The Lower Eastside Girls Club of New York

What The Lower Eastside Girls Club of New York does

The Lower Eastside Girls Club of New York is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization (EIN 13-3942063) founded in 1996 and headquartered at 402 East 8th Street in New York City. It delivers free, year-round programming and mentoring to young women and gender-expansive youth, primarily youth of color in NYC, across five pillars: arts, sciences, leadership, wellness, and career development. Core programmatic assets include a working planetarium available for school and community group bookings, the member-produced WGRL.NYC podcast studio, the New Girl City: Agents of Change flagship program, and the Girls Club Alliance junior board of volunteers. The Center for Wellbeing & Happiness, added to the mission in 2022, extends free wellness services and a daily food pantry to all ages and genders across the Lower East Side.

The organization's distribution is community-led and primarily offline: youth enroll directly into free membership programs, schools book the planetarium via an online reservation flow, and the broader Lower East Side community accesses food and wellness services through the Center for Wellbeing & Happiness. Branding and awareness are reinforced through a multi-channel earned-media presence, including features on the Today Show with Scarlett Johansson, MoMA magazine (Frequency Gardens), Publishers Weekly, NY1, and an NYC Council proclamation. Sub-brands include The Lower Eastside Girls Club, LESGC, the Center for Wellbeing & Happiness (centerforwellbeing.nyc), WGRL.NYC, and The Girls Club Alliance.

The revenue model is a standard nonprofit stack with no commercial product pricing: individual tax-deductible donations (one-time and recurring), corporate sponsorships (e.g., H&M as Presenting Sponsor of the 30th Anniversary Gala, with J.Crew, Gap, Two Trees, and Maybelline as Possibility Sponsors), foundation grants (e.g., $50,000 from Know Your Rights Camp), and planned giving. Donation infrastructure accepts credit cards, stock, cryptocurrency, ACH/wire transfers, and Donor-Advised Fund contributions. The 30th Anniversary Gala at Webster Hall (May 7, 2026) raised more than $700,000, and the organization holds a 2024 Candid Platinum Transparency Seal. Impact metrics disclosed include 1,300+ youth served annually, 2,000+ neighbors fed monthly through the food pantry, and 350+ adults served across generations.

Name

The Lower Eastside Girls Club of New York

Legal name

The Lower Eastside Girls Club of NY

Website

https://girlsclub.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

1996

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

The Lower Eastside Girls Club of New York is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit founded in 1996 that delivers free arts, STEM, leadership, wellness, and career programming to young women and gender-expansive youth of color in NYC. Through the Center for Wellbeing & Happiness it also serves the broader Lower East Side community via food access and wellness services.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Youth Development and Community Services

NAICS

Child and Youth Services (62411)

SIC

Services-Social Services (8300)

akta.pro primary industry

Youth Mentoring & Positive Youth Development Nonprofits (BPAGADAD)

Keywords

• Youth development programs
• Community wellness services
• Nonprofit youth mentoring
• STEM education programming
• Food pantry services

Headquarters

HQ city

New York

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure, Others

Revenue model

1. Individual Donations: Tax-deductible donations from individuals supporting the organization's free programming. Accepts one-time and recurring monthly gifts, with 100% of donations going directly to free programming, food access, and community care.
2. Corporate Sponsorships: Sponsorship revenue from corporate partners for events and programming. The 30th Anniversary Gala had Presenting Sponsor H&M and multiple Possibility and Celebration sponsors.
3. Foundation Grants: Grant funding from foundations and organizations. Received $50,000 grant from Colin Kaepernick and Nessa's Know Your Rights Camp.
4. Planned Giving: Estate planning donations and planned giving options for long-term donor support.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

The Lower Eastside Girls Club of New York is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit that delivers free, year-round programming and mentoring for young women and gender-expansive youth of color in NYC across arts, sciences, leadership, wellness, and career development. It operates unique facilities including an educational planetarium, a member-produced podcast studio (WGRL.NYC), and the Center for Wellbeing & Happiness, which extends free wellness services and daily food access to families and the broader Lower East Side community.

Product overview

The Lower Eastside Girls Club is a nonprofit organization (not a technology product company) that provides free, innovative, year-round programming and mentoring to young women and gender-expansive youth of color throughout NYC. Its portfolio consists of core community services: Youth Programs and Mentoring (covering arts, sciences, leadership, wellness, career development), New Girl City: Agents of Change, a Planetarium (educational facility for schools and community), WGRL.NYC Podcast (member-produced audio content), Center for Wellbeing & Happiness (full-spectrum wellness services expanded in 2022), Food Pantry (daily meals and food access), and The Girls Club Alliance/Junior Board (volunteer fundraising and mentorship). The organization does not offer a software product, platform, or SaaS offering with technical integrations, APIs, or AI capabilities.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Center for Wellbeing & Happiness: Free, full-spectrum wellness services for all generations and genders on the Lower East Side, providing daily meals through a food pantry.
• WGRL.NYC Podcast
• Girls Club Alliance

Products and services

• Youth Programs and Mentoring Free, innovative, year-round programming and mentoring connecting young women and gender-expansive youth to healthy and successful futures through arts, sciences, leadership, wellness, and career development.
• New Girl City: Agents of Change Signature program empowering young women and gender-expansive youth to become agents of change in their communities.
• Planetarium Educational Programs Educational planetarium facility offering programs for schools and community visitors to explore astronomy and space science.
• WGRL.NYC Podcast Member-produced podcast series where youth learn to record and edit audio, conduct interviews, and tell their stories through art and radio production.
• Center for Wellbeing & Happiness Free, full-spectrum wellness services for all generations and genders on the Lower East Side, providing daily meals through a food pantry.
• Food Pantry and Food Access Daily meals and food access through a food pantry serving families on the Lower East Side, addressing food insecurity in the community.
• The Girls Club Alliance (Junior Board) A junior board of volunteers supporting the Girls Club through mentorship opportunities and fundraising for free programs.

Quantifiable outcome

• 1,300+ youth served annually
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers4 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature3 records

Partnerships

Six partnerships are on record, tiered flagship, core and minor.

• H&MflagshipGTM or Marketing PartnerPresenting Sponsor of the 30th Anniversary Gala at Webster Hall.
• MoMA (Museum of Modern Art)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCollaborated with DonChristian's MoMA residency on Frequency Gardens, a summer program and radio show where teens learned audio production and storytelling. Results featured as soundscape for exhibition at MoMA PS1.
• J.Crew, Gap, Two Trees, MaybellinecoreGTM or Marketing PartnerPossibility Sponsors of the 30th Anniversary Gala.
• Plentea Matcha, La Ligne, Tito's, POPUPFLORIST, SylvainminorGTM or Marketing PartnerCelebration Sponsors and In-Kind Sponsors of the 30th Anniversary Gala.
• DJ Stretch ArmstrongminorGTM or Marketing PartnerProvided after-party soundtrack at the 30th Anniversary Gala.
• Food Bank NYCcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership supporting food pantry operations and food insecurity programs for community members.

Scale indicators7 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• iMentor: National nonprofit pairing students with volunteer mentors to support college and career success. Comparable mentoring-driven, free-program model serving youth from underserved communities.
• The Door – A Center of Alternatives: NYC youth services nonprofit providing free programming in education, wellness, arts, and career development for young people ages 12–24. Direct service peer with overlapping arts, wellness, and career programming in New York.
• Hetrick-Martin Institute: NYC nonprofit serving LGBTQ+ youth with free programs in arts, education, wellness, and career readiness. Direct peer in youth-development, free-programming model, and NYC service geography.
• YWCA of the City of New York: NYC-based nonprofit serving women and girls with a mix of youth programming, advocacy, and community services. Comparable mission focus on empowering girls and women in underserved communities within New York City.
• Big Brothers Big Sisters of New York City: NYC mentoring nonprofit pairing youth with adult volunteers. Comparable model of combining mentoring, free programming, and individual-donor fundraising in New York City.
• NYC Mission Society: NYC nonprofit offering free after-school, arts, STEM, and college-readiness programs for underserved youth. Overlaps directly in arts, sciences, and leadership programming for NYC youth of color.
• Girls Inc. National nonprofit providing after-school and summer programming for girls and youth, with a focus on empowerment in underserved communities. Closest mission-aligned peer to the Lower Eastside Girls Club, with comparable youth-development and STEM programming models.

Broad incumbents

• Boys & Girls Clubs of America: National federation of youth-development clubs offering free programming in arts, education, career, health, and leadership. Operates local clubs including in NYC, with comparable fundraising, volunteer, and program structures.

Regional players

• DREAM (formerly Harlem RBI): NYC-based youth development nonprofit combining sports, education, and college-prep programming. Comparable youth-development, free-program model, and East Harlem/LES service footprint.

Others

• Food Bank for New York City: NYC food insecurity nonprofit, listed as a strategic partner to the Lower Eastside Girls Club. Comparable in food-pantry operations and donor-base in New York, though broader in scope and not youth-focused.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks4 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles4 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about The Lower Eastside Girls Club of New York