Stories In My Backyard (SIMBY) Starter Fund
Donation protected
Hi!
My name is Kyra Williams and I’m a twenty-three year old multimedia content creator, artist, and social entrepreneur from Philadelphia, PA. Today, I get to introduce myself to you as the founder of Stories In My Backyard (SIMBY). SIMBY is a Philadelphia based arts, education and social change nonprofit that provides online and in-person learning to Black womxn and girls through arts workshops, community events, and creative content. On July, 27, 2020 we softly launched, which means we’ll officially become a 501(c)(3) next year but in this last year, we just could not wait to continue the work we’ve already been doing in the Philadelphia community. This pandemic has created a need we've helped to fill with excitement. We’ve partnered with the Philadelphia School District’s TV Station, PSTV, and we provided two virtual photo workshops to Black girls ages 13-24, servicing Philly middle and high school students. At the same time, we began to build our virtual community on social media to amplify Black femxle voices in art, education and social change. Through these efforts, our goal has been and still remains to create awareness and action that tackles social justice issues impacting our livelihood as Black womxn and girls. Ultimately, we’re molding creative social change agents of the future and uplifting the change makers of today.
As the founder, my goal is to raise $15,000 by January 1, 2022 to support our volunteer efforts and to make this nonprofit an official business entity. The first $3,000 will go towards incorporation fees and the rest will cover other expenses to get SIMBY off of the ground: our first outdoor photo exhibit titled "The Voices of Sisterly Affection" honoring Philly's Black Music herstory, legal services, insurance, volunteer stipends, video/photo production fees, tech hardware and software purchases, and branding and marketing fees.
If you’d like to send a monetary gift outside of GoFundMe, here is my information:
Cash app: $StoriesInMyBackyard
Venmo: @SIMBY
Also, you can follow our journey at storiesinmybackyard.org, on Instagram and Facebook @Storiesinmybackyard and on Twitter @_SIMBY.
To give you some background information; I’m a 2016 graduate of J.R. Masterman High School, a 2016 Gates Millennium Scholar, a 2020 graduate of NYU Tisch’s Clive Davis Institute of Recorded Music, and a graduate student of NYU Steinhardt’s digital media design for learning program. As a product of Philly public schools, I know first hand that Black youth face budget cuts, criminalization, school closings, asbestos scares and a lack of representation. Now more than ever, they need Black creative educational spaces to express themselves and to develop their voices in a world that silences them. Knowing how others have invested in me over the years, I refuse to let my personal financial hurdles impact my ability to give back to my community, especially when my service is needed during this pandemic and beyond.
I’ve already started the work. I hosted a photo workshop in 2019 where I co-taught ten Black girls basic photography skills, content from which are available here: https://www.storiesinmybackyard.org/philly-factor-photo-club. Outside of that, I've volunteered as a DJ for Philadelphia’s UAGTCA youth track meets while also photographing athletes to commemorate their experiences. As a freshman at NYU, I co-moderated a panel on diversity and inclusion in entertainment with my professor, Matthew Morrison. Upon the release of Marvel's Black Panther, I then held a roundtable discussion with my college peers to unpack themes within the film and build community around blackness at this PWI. As a sophomore, I also conducted research on Black inferiority, diversity and inclusion in public schools. And overall in my personal work, I've made it a priority to amplify the Black voice in every medium that I occupy whether it's through images I take, songs that I play as a DJ, videos I create, or topics that I cover as a writer. I've always accepted the responsibility of being the change that I want to see. So today, I’m taking my journey of service to the next level by advocating for Black liberation through creativity with Stories In My Backyard.
Thank you all so much in advance for sharing this fundraiser and investing your time, money, feedback, and resources into the realization of this vision! Your help affords me the opportunity to live in my purpose of service to the Black community. You are appreciated more than I or the Black womxn and girls you’re impacting could ever express!
Much love,
Kyra
My name is Kyra Williams and I’m a twenty-three year old multimedia content creator, artist, and social entrepreneur from Philadelphia, PA. Today, I get to introduce myself to you as the founder of Stories In My Backyard (SIMBY). SIMBY is a Philadelphia based arts, education and social change nonprofit that provides online and in-person learning to Black womxn and girls through arts workshops, community events, and creative content. On July, 27, 2020 we softly launched, which means we’ll officially become a 501(c)(3) next year but in this last year, we just could not wait to continue the work we’ve already been doing in the Philadelphia community. This pandemic has created a need we've helped to fill with excitement. We’ve partnered with the Philadelphia School District’s TV Station, PSTV, and we provided two virtual photo workshops to Black girls ages 13-24, servicing Philly middle and high school students. At the same time, we began to build our virtual community on social media to amplify Black femxle voices in art, education and social change. Through these efforts, our goal has been and still remains to create awareness and action that tackles social justice issues impacting our livelihood as Black womxn and girls. Ultimately, we’re molding creative social change agents of the future and uplifting the change makers of today.
As the founder, my goal is to raise $15,000 by January 1, 2022 to support our volunteer efforts and to make this nonprofit an official business entity. The first $3,000 will go towards incorporation fees and the rest will cover other expenses to get SIMBY off of the ground: our first outdoor photo exhibit titled "The Voices of Sisterly Affection" honoring Philly's Black Music herstory, legal services, insurance, volunteer stipends, video/photo production fees, tech hardware and software purchases, and branding and marketing fees.
If you’d like to send a monetary gift outside of GoFundMe, here is my information:
Cash app: $StoriesInMyBackyard
Venmo: @SIMBY
Also, you can follow our journey at storiesinmybackyard.org, on Instagram and Facebook @Storiesinmybackyard and on Twitter @_SIMBY.
To give you some background information; I’m a 2016 graduate of J.R. Masterman High School, a 2016 Gates Millennium Scholar, a 2020 graduate of NYU Tisch’s Clive Davis Institute of Recorded Music, and a graduate student of NYU Steinhardt’s digital media design for learning program. As a product of Philly public schools, I know first hand that Black youth face budget cuts, criminalization, school closings, asbestos scares and a lack of representation. Now more than ever, they need Black creative educational spaces to express themselves and to develop their voices in a world that silences them. Knowing how others have invested in me over the years, I refuse to let my personal financial hurdles impact my ability to give back to my community, especially when my service is needed during this pandemic and beyond.
I’ve already started the work. I hosted a photo workshop in 2019 where I co-taught ten Black girls basic photography skills, content from which are available here: https://www.storiesinmybackyard.org/philly-factor-photo-club. Outside of that, I've volunteered as a DJ for Philadelphia’s UAGTCA youth track meets while also photographing athletes to commemorate their experiences. As a freshman at NYU, I co-moderated a panel on diversity and inclusion in entertainment with my professor, Matthew Morrison. Upon the release of Marvel's Black Panther, I then held a roundtable discussion with my college peers to unpack themes within the film and build community around blackness at this PWI. As a sophomore, I also conducted research on Black inferiority, diversity and inclusion in public schools. And overall in my personal work, I've made it a priority to amplify the Black voice in every medium that I occupy whether it's through images I take, songs that I play as a DJ, videos I create, or topics that I cover as a writer. I've always accepted the responsibility of being the change that I want to see. So today, I’m taking my journey of service to the next level by advocating for Black liberation through creativity with Stories In My Backyard.
Thank you all so much in advance for sharing this fundraiser and investing your time, money, feedback, and resources into the realization of this vision! Your help affords me the opportunity to live in my purpose of service to the Black community. You are appreciated more than I or the Black womxn and girls you’re impacting could ever express!
Much love,
Kyra
Organiser
Kyra Williams
Organiser
Philadelphia, PA
