dedicated to supporting the continued growth and development of black employees at Microsoft Corporation. This year, BAM will award two (2) U.S. $5,000 scholarships to outstanding high-school seniors who are interested in pursuing careers in technology. The scholarships are renewable, so winners who continue to meet the criteria can receive an annual $5,000 award for up to four years. Please review the following eligibility requirements to apply:

• Be a high-school senior of African descent (for example, African-American, African, or Ethiopian)
• Plan to attend a four-year college or university in the fall of the year following high-school graduation
• Plan to pursue a bachelor’s degree in engineering, computer science, computer information systems, or select business programs (such as finance, business administration, or marketing)
• Demonstrate a passion for technology
• Demonstrate leadership at school or in the community
• Have a cumulative GPA of 3.3 or higher
• Require financial assistance to attend college

2017 National High School Essay Contest The 2017 National High School Essay Contest has begun! This is the 19th year of this prestigious contest, which encourages high school students to think about important international issues and learn about one of America’s best kept secrets: The United States Foreign Service. This year, the spotlight is thrown on a clear and present challenge: The growing number of refugees and internally displaced persons around the world. The contest challenges students to imagine themselves as a member of the Foreign Service posted to one of four countries that are directly affected by this crisis, and to propose solutions.

Eligibility for AFSA’s 2017 National High School Essay Contest is open to students in grades nine through twelve in any of the fifty states, the District of Columbia, the U.S. territories, or if they are U.S. citizens attending high school overseas. Students may be attending a public, private, or parochial school. Entries from home-schooled students are also accepted. Previous first-place winners and immediate relatives of directors or staff of the AFSA, the U.S. Institute of Peace, National Student Leadership Conference and Semester at Sea are not eligible to participate. Previous honorable mention recipients are eligible to enter. The deadline is March 15, 2017. Please contact Perri Green, AFSA’s Awards Coordinator, at green@afsa.org with questions. Also, visit the AFSA website for additional details about the scholarship and essay topic.

The Geneseo Migrant Center has provided financial assistance to students across the country with a recent or ongoing history of movement to obtain work in agriculture since the inception of its first scholarship fund in 1974. The purpose of the New York State Migrant Student Scholarship is to recognize the educational achievement of migrant farmworker students with a history of migration to and/or within New York. The award is supported through resources from the Gloria and Joseph Mattera National Scholarship Fund for Migrant Children. The New York State Migrant Scholarship Award will be announced at the Migrant Education Outreach Program (MEOP) May Consortium. The financial award will be provided to the winner(s) upon submission of proof of acceptance or enrollment at an accredited public or private college or trade school. The selection criteria will include, but not be limited to, the student: demonstrating commitment to educational goals, participating in school/MEOP related activities, participating in community and/or non-school activities, demonstrating good citizenship qualities, presenting evidence of high mobility (inter or intrastate), and overcoming unusual odds/need. The deadline for this scholarship is annually by April 1st. This award of $500 will be offered annually to an individual student or the amount will be divided among two or more students. For additional information on the Fund, please visit the website.

The Immigrant Rights Fund from the Brooklyn Community Foundation will support both the immediate and long-term needs of immigrants in Brooklyn and across New York City, while strengthening collaboration among immigrant-serving and ally nonprofits. The Action Fund offers support for ongoing civil resistance and organizing efforts—including community-building, bystander training, public education, action planning, and event logistics—with grants up to $2,500. Grants will be offered on a rolling basis for immigrant-led and immigrant-serving efforts, and will be awarded to nonprofits or fiscally sponsored groups. Applicants will be asked to respond to the following questions:

Please describe the nature of action, event or project.
What is the anticipated impact of the action, event or project?
Please include estimated breakdown of costs by line item.
Please describe the community you wish to engage. Include details including demographics of the community served such as racial and ethnic make-up, immigrant community, and neighborhood served.

To submit your funding request, please complete the online form. For more information, visit the Immigrant Rights Fund website.

The Bernard F. and Alva B. Gimbel Foundation, Inc. was incorporated in 1943 as a private, family foundation. The Foundation’s donors had wide ranging philanthropic interests and the Foundation’s original giving guidelines were defined broadly: grants were to be used for “charitable, scientific or educational purposes.” The Foundation’s areas of interest have evolved over the years and are now more narrowly defined. Current areas of funding include the environment, criminal justice, economic development, reproductive rights, and civil legal services. In most program areas, the Foundation seeks to fund both direct services programs and advocacy efforts. The Foundation’s support for direct services programs is limited to those operating in New York City. The Foundation makes grant decisions in June and December. Requests for both general support and program support are considered. Grants are made only to tax-exempt 501(c)(3) organizations. Before applying, please review the funding priorities and restrictions. Feel free to contact the Foundation’s offices about whether your program(s) fit within the guidelines. Please note that the Foundation makes very few new grants each year. All applications should be submitted through the Gimbel Foundation’s secure online system. Please do not submit letters of inquiry by mail. As an initial approach to the Foundation, prospective applicants may complete an online letter of inquiry. Letters of inquiry are accepted an ongoing basis through the online application system. For more information, please visit gimbelfoundation.org.

Looking for an afterschool program in your neighborhood? Need information on improving reading skills or finding the nearest community center? The web application discoverDYCD allows you to search in multiple languages for DYCD-funded programs. You can search by borough, neighborhood or zip code, and discoverDYCD provides contact information, activities offered, and a mapping feature with navigation.
Categories of services include: Afterschool Programs, Family Support, Literacy Services, Youth Services and so much more! We hope you find discoverDYCD useful as you take advantage of the diverse resources and opportunities that New York City has to offer.