About

About Us

Community Change, Inc. (CCI) is a New York State-based company whose mission is to support the survival and success of youth, families, communities, and the agencies that serve them. CCI does this through six services:

We support youth and families with educational programs in the following content areas:

21st Century Skills and Social-Emotional Learning Skills
Career Awareness/Career Explorations/Career Development/Job Readiness
Civic Engagement/Community Service/Service Learning
Culinary Arts
Cultural Awareness/Diversity, Belonging, Equity & Inclusion
Financial Literacy
Relationship Education/Restorative Practices/Conflict Management

CCI supports nonprofits, institutions of higher education, school districts, youth bureaus and other agencies through customized curricula and professional development. We also support these agencies by providing fund development and strategic planning services that builds their capacity to serve youth, parents/families, and communities.

Community Change, Inc. has three subsidiary companies: CareerVisions, Ltd., CareerVisions, NY and Professor A.I.

CareerVisions, Ltd. implements CCI’s short-term, and year-to-year projects.
CareerVisions, NY, is CCI’s nonprofit, 501(c)3 organization that implements CCI’s state-wide, multi-year, grant-funded projects.
Professor A.I. is CCI’s EdTech company that provides artificial intelligence-powered resources for teaching and learning. Professor A.I. also provides technological design services and solutions to address the organizational development needs of youth and community-serving agencies.

A BRIEF HISTORY OF COMMUNITY CHANGE, INC.

CCI’s Executive Director, Kenyatta Funderburk, founded the company in 2009. This was the year CCI exploded into the scene by winning $6 million in multiple New York City and State contracts for its clients to adopt its program models.In 2011, two CCI-managed state-funded programs were accredited by the National Community Education Association (NCEA) for meeting their high standards of quality for after-school programs. Additionally, CCI activities have received Promising Practice Awards from ExpandeD Schools on three occasions.

In 2013, CCI secured its first state contract (4-years, $954,760) from the Ne York State Education Department — 21st Century Community Learning Centers (21st CCLC), to provide 200 high school students and their families of six schools in the Bronx with youth development, academic enrichment, and family literacy activities.

In 2015, CCI secured a 5-year, $10 million contract from the United States Department of Health & Human Services —Healthy Marriage/Relationship Education Program for its client, Nepperhan Community Centers, to serve 480 high school students and adults in six cities across Westchester County (Mt. Vernon, New Rochelle, Greenburg, Tuckahoe, White Plains and Yonkers).

In 2016, we began working with arts organizations by securing nearly a half a million in multiple, multi-year funding to support their collective adaptation of our programs to serve more than 100 3rd — 12th grade students with disabilities and English Language Learners in New York City public schools.

In 2017, CCI secured its own contract (5-year, $2 million) from the New York State Education Department — 21st Century Community Learning Centers (21st CCLC), to provide 300 high school students and their families of six schools in the Bronx with family literacy, academic enrichment, and youth development activities.

In 2018, CCI won a 4-year, $1.52 contract from the New York State Office of Children & Family Services — Empire Afterschool Programs to serve 180 high school students and their families in the Bronx. Additionally, CCI won a federal grant for 2-years, $450,000 from the United States Department of Health & Human Services —Sexual Risk Avoidance Program for the Westchester County Youth Bureau educational programs fo 320 high school youth; and was contracted by the Mayor’s Office of New York City to train their funded fatherhood programs and arts organizations on how to use its framework for family literacy and for community organizing.

Our Philosophy

Community Change, Inc. recognizes that students, parents, staff, teachers and community members are all partners who have important roles in achieving our vision. We believe that education is a most valuable tool for gaining the power necessary to create our desired futures. We believe that education must prepare people to control and overcome the challenges of their environment. Community Change, Inc. believes that observation and application are essential elements of an excellent education. Through creative repetition, our efforts focus on advancing participants’ knowledge, skills, values and behaviors in community organizing and career explorations.

We believe that people learn best when topics are presented to them in a relevant and appropriate manner. We also believe that teaching is most effective when an approach seeking to achieve one’s mastery over the content is used. We believe that a foundation of love and a dedication to learning are necessary ingredients towards achieving our vision.

Community Change, Inc. envisions a population of people who can and will support the survival and success of themselves and their community. We believe that, through the work of the CareerVisions Institute and our students, staff, partners and parents, nothing will ever stop us from making this vision a reality.

The Framework for CCI’s Services: Inquiry, Research & Engagement (Asking, Answering & Involving)

A framework is the essential structure, elements or components of something. Inquiry, research and engagement comprise the framework of CCI’s services. Inquiry refers to the act or instance of asking questions; research refers to the practice of finding answers to questions or interventions to problems using references; and engagement refers to the act of involving or participating in something (activities or exercises). These three core elements or components are the basis of CCI’s services that are intentional about promoting critical thinking and strategic planning. CCI’s services are intended to be interventions in community, criminal justice, academic, family, foster care, and organizational settings. CCI’s capacity building services supports artists, community workers, organizational staff, parents, social workers, teachers, and youth workers in various settings to empower the people with whom they work and for whom they are responsible.

What’s the Problem?

If something isn’t done about the lack of leadership and ambition amongst young people, they will continue to be ill-equipped for survival in their community and unprepared to successfully compete professionally as adults.

Instructional Approach

Appropriateness — the content of lessons is delivered to program participants in an appropriate manner. Content of lessons is delivered in such a way that can be easily grasped by the learners because it clear and understandable to every student in the group.

Relevance — the content of lessons accommodates the needs, interests, and concerns of program participants. The degree in which something is relevant determines the level of attention and action it receives from an individual or group.

Observation (Analysis) — lessons allow for learners to observe and analyze the content. This analysis involves the activation of one or any combination of the learners’ senses (i.e. sight, smell, touch, taste, and hearing).

Application (Action) — lessons allow for learners to use the content through practical activities/experiences.

Creative Repetition (Reinforcement) — important content of lessons are repeated through a variety of learning activities and experiences.

Mastery — lessons allow for learners to demonstrate that they have mastered the content. Learners are provided with opportunities to teach their peers what they have learned.

Guiding Principles

Learning — increasing one’s knowledge, skills, values and behaviors.

Community — a neighborhood; a group of people having common interests; togetherness.

Power — the capacity to create a desired outcome; strength.

Leadership — the ability to provide guidance and direction towards reaching certain goals.

Excellence — superiority; the state of being of the highest quality.

Vision — the picture of the reality or world that you are seeking to create.

Focus — to concentrate; to center one’s attention on something. Target or goal (noun).

Organization — the practice of having a formalized structure to get things done.

Love — possessing deep devotion and care for someone or something.

Creativity — possessing resourcefulness, inventiveness, or imagination.

Dedication — commitment, loyalty, or devotion to an act, idea, person, or group.

Professionalism — the practice of meeting or exceeding the standards of a particular industry.

Critical Thinking — the process of questioning common assumptions, beliefs, standards, or ideas.

Vision, Mission, Goals and Objectives

Community Change (dba CareerVisions, Ltd.) is a New York State-based, capacity-building consulting firm that supports schools, school districts, government agencies, not-for-profits, and institutions of higher education in strengthening their services and connections to youth, families and communities. We do this by providing youth workshops, and developing curricula and college courses based on our niche models for career explorations, community organizing, cultural awareness, and relationship building. We also do this by writing grant proposals, delivering staff trainings, and providing strategic planning support for organizations.

Vision Statement

Community Change envisions people and organizations that have what it takes and does what it takes to support the survival and success of their community. We envision young people in positions of power and masters of the industries in their areas of interest.

Mission Statement

Community Change’s mission is to make our community a better place to live. We do this by supporting the development of youth, families, and institutions that serve them. Specifically, we provide innovative and effective educational programs, professional development, organizational development and fund development services.

Primary Mission: To make our community a better place to live.

Secondary Mission: To prepare young people to achieve positions of power;

Tertiary Mission: To prepare young people to be the masters of the industries in their areas of interest.

Goals

To engage youth in exploring career possibilities based on their interests;
To guide youth in analyzing and addressing their community concerns;
To engage youth in exploring their culture;
To engage youth in exploring ways of building strong relationships at various levels of society; and…
To build the capacity of organizations to support the communities they serve.

Objectives, Including Dosage of Services

1. To provide at least 28 youth workshops per semester to up to 30 K-12th grade students based on the CareerVisions, Community Change, Legacy and/or Peace Models for youth engagement;

2. To support schools, school districts, government agencies, not-for-profits, and institutions of higher education the development of academic curricula and college courses comprised of at least 24 sessions per semester based on the CareerVisions, Community Change, Legacy and/or Peace Models for youth engagement;

3. To provide at least 12 mentoring sessions (research support, collaborative lesson planning meetings, and/or instructional coaching) per semester to each education professional assigned that support them in developing a series of project-based learning lessons based on the CareerVisions, Community Change, Legacy and/or Peace Models for youth engagement;

4. To provide at least 25 hours of a range of capacity building services (including fund development and strategic planning) per year to government agencies, not-for-profits, and institutions of higher education that will strengthen their services to youth, families and communities.

Services/Strategies

1. Educational Programs (Youth, Family and Community Development): Community Change partners with schools, school districts, government agencies, not-for-profits, and institutions of higher education to develop and implement educational programs, workshops, classes and college courses for the students and families they serve. These programs are based on Community Change’s unique models for 1. career explorations (The CareerVisions Model); 2. community organizing (The Community Change Model); 3. cultural awareness (The Legacy Model); and 4. relationship building (The Peace Model). The themes and exercises for each model are designed around students’ interests and academic needs. This allows for the integration of art, dance, drama games, and sports with such academic content as literacy, science, and math to provide a relevant and engaging educational experience for students. Students are also engaged in research and restorative practice circles to support and facilitate their exploration in each model.

• The CareerVisions Model engages students from kindergarten through college in a variety of fun yet challenging activities that support them in defining and pursuing their career ambitions as they analyze and address their community concerns. Students are engaged in an exploration of people, places and other things related to their field of interest.

• The Community Change Model is an award winning approach to engage students from kindergarten through college in identifying, analyzing and addressing social issues in their neighborhood through the dynamic integration of critical questions, interesting activities and references. In practice, Community Change is applied to a single issue identified and selected by the students. Past Community Change Projects have focused on such issues as drugs, gangs, and violence.

• The Legacy Model engages students from kindergarten through college in an exploration of their culture as it is manifested in their field of interest. Legacy gives youth an idea of the kind of people they can be for themselves and their community. The goal of Legacy is to increase student awareness of their culture in their field of interest. Through fun, age-appropriate and challenging activities, students become aware of the presence and impact of their people in a variety of subjects and fields.

• The Peace Model engages students from kindergarten through college in exercises that repair harm and develop relationships. Research shows schools implementing restorative practices have seen a drop in disciplinary problems, decreased reliance on detention and suspension, and an improvement in student attitudes. Educators worldwide are using restorative practices to prevent bullying and violence. In Peace, this is done by navigating six phases of exploration: self,family, class & school, community, nation and world.

2. Parent and Family Engagement: CCI provides a wide variety of workshops to enhance and strengthen the skills of parents, guardians and other adult caregivers to help them guide their children through schools and their community. CCI parent workshops improve their knowledge and skills related to education, economics, community resources, adolescent sexual health and risky behaviors. Workshops can be conducted at the school or community location of the client. with parents alone and/or with their children to improve communication skills. Workshops are facilitated by a variety professionals, including educators of representatives of social service providers with significant expertise in the training topics.

3. Staff Trainings (Professional Development): Through its unique mentoring approach to staff trainings, Community Change supports organizations in adopting its program models for cultural awareness, career explorations, community organizing, and relationship building. Community Change does this by assigning an experienced educator to provide one-to-one research support, collaborative lesson planning and instructional coaching to an organization’s staff who will be responsible for lesson implementation. Community Change also trains large groups of staff using the common workshop approach and webinars that cover a range of pedagogical and organizational topics, including college and career readiness and parent engagement.

4. Curricula and Course Development: Community Change, Inc. supports schools, school districts, government agencies, not-for-profits, and institutions of higher education the development of academic curricula and college courses based on the CareerVisions, Community Change, Legacy and/or Peace Models for student engagement.

5. Strategic Planning (Organizational Development): Community Change engages its clients in strategic planning process to develop best approaches for overcoming challenges. Strategic planning services include communications, facilitation and/or participation in organizational retreats and meetings. Community Change leverages the experience of its management experts to examine an agency’s needs, challenges, environment, and current capacity to implement common, best and innovative practices to meet their goals.

6. Grant Proposal Writing (Fund Development): Through its grant proposal writing services, Community Change identifies and pursues grant opportunities for its clients. Since 2009, Community Change has raised more than $30 million in government funding for various city agencies, not-for-profits, and institutions of higher education throughout New York State. These include the New York City Department of Education, the City of Yonkers Public School System and the City of Mt. Vernon – Youth Bureau.

The Strategic Plan

Youth Programs

Parent/Family Community Engagement

Professional Development

Organizational Development

The Models

Sample age-appropriate lessons/workshops from each of our educational programs that demonstrate the amazing power and creativity of Teacher PAI. Based on the Community Change Pedagogy, each one-hour lesson can cover up to two content areas and include two to three types of activities.