YouthBuild Boston Receives
Taproot Foundation Grant

Roxbury, MA, September 9, 2008 – YouthBuild Boston has received a Key Messages and Brand Strategy Service Award Grant from the Taproot Foundation. The grant will provide YouthBuild Boston with $50,000 in consulting services designed to overhaul and sharpen the organization’s messaging and brand strategy.

"We're thrilled and honored to receive a Taproot Foundation grant,” said Ken Smith, Executive Director of YouthBuild Boston. "Of course we're excited about the grant's potential impact on our marketing and development efforts, but it goes beyond that. This will help bring clarity to our role in the community and allow us sufficient pause for reflection."

Taproot Foundation Service Award Grants work by engaging business professionals in pro bono work that benefits nonprofits and boosts their infrastructure. In this case, YouthBuild Boston will be paired with a team of volunteers who have extensive experience with strategic marketing. Graham Lubie, Vice President of Marketing at InQuest Technologies, will be the Account Director in charge of YouthBuild Boston's Service Award Grant.

"Working with someone of Graham’s caliber is going to be an incredible opportunity for us," noted Smith. "Clearly, he brings a lot of relevant marketing experience to the table, yet he is tuned in to the fact that we’re a nonprofit and understands the nuances that come along with that. We look forward to working with him and the rest of the project team."

Founded in San Francisco, the Taproot Foundation has just recently established a Boston office, making YouthBuild Boston among the area's first recipients of the award. The Taproot Foundation also operates in Seattle, New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, and Washington, D.C.

"The Taproot Foundation is proud to be working with YouthBuild Boston on a Key Messages and Brand Strategy Service Grant – one of 23 projects currently underway in Boston," said Mike Wilmot, the Taproot Foundation's Program Manager in Boston. "YouthBuild Boston is an outstanding non-profit with an amazing mission and impact and we hope to further strengthen this organization by engaging a team of local business professionals working pro bono on their behalf."

About YouthBuild Boston
YouthBuild Boston improves opportunities for underserved urban youth by teaching them academic and vocational skills to support themselves so they can bring about positive, lasting change in their communities. Programs focus on GED preparation and "green" practices in construction, architecture, design, and landscaping.

YouthBuild Boston media contact:
Andrew Padilla
617.445.8887 x15
apadilla@ybboston.org