 |
|
rocking the boat hires first deputy director and second advocate Rocking the Boat is proud to announce the addition of two new members of the staff: Trevor Harris and Anita Antonetty.  Trevor assumes the newly created position of Deputy Director. It is hard to imagine a person more ideally suited for the job. An alumnus of the renowned Rockport Apprenticeshop boatbuilding school in Maine, Trevor founded Building Bridges, Building Boats in 1998, the same year Adam Green launched Rocking the Boat. BBBB uses boatbuilding and community rowing experiences on the Hudson River to enrich the lives of children and adults, and Trevor continues to serve actively on the Board of Directors. For the past six years he has been a program manager at New York City Outward Bound, working with high school students on wilderness orientations, managing a boating program, and running a student leadership program. Trevor's experience overseeing a $2 million building renovation project at Outward Bound will be particularly useful as Rocking the Boat lays the groundwork to initiate our own effort to construct a new headquarters in Hunts Point within the next two years. His key responsibilities in the Bronx will include day-to-day oversight of Rocking the Boat's operations, supervision of program staff, and management of budgets. Anita brings considerable youth development and community organizing experience to her new job as Rocking the Boat's Job Skills Advocate. Born and raised in the South Bronx, Anita has long been interested in helping students similar to Rocking the Boat's population transition to the next phase of their lives. She worked for 11 years with United Bronx Parents (a seminal community-based organization founded in the 1970s by her mother, Evelina), serving as a case worker and coordinating an occupational skills program. Most recently, in her work at Bank Street College, she provided guidance regarding the pursuit of higher education and advised students on financial aid opportunities. Anita's neighborhood roots run deep and include dedicated service with Community Board #4, Board membership and printmaking with MUD/BONE Studio 889, and involvement with the Botanical Gardens' Bronx Green Up Program, the South Bronx's Community Supported Agriculture, and NYC Department of Youth and Community Development's Bronx Neighborhood Advisory Board. Anita's far-reaching network in the Bronx will be a great advantage for Rocking the Boat's Job Skills Apprentices as she helps them prepare to spread their wings.
The Deputy Director position is being made possible thanks to the Goldman Sachs Capacity Partners award that Rocking the Boat received last spring. Major supporters of the Job Skills Advocate position are the Charles Hayden Foundation and the Altman Foundation. bronx river youth stewardship award bestowed to rocking the boat for the second time  A week before the start of the spring semester, a lovely ceremony was held at the office of Congressman Jose E. Serrano to award Rocking the Boat with the Bronx River Youth Stewardship Award. This is the second consecutive year that Rocking the Boat's work has been recognized with the honor. The Congressman spoke with students and parents for well over an hour, celebrating the work students and staff have been accomplishing on the Bronx River and the impact the organization has had on the youth of the South Bronx. He engaged beautifully with the kids, and even told the story of how he grew up to become a Congressman. It was really a shining moment for Rocking the Boat, and one that underscored the great deal of impact the program has had on both the people and the nature of the Bronx over the past eight years. |
| < previous newsletter | next newsletter > |
