Saturday, May 3, 2014Venice Garden & Home Tour This annual self-guided walking tour raises funds for NYA. Each year the tour features an eclectic array of homes which showcase the unique spirit of the Venice community. See page 5.

Sunday, May 17, 2014Secretos: Stories we shouldn’t Tell Student scripts written in the NYA program Write this Way come to life in a performance by professional actors, directed by Dan Ward at Electric Lodge. See pages 2 & 6.

Thursday, November 6, 201418th Annual Investors in Education ReceptionHeld at the California Club each year, this exclusive event honors those in the investment community who are making a difference in the education of our youth.

Thursday, November 20, 2014 Youth Service Council Luncheon This annual Luncheon is held to show appreciation to the many youth serving agencies on the Westside.

Friday, March 6, 2015 Scholarship & Community Service Awards DinnerThis annual event at The Riviera Country Club celebrates the accomplishments of our NYA students, as well as the support from our community partners and volunteers.See pages 3 & 4 for pictures from this years ’ event.

If you would like information on any of the events listed above, please call us at (310) 664-8893.

UPCOMING EVENTS

THESE WORDS accurately describe Erin-Aine Miller and her husband Ron Culver who have been major sponsors of the Venice Garden & Home Tour for ten years. The primary focus of Ron and Erin’s charitable giving is education and environmental issues. Their involve-ment with NYA began years ago when Erin volunteered to be a docent coordi-nator for the Garden Tour.

Erin says the goals of a charity are im-portant to them, and they look for very effective organizations that use funds well. They think the goals and culture

of NYA are good and effective. She says that kids who go through the NYA pro-gram have fundamentally different outcomes than those who don’t. “If we want economic justice, we need edu-cational change for the economically disadvantaged. Education is the solu-tion to helping kids have a successful future,” says Erin. She speaks passion-ately when she says, “What NYA does is amazing. The Garden Tour achieves wonderful things for the Venice neigh-borhood; it creates unity by bringing people together to work on it. Great designers are doing interesting work, and they raise awareness of new tech-niques. People love plants and good design. Everyone is doing their work

for kids. The Garden Tour is the perfect charity event.”

“I give a lot of credit to Jay Griffith, Jan Brilliot and Linda Lucks who cre-

ated something special when they founded the Garden Tour. There is an outstanding group of women who are involved. This program is important because it provides education to families who are in need,” concludes Erin.

Ron Culver and Erin-Aine Miller’s architecture and design

firm C / ARC — melds art and technol-ogy to create innovative architecture, interiors and landscapes that embrace and inspire their occupants. It’s one of the many Venice architecture firms that has made a tremendous contribution to the success of the Garden Tour. These Venice architects are internationally recognized for their cutting edge and environmentally sensitive work. Not only have many architects made their own homes available to thousands of tour-goers, but they also frequently be-come sponsors of the fund raising event. Erin-Aine Miller and Ron Culver are leading examples of the generous do-nors who support NYA’s Venice Garden & Home Tour.

Why Architects Support NYA

Erin-Aine Miller (left) and husband Ron Culver of C / ARC, their Venice

architecture and design firm. Photo: Venice Paparazzi

Gen.er.ous Liberal in giving; munificent; unselfish.

“If we want economic justice, we need educational change for the economically disadvantaged.

Education is the solution to helping kids have a successful future.”

— Erin-Aine Miller

SPRING 2014NEWSLETTER

2

OFFICERSThe Rt. Rev. J. Jon Bruno, Chairman Bishop, Episcopal Diocese of Los AngelesWendell Barner, President Realtor, Prudential CaliforniaDaniel McQueen, 1st Vice President Attorney, Labor and Employment, Sheppard MullinWatt W. Webb III, 2nd Vice President Senior Director, Portfolio Management, BNY Mellon Wealth ManagementJoe Silver, Treasurer Managing Partner, EdgeLine Capital Partners, LLCJoyce Maddox Morandi, Secretary Community VolunteerDon R. Allison, Immediate Past President Adjunct Professor of Economics

BOARD OF TRUSTEES

MEMBERS

EVERY THURSDAY since September I've had the privilege of working with seven brave and talented teenagers at Neighborhood Youth Association. In a screenwriting class called Write This Way, the students have learned the ba-sics of screenwriting, studied movie clips and dissected professional screen-plays. Each student has written a ten to twenty page short screenplay. The only direction: it had to be about something personal. “Write what you know,” is a basic rule in beginning writing.

In several months time, these stu-dents have crafted beautifully told and dramatically compelling stories about events in their own lives. It's not always easy to be honest in your writing, but when you are, the truth is quite power-ful. The subjects in the student’s scripts range from angry fathers, rape, loneli-ness, religion and love.

On May 17, these scripts will come to life in a performance the students have titled, Secretos: Stories We Shouldn’t Tell, (see story on page 6). Eight professional actors have volunteered to perform the stories under the direction of Venice lo-cal Dan Ward at Electric Lodge. Other

local Venice professionals have vol-unteered to speak and work with the students on this production. So far cos-tume designer Natasha Noor, composer Josef Peters, and make-up artist Randi Mavestrand have shared their expertise with the students. Please join us on May 17 to watch these stories come alive.

Write This Way by Kendell Shaffer

Top: Students with teacher Kendell Shaffer (second from right) and the

director of Secretos, Dan Ward, (right). Above: Students use laptops in class.

Left: A student participates in a make-up presentation with professional

make-up artist Randi Mavestrand, (right). Above: A student participates in a

music-writing session with composer Josef Peters, (not pictured).

