Gospel artist Tonya Lewis-Taylor founder and Executive Director of Entertainers 4 Education Alliance/ I WILL GRADUATE PROGRAM presents the 8th I WILL GRADUATE Celebration with a week of activities October 26-30th at venues across New York City in conjunction with the NYC Mayors Office and NYC Department of Education. Ten years ago Tonya Lewis Taylor and her husband JP Taylor founded Entertainers 4 Education Alliance/I WILL GRADUATE PROGRAM to answer the call to help our youth graduate high school amidst one the largest dropout crisis our country had ever seen. Both Tonya and her husband were working as record executives in the music industry and utilized their relationships to form an organization that promoted education utilizing some of the top entertainers in the business to help drive the message home that education is important. Every year we get a barrage of celebrity support, past participants include Alicia Keys, Bow Wow, Carly Rae Jepsen, John Starks, Cold Play, Jamie Fox, Kelly Roland, Mary Mary, Rev Al Sharpton, Russell Simmons, Snoop Dog and Swiss Beatz just to name a few.
I WILL GRADUATE WEEK, NYC 2015 will celebrate with five days of attention grabbing special events and actions that will drive home the message that no matter how much we want our youth to graduate they have to be the agents that direct their future. “Reading is Awesome Day with the Brooklyn Nets “is designed to encourage literacy. Students will gather at the Brooklyn Public Library for a celebration of reading and sign up to receive library cards. The “Rally at City Hall”, will bring to together political leaders youth speakers, parents and teachers, for the purpose of calling attention to solutions to help our youth and families stay in school. “Social Media Day”, #SMARTISTHENEWCOOL will use the power of social media to encourage students from around the globe about the power of education. “I WILL GRADUATE Student Pep Rally” presented by HOT 97FM held at the I WILL GRADUATE Auditorium located 1958 Fulton street is a high octane bash for students from the five boroughs, spearheaded by celebrities, sports stars, high-profile executives, as well as educational and community leaders in a high octane event. We will round out the week with the “I WILL GRADUATE Comedy Extravaganza Parent Outreach with WLIB using the power of comedy we combine the allure of high energy entertainment with the critical information parents need if they are to become familiar with the omnipresent challenges confronting their children both in school and in the community.
With these five days of special events and their varying themes, with the involvement and support from elected officials, celebrities, and other high profile individuals, with an unprecedented social media outreach campaign, and with the coverage of a multitude of local and national media outlets, Together we can make a difference and inspire the communities everywhere to stand up, take ownership of the future, and declare to the world “I WILL GRADUATE!”
About Tonya Lewis Taylor:
Tonya Lewis-Taylor (pronounced Tone-yah) hit single “Thankyou” reached #15 on the Billboard Gospel Charts off of her Debut album “Delayed but Not Denied.” A gifted singer, songwriter, teacher, producer and award winning philanthropist, Tonya has been afforded opportunities that many artist rarely receive. She was the opening act on the 32-city Festival of Praise Tour with Fred Hammond and Donnie Mcclurkin. She has been featured on TBN with Clifton Davis, in concert on TBN’s 15th Street Live, a guest speaker at Bishop T.D. Jake’s Mega Fest. She appeared on Bobby Jones Gospel, ABC’s Here & Now, MSNBC’s Melissa Perry Show, just to name a few. Tonya Lewis-Taylor is building a worldwide fan base and is inspiring a movement of people who are connected to the message in her music and ministry. This year she has expanded her mission with the launch of the Delayed But Not Denied Empowerment Boot Camp. God has fueled Tonya Lewis- Taylor with tremendous passion to help broken people and build character in youth. She is gifted to help people become what God created them to be in excellence.
About Entertainers 4 Education Alliance: Entertainers 4 Education Alliance, Inc. is a (501c3) organization headquartered in New York City. Our award-winning I WILL GRADUATE CAMPAIGN is our drop-out prevention initiative and call to action for students, parents, and the entire community to increase educational achievement in youth. Our goal is to provide powerful messages to youth and parents about the importance of educational excellence. We accomplishthis through youth development programs, parent engagement, community outreach exciting events, various forms of multi-media and corporate partnerships. We enlist the talents, resources of the music and entertainment industry along with prominent high profile individuals to stress the importance and coolness of being educated – “Smart is the New Cool.”
