Born in 1989 out of an eight-week series of free modern dance classes for youth in Brooklyn, Ifetayo, has since grown to serve over 700 students annually through six major programs. Executive Director and Founder, Sister Kwayera Cunningham, brought to the young people of Brooklyn a unique sense of culture, art, spirituality and personal and social responsibility. The organization’s name, “ifetayo,” comes from a West African word in the Yoruba tradition that means “love brings happiness.” This is just what the organization serves via a variety of programs available to the predominately African student base. An archetype for community childrearing and enriched with African tradition, Ifetayo focuses on developing self-esteem, life skills and stronger connections and responsibilities in their students, family members and community.

The Sister Fund grant supported the Sisters in Sisterhood (SIS) program. SIS is an accelerated program that supports girls and young women through: 1. personal and professional development; 2. cultural and spiritual learning; 3. literacy improvement; 4. community service; 5. intergenerational exchange; and 6. teaching healthy lifestyles. The project aims to counteract the city’s unacceptable school dropout rates and the second and third highest crime rates in the borough of Brooklyn from the 67th and 70th Precincts. SIS also addresses the social detriment from a significantly under-resourced and failing school system. With other systemic social problems threatening the youth of Brooklyn like HIV/AIDS, drug abuse, poverty, racism, sexism and single-parenthood, Ifetayo has established itself as a beacon of hope for what could be corrected in the next generation. The SIS program was designed to help reform the current standard of hopelessness and low expectations for under-realized young women and girls of Brooklyn.