Our History

Ifetayo was born in the spring of 1989 as a six-week series of free modern dance classes for 50 students living in the Flatbush community of Brooklyn. Sister Kwayera Archer-Cunningham founded Ifetayo out of her love for our children and a desire to enrich their lives with the arts and knowledge of their African cultural heritage.

Just as Ifetayo embraced the community, the community readily accepted Ifetayo and provided support for the classes in the form of donations of time and money. At the end of the six-week period, auditions were held and ten scholarship students were selected - based upon commitment, need and artistic ability - to become the founding members of the Ifetayo Youth Ensemble.

In the nineteen years since the Ifetayo Youth Ensemble was established, we have gone on to create additional programs designed to further support the creative, educational and vocational development of African American and Caribbean youth.

Ifetayo has had its share of organizational challenges. In 1999 we had to relocate from a building that had housed our programs for seven years. The move encouraged the development and implementation of a strategic plan that addressed all areas of the organization in need of strengthening. An important outcome of this transition period was the strengthening of our organizational infrastructure and