PYD Selected for Social Innovation Forum 2018 Nonprofit Accelerator

PYD staff and board member smiling alongside other SIF-selected members

Seal that has a cartoon depiction of Boston's skyline and reads "Social Innovator"Boston, MA (December 8, 2017) – The Social Innovation Forum (SIF) has selected Partners for Youth with Disabilities (PYD) to participate in SIF’s 2018 “Social Innovator Accelerator,” a 24-month capacity-building program that helps nonprofit organizations gain visibility, expand their networks, and accelerate their impact.

As a 2018 Social Innovator, PYD will receive access to more than $150,000 of cash and in-kind services, including training, coaching, and consulting, from SIF and its partners. SIF selected PYD from a pool of 155 applicants based on its unique approach to addressing accessibility and opportunities for young people with disabilities.

“We extend a warm welcome to our newest group of Social Innovators,” said SIF Executive Director Susan Musinsky. “Our team, consultants, in-kind partners, and volunteers are excited to work with you over the next 24 months to help you accelerate the important work your organizations are doing in the local community.”

Regina Snowden, Founder and Executive Director of PYD shared: “We are humbled and honored to be selected as a Social Innovation Forum (SIF) Social Innovator 2018. Our focus as a Social Innovator will be on the bright future of PYD’s YEP Career Readiness Program primed to engage more youth. We are gratified for the ways that mentoring, group mentoring, job training and placement are at the fore of empowering young people with disabilities, a population still under-served. Youth and adults with disabilities are vastly under- and unemployed as compared to persons without a disability. Further, the larger percentage of youth in the juvenile justice system are youth with a disability. Through PYD programs young people gain life skills, career skills, and confidence. They access their rights and realize their abilities. We are grateful to SIF for this extraordinary opportunity. And we are very grateful to Liberty Mutual Insurance, our track sponsor, who leads the way for youth with disabilities and mentoring.”

The full list of organizations selected for the 2018 Social Innovator cohort includes ACT Lawrence, Community Boating Center, Fathers’ Uplift, GreenRoots, PAIR (Political Asylum / Immigration Representation Project), Partners for Youth with Disabilities, Strategies for Youth, and The Renew Collaborative.

The Social Innovator Accelerator is generously supported by the Barr Foundation, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts, The Boston Foundation, Boston Open Impact, the Devonshire Foundation, Highland Street Foundation, Immigrant and Refugee Funder Collaborative, Liberty Mutual Insurance, the Margaret Stewart Lindsay Foundation, MassMutual Foundation, Schrafft Charitable Trust, and the Stifler Family Foundation.

About the Social Innovator Accelerator
The Social Innovator Accelerator provides small- to mid-sized nonprofit organizations with intensive training over a two-year period, including consulting, coaching, and connections to SIF’s network. On average, nonprofit organizations in the SIF portfolio more than double their revenue within four years after engaging with SIF, growth significantly higher than state and national rates. In the past year, organizations in the SIF portfolio impacted more than 400,000 lives across a spectrum of social issues including early childhood education, environmental sustainability, homelessness, and youth development. For more information, visit www.socialinnovationforum.org.

About PYD
For thirty-two years, Partners for Youth with Disabilities has empowered youth with disabilities to reach their personal, educational, and career goals through unique mentoring, creative arts, life skills development, and career-readiness programs. We also have provided inclusion training and technical assistance to more than 100 organizations across the country to help them become more inclusive towards people living with disabilities. PYD is a founding member of the National Disability Mentoring Coalition and also co-chairs the Mentoring Task Force of the Global Partnership on Children with Disabilities. We envision an inclusive global society in which youth with disabilities have the access, support, and confidence to achieve their full potential. We believe that youth with disabilities who are educated, mentored, and empowered have a profoundly positive impact on their communities and the world. With the generous support of many individuals, organizations, foundations, businesses and corporations, our important work with this under-served population of youth will continue to thrive and grow. Partners for Youth with Disabilities, Inc. (PYD) is a designated 501 (c)(3) non-profit organization by the Internal Revenue Service. Follow us on Facebook (pydboston), Twitter and Instagram (@PYDBoston).