Boston

History

On Your Feet Project (OYFP) was founded in 2001 as the vision of an individual who believed in the power of youth mobilization as an engine for social change. It began as a single benefit concert, but grew quickly as an increasing number of people became attracted to the cause. OYFP officially incorporated in 2002 and has since become a 501(c)3 recognized nonprofit organization. The organization has partnered with numerous nonprofit organizations to facilitate active involvement among young adults in the areas of children’s welfare, domestic violence, education, homelessness, personal/public health, and environmental protection.

Mission

On Your Feet Project is a national nonprofit organization engaging people in community service and activism by educating them about diverse nonprofit organizations and creating opportunities for direct community involvement. Our audience includes young professionals, college and graduate students, and other young members of the community. OYFP achieves its goals by building partnerships with other nonprofit organizations and creating accessible, event-based outreach programs on their behalf that harness the power of popular culture and volunteerism. Our vision is to mobilize a generation of individuals dedicated to social change.

Approach

On Your Feet Project views community involvement as a means of generating deep-rooted dedication among young people toward improving their communities, which in turn stimulates social change.

OYFP, which is entirely volunteer-run, builds partnerships with other nonprofit organizations selected on the basis of several criteria and sponsors programs on their behalf targeted at young adults. These programs generate awareness for partner organizations and use education and participation as tools for building a bridge to active community involvement.

OYFP provides accessible, event-based outreach programs that fill a void in the nonprofit sector by reaching out primarily to young adults, who represent an untapped source of volunteers, future donors and public support for our nonprofit partners. The need is acute: Americans between the ages of 20-24 and 25-34 volunteer less than any other age group in the 16-65 range, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Benefit Program

OYFP develops and executes events including concerts, art and photography shows, comedy jams, and film screenings, all of which focus on helping nonprofits educate young people about their activities and recruit new volunteers. The diversity of the content among events enables OYFP to reach a broad group of young adults, and the diversity of causes supported reflects the wide-ranging interests of our target audiences.

OYFP also develops public awareness campaigns in conjunction with OYFP events. Our marketing initiatives include print and other media as well as public relations support through press releases and contacts with local news outlets. Net proceeds from events executed by OYFP are donated to the designated partner organizations; OYFP retains only funds necessary for the cost of event execution and operating expenses.

If you would like to get involved in planning OYFP Benefit Programs, please look at each of the cities' pages for the appropriate contact within that city, or contact the national headquarters at events@oyfp.org. 

Volunteer Program

The OYFP Volunteer Program facilitates direct interaction among young people with our partner organizations through volunteer events and orientation sessions for our partner organizations’ programs. These events educate volunteers about our partner organizations and encourage individuals to develop active and enduring relationships with the partners.

OYFP believes that spending two hours at a museum with a six-year old child living in a transitional housing facility can be more powerful than any other recruiting tool to encourage community service. In addition, a high percentage of attendees at volunteer orientation sessions have signed up to become actively involved on a regular basis with the partner organization.

If you would like to get involved in planning OYFP Volunteer Programs, please look on your cities' section of the website for contact information, or email volunteer@oyfp.org.

About This Chapter

OYFP-Boston is a group of young professionals and students living in or around the Boston area working to promote volunteerism.

We work closely with the Boston Young Professionals Association (BYPA) to form partnerships with local nonprofits that we can help find new volunteers and raise awareness of their organization.

We are still young and growing, but we are extremely optimistic about the partnerships we will acquire and the future of OYFP Boston. For photos of the Boston chapter specifically, please visit OYFP on Facebook, OYFP on MySpace, OYFP on Ning.com, or look at our photos on Flickr: http://www.flickr.com/photos/oyfp.

National Administration

Ethan S. Johnson, Executive Director
Andrew Immerman, Chief Financial Officer
Rodney Pratt, Legal Counsel
Julie Straus, Volunteer Program Advisor
Julie Suh, Webmaster

Board Of Directors

Ethan Johnson, Founder and Chairman of the Board
Ariel Glasner, Secretary and Treasurer 
Andrew Immerman, Chief Financial Officer 

To contact the On Your Feet Project, e-mail us at info@oyfp.org. Media inquiries may also be sent to this address.

Board Of Advisors

Sean Frankel
Greg Kobrick
Andrew Kowal
David Kuhn
Robyn Marks
Jessica Merlin
Bhakti Mirchandani
Nadia Mustafa
Sara Polon
Julie Straus
Julie Suh

Boston Team

Krystle Petrie, Chapter Co-Director (krystle.petrie@oyfp.org)
Casey Williams, Chapter Co-Director (casey.williams@oyfp.org)
Alex Kordun, Sponsorship Director (alex.kordun@oyfp.org)
Hannah Kim, Volunteer Program Co-Director (hannah.kim@oyfp.org)
Reena Mathew, Volunteer Program Co-Director (reena.mathew@oyfp.org)
Dawn Peters, Volunteer Program Co-Director (dawn.peters@oyfp.org)
Elizabeth Khoo, Marketing Director (elizabeth.khoo@oyfp.org)
John Ryan, Benefit Events Director (john.ryan@oyfp.org)
Julianne Muszynksi, Public Relations Director (julianne.muszynski@oyfp.org)
Leif Holtzman, Director of Affiliates (leif.holtzman@oyfp.org)

Boston Contacts