BGCB Newsletter
Volume 2 | Number 1 | January 2008

Five-Year Strategic Plan: Laying the Groundwork for BGCB’s Future

In 2006, Boys & Girls Clubs of Boston embarked on a strategic planning process that engaged the voices of 470 stakeholders and helped chart the future growth of the organization. Led by a team of Bain & Company consultants working pro-bono, BGCB articulated an ambitious strategic vision that calls for the organization to invest in impact and innovation to double the number of youth served by 2013.

Implementing the Strategic Plan through Shared-Space Clubs

Boys & Girls Clubs of Boston took the first steps towards fulfilling the vision of its five-year Strategic Plan with the expansion of its operations into two new Shared-Space Clubs. In September, BGCB opened two new School Clubs: the Condon Club at the John D. Condon Elementary School in South Boston and the Sumner Club at the Charles Sumner Elementary School in Roslindale.

Get Into “The Clubs” With a Click of Your Mouse

Boys & Girls Clubs of Boston is proud to announce the launch of our new web site as the final element of our recent rebranding project. The site provides a significant amount of new content of interest to supporters, volunteers, members and their families, and alumni, as well as password-protected intranets to improve communication with our multi-site staff and Board members.

Innovation, Expansion Lead to Upward Trend in Youth Engagement

Focused on the goal of keeping at-risk youth safe and hopeful about the future, Boys & Girls Clubs of Boston – for the second consecutive summer – sought innovative ways to expand our operations. We reached more youth - a total of nearly 3,000 - by extending hours to weekends and late nights on Fridays, and by expanding our service footprint to include the operation of Camp Harbor View, a new summer camp on Long Island in Boston Harbor. The benefits of engaging more youth during the summer are reflected in the upward trend in daily attendance we experienced at the Clubs this fall.

A Community’s Struggle Inspires Donor’s Gift to Comprehensive Campaign

“We heard about the challenges faced by the Blue Hill Club because of the violence in the neighborhood,” Elena Matlack said. “So when BGCB asked Tom and me for a Campaign gift, we decided initially to pay for a security guard, because we thought, ‘We have to help keep these kids alive.’ But the more we learned, the more we realized there was a need to help young people in a positive way.” The Matlacks’ Campaign gift supports the Club’s Teen Advocacy and Community Outreach Director, a staff position that is essential in reaching especially at-risk teens. It has been a rewarding and moving experience for Elena since she first got involved with BGCB as a way to honor and remember her late first husband.

Inspiration streams live and online

The Blue Hill Boys & Girls Club/George Robert White Youth Development Center is giving youth a constructive forum for expressing their views as it begins the second year of its interactive internet radio show. The show, called B&G Hot Talk, launches in early February with a crew composed entirely of Club members. Visitors will be able to hear archived shows 24 hours a day or live from 4:30 – 5:30 p.m. via a link on www.bgcb.org.

Volunteer Project hits the Perfect Note

Ece Akturk had an idea that was well outside of her role in Technical Support at Unica Corporation, a leading global provider of enterprise marketing management (EMM) software. As part of Unica’s Community Action Committee, Ece wanted to help kids in need while creating the most personal engagement experience possible for her co-workers. Her concept: a charity CD featuring mostly original music performed by Ece and her colleagues in partnership with Boys & Girls Clubs of Boston.