New York City Program

About the Program

New York City is one of the most famous cities in the world, known for its business, fashion, food, music, theater, culture, and incredible diversity. MindLeaps realized that, while New York City is very different from Africa and the Balkans, many of the challenges faced by marginalized communities here are the same—like the struggle to become self-reliant and develop a positive outlook that helps people thrive instead of just survive. Building on the success of our global programs, MindLeaps knew it could make a difference for children in New York City as well. That’s why we launched MindLeaps’ first-ever U.S. program in New York City in January 2022.

Program Details

Data shows that when children and their families are supported together, they can develop the self-reliance and financial stability needed to break the cycle of poverty and overcome the mental roadblocks that come from systemic oppression and inequality. The pilot project was made possible through our partnership with Children of Promise. Children of Promise is the only after-school program and summer day camp in NYC specifically created for kids whose parents or guardians are incarcerated.

Expansion and Partnerships

Now, as MindLeaps enters its third year in NYC in 2025, the program is running in two communities: the Bronx and Queens. In 2024, MindLeaps expanded to Jackson Heights, Queens, through a partnership with Queens Community House, serving children ages 8 to 12 in an after-school program at Public School 149 as part of the Beacon program. Queens Community House is a non-profit that provides a wide range of services to people across Queens.

Class Structure

The 2-hour classes are designed to be fun, active, and challenging. The curriculum boosts social-emotional learning skills. The classes run twice a week for a total of 72 hours.

In these sessions, students get to experience world dance styles, like hip hop and Afro Contemporary, as part of the "Dance & Data" program. Each class is led by a team of three instructors, allowing kids to receive personalized attention when needed. The aim is to help kids improve their emotional regulation, self-esteem, and problem-solving skills, which they can apply in both school and at home.

A typical MindLeaps class includes three parts:

• Warm-Up: A 45-minute physical training session focused on building strength and flexibility, while encouraging grit and discipline.
• Diagonal/Across the Floor: Students work in pairs to practice movements that enhance coordination and teamwork.
• Choreography: The final 45 minutes focus on creative movement, allowing students to express themselves while learning choreography through tiered levels of skill-building.

Track Progress

After each session, instructors use a mobile app to track each child's progress in seven key areas: Memorization, Grit, Teamwork, Discipline, Self-Esteem, Creativity, and Language. This data is collected using MindLeaps' proprietary system developed with researchers from Carnegie Mellon and Drexel Universities with software engineers. The information guides program decisions and ensures accountability.

This graph showcases the results of students in the "Creativity & Self-Expression" skill for the Children of Promise group. It highlights how their performance improves over time as they attend more lessons, with individual progress points scattered along a trend line that shows an overall increase in skill development.

Transformative Results

MindLeaps has seen amazing changes in the students: kids who never answered questions now volunteer responses; those who hesitated to dance alone are now performing solo; and kids who only stuck to moves they were good at are now willing to try the tougher ones, too.

Fun Facts

Did You Know?

Dance improves emotional regulation and social skills in kids!

Fun Fact!

Our "Dance & Data" program combines creativity with skill-building for a unique learning experience.

Inspiring Change!

Through dance, kids learn resilience, self-expression, and teamwork—skills that last a lifetime.

Philadelphia (Previous Program)

MindLeaps’ has further expanded in January 2023 and launched an extending program in Philly, in collaboration with Sunrise Of Philadelphia. Sunrise Of Philadelphia operates several free and accessible after school programs and summer camps offered in partnership with the Philadelphia Office of Children and Families and the School District of Philadelphia. The after school and summer programs currently serve students in grades K-12, offering a structured and stimulating environment focused on preparing young people for success in education and future careers. MindLeaps is particularly focused on helping English Language Learners in this community become comfortable with vocabulary and expressing themselves through a focus on self-expression in class.

On January 18th, we started our program at Bregy Elementary School. Since then, our program has been running with Alexis Birts, Jameel Hendricks and Charles Grant (traveling from NYC). The kids love to dance! What prevents some of these youth from trying a new move or jumping across the floor is peer pressure and a lack of self-esteem. That is exactly what MindLeaps is designed to develop! We see that these youth struggle with emotional regulation, and we know that, with consistent attendance, this can be improved with our methodology. Between the first and second week, our class suddenly went from 30 kids to 15 kids to 22 kids. We worked with the staff of Sunrise to come to a mutual understanding of the pillars of success: confirming which children would participate, and if a child suggested he didn’t want to take the program, we listened to his reasons and adapted the methodology. This has led to a modification where every Friday, we teach a “Tik Tok” version of the MindLeaps standard dance class. The older students all “re-joined” the program after we introduced this adaptation!