history

Adam Green began Rocking the Boat in 1996 as a volunteer boatbuilding project at the East Harlem Maritime School, a junior high school. The head teacher, Paul Pennoyer, whom Adam had met while working aboard the Hudson River Sloop Clearwater, said he'd had a dream to build a boat with his students and asked if Adam would be willing to give it a try. After eight months of work, Paul, Adam, and the students launched The Dolphin, an 8-foot dingy in the pool at the basement of the school. It floated!

After graduating from college the following year, Adam was recommended by Paul to run a project with a high school after school program based out of Hostos Community College. Adam and 16 students built a 14-foot Whitehall rowing boat from scratch over the course of seven months. The project was a great success, though a wall had to be broken down to liberate the boat, and received both New York Times and CNN news coverage.

In the summer of 1998, having taken a year to develop more effective programming ideas and find a new home for his program, Adam brought Rocking the Boat to the community of New Settlement Apartments in the southwest Bronx. New Settlement offered to act as a fiscal sponsor and provided a workshop space in the basement of one of their buildings. Five grants were secured, raising $55,000 for the first year of operation. This included a fellowship Adam received from the Echoing Green Foundation.

Two years later, in the Fall of 2000, Rocking the Boat moved from their basement shop to a storefront on a busy block in the neighborhood. This more visible location launched the program to a much greater degree of popularity in the eyes of both the community and funding sources. Adam and Rocking the Boat received a $50,000 Union Square Award for their grassroots community work.

In June 2001, Rocking the Boat, incorporated as its own independent non-profit organization and in April 2002, it officially separated from New Settlement Apartments. Now, as Rocking the Boat approaches its 10th anniversary year, the organization has developed into a fully sustainable organization with 13 full time and 10 part time staff, operating boatbuilding, environmental education, job skills, on-water classroom, and public rowing programs for over 2,000 youth and community members each year.