Visit us on the web: www.nyayouth.orgFollow us on Twitter @NYA_YouthJoin us on Facebook:www.facebook.com/NeighborhoodYouthAssociation

Sponsored by the Episcopal Diocese of Los Angeles

Adri Butler Venice Garden and Home Tour

Robert F. Cavanaugh Managing Director, DLJ Real Estate Capital Partners

Jose E. Feliciano Partner, Clearlake Capital Group

Ludmila Gibbons Community Volunteer

Thomas W. Hulick President & CEO, Holly Street Wealth Advisors, LLC

O’Donnell Iselin Finance Director, Moog Aircraft Group

Nancy Kirwan Landscape Designer

Ann S. Lucas Community Volunteer

Seema Mishra Education Manage- ment & Research

Clarke A. Morrow School Administrator, Retired

Marissa Roman Griffith Attorney/Partner, Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP

Mark R. Ross Managing Director, Diamond Capital Partners

Chris Ruud Las Doradas Women

Paul D. Swanson Attorney, Liner Grode Stein Yankelevitz Sunshine Regenstrief & Taylor

Donald Walton Attorney, Law Offices of Donald D. Walton

Susan Welde Attorney, Locke Lord Bissell & Liddell, LLP

Robert Williams Canon for Commu- nityRelations, Episcopal Diocese of Los Angeles

3

NYA’s 31st Annual Community Service, Volunteer & Scholarship Awards Dinner

CONGRATULATIONS!Scholarship AwardsJosé Feliciano & Kwanza Jones Scholarship Evelyn Dumas Katherine Escoto TatianaGevelekian CinthiaGutierrez JonnySanchez

Friends of NYA Scholarship Abraham Cho LauraHernandezSantiago ElizabethMartinez

Friends of NYA – Vendella Barnett Scholarship Fanny Rivera

Fred & Marjie Mautner ScholarshipElvaCastilloAuroraNuñez

St. Bede’s Bonnie Dawson Scholarship DianaMendez

St. Bede’s Ruth Nicastro Scholarship Reyes Sena

Marguerite J. Goulde Scholarship Carol Mejia EmilyMendez

Investors in Education Scholarship EdwardHernandez JacquelineMartinez

The Joseph Scholarship DianaMendoza NancySantiago

Mar Vista Farmers’ Market Scholarship ElizabethBlasCortes LourdesLopez Aurora Madrigal MarisolMartinez Stephanie Nieto

St. Matthew’s Parish Outreach – Wayne & Mary Muller Scholarship JocelinHernandez MireyaMateoGomez

St. Matthew’s Tita Mann Scholarship Liliana LaMadrid AlexMendoza

Baja Cantina & Mission Foods Scholarship Jesus Romo LisbethSanchez

Community Service Award WinnerGoogle

Photos by Penny Jennings

Volunteer Award NYA Robotics Team: Lilliam Alicea Pedro Castellanos Autumn Lui Ricardo Morales Rahul Vishwanath JustinWebster

4

“In high school, I became involved with the Youth

Leader program where I was able to develop my leadership skills, increase my confidence, and have opportunities I would have never thought possible. Now as a current staff member . . . not only do I see the importance of NYA in our community, but I also get to help other students achieve their dreams.” — Emcee Kenya Mejia, NYA Alumna and Staff Member

“T his is my favorite night of the year because it’s a night that’s all about big dreams — dreams of going to college, overcoming

barriers, building a better future and giving back to help others achieve their dreams. It’s a night to celebrate the hard work that has gone into making those dreams a reality. And those dreams are coming true for more NYA students than ever! — Viva Krasinski, NYA Executive Director

Thank YouScholarship & Award SponsorsEducational InsightsFriends of Neighborhood Youth AssociationJosé E. Feliciano and Kwanza JonesKirsten GouldeAmanda MacLennanFred and Marjie MautnerFamily and Friends of Tita MannInvestors in EducationThe Joseph Scholarship SponsorsMar Vista Farmers’ MarketParish of St. MatthewSt. Bede’s Episcopal ChurchSponsors of the Adel M. Martinez AwardSisters of BedeBaja CantinaMission Foods

NYA’s 31st Annual Community Service, Volunteer & Scholarship Awards Dinner

“T his program has taught me to become a leader by being

courageous, taking responsibility and learning how to work together with the other youth leaders. NYA has shown me that putting yourself out there can open new doors in your life, for which I am very thankful. — Emcee Katherine Bermudez, NYA Youth Leader

Photos by Penny Jennings

5

On Saturday, May 3, the Venice Garden & Home Tour will showcase Hidden Venice: Then & Now, 30 intriguing gardens and homes in the Walk Street area adjacent to the Venice Boardwalk and in the charming, secluded Walk Street neighborhood east of Abbot Kinney Boulevard. This self-guided walking tour, from 10:00am to 5:00pm, starts at NYA, 1016 Pleasant View Avenue in Venice. Shuttle vans and food trucks will be available for the several thousand tour-goers who meander around Venice enjoying and being inspired by this colorful, creative community.

Last May 2013, the tour raised $308,000 and sold over 2500 tickets in the most successful event in the tour’s 20-year history. This year’s tour will be another “not to be missed” extraordinary day in Venice.

Top: The view from a penthouse rooftop overlooking the beach and boardwalk; Above: A second story

pool overlooking Main Street; Far Left: The home of Lisa and Don Dimster, Dimster Architecture; Left: The succulent

garden of Venice metal sculptor David Gale.Photos: Eric Staudemaier

Don't miss the 2014 Venice Home & Garden Tour

Saturday, May 3, 10am-5pm

For tickets and all information, call 310-821-1857, or visit us at

www.venicegardentour.org

1016 Pleasant View Ave.Venice, CA 90291

NON PROFITORGANIZATIONU.S. POSTAGE

PAIDPERMIT # 142

Venice, CA

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