PowerPlay - Success Stories

Success Stories

Simply put, we think girls rock! And the amazing successes enjoyed by girls who participate in PowerPlay NYC programs continues to provide us with the motivation to grow bigger and offer even more opportunities for girls in New York City.

SADE BARNES

My name is Sade Barnes and I completed the STARWorks program with Power Play NYC in 2002, which was the year it first started. I played basketball in high school from 2002-2004 and I also played for the monstrous avenue Brooklyn YMCA where my coach introduced me to your program…I completed two STARWorks internships - one at the NHL and the other at NYC 2012. These two internships were both great opportunities for a young African American athlete. I also had the pleasure of working closely with PowerPlay founder Ellen Markowitz, who motivated me to go away to college and to be the best that I could be. Power Play NYC gave me something to look forward to and it reshaped my perspective on what I could be capable of as a young woman. Now I am 22- years-old and I’m in my senior year at C.W. Post Long Island University, studying business management. I am also in the process of starting a nonprofit organization called Powersuit Solutions center which is geared to helping the youth... I just want to say thank you for doing what you do because it helps young women like me increase our self esteem and self confidence.

MIA HALL

"I never would have gone from the streets of East New York to Harvard if it hadn’t been for PowerPlay," says Mia Hall, a graduate of PowerPlay’s first SuperSTARS program. "Because of PowerPlay, I got to meet really successful women at places like Madison Square Garden and HBO. Seeing women of color be successful in these male dominated environments inspired me. I decided that I wanted to be like them. And I realized that I had to do better in school if I was going to be successful." Mia graduated in three years from Hampden University with a degree in Sports Management and then received a Masters degree in education from Harvard University. While in college, Mia was a counselor at the SuperSTARS Leadership Academy and after graduation from Harvard, Mia worked for a year in the PowerPlay office. Mia is the Parent Coordinator at High School of Sports Management in Brooklyn and a member of the PowerPlay Board of Directors.

ESSENCE HOPKINS

"All of Essence’s teachers at the High School of Sport Management commented on how much she had changed between her freshman and sophomore year," says Joherra Harris, a teacher at HSSM and the SuperSTARS Summer Leadership Academy Director from 2005-2007. "After a summer with PowerPlay, Essence returned to a school a better student, was a real leader and became a positive influence in the school." The SuperSTARS Academy staff worked with Essence to help her transform her attitude from negative to positive and to help her understand how she could realize her enormous potential. In the spring of 2008, Essence was named the MVP of her high school basketball team after leading them to the PSAL High School Championship. Equally important, Essence is headed to college. "I learned a lot from PowerPlay," said Essence," especially how to be part of a team."

CHRISTIE RAMIAH

"My experience at PowerPlay has been fantastic. Every day at the Summer Leadership Academy, we learned something new… My life has been completely changed by this experience, from the way I eat to the way I speak. My life will never be the same again," said Christie at the end of her first summer at the 2005 PowerPlay Summer Leadership Academy. Christie is paying it forward – she returned as a junior counselor in 2006, and is now a STARS Series assistant coach during the school year. "Before I became involved with PowerPlay, I was too shy to talk a person sitting next to me. Now I can get up and give a speech in front of a room full of people." A member of her high school and college softball teams, Christie loved the sports at the Leadership Academy. But her biggest accomplishment was off the field. Christie overcame her shyness and fear of public speaking to become the co-host of the PowerPlay Talk Show, where she interviewed successful career women for standing room only audience. Christie is a student at York College, where she is majoring in physical education, and committed to spreading the PowerPlay experience to more girls. "The most important thing we teach girls at PowerPlay is that they can achieve whatever they want, as long as they work hard and keep trying!"

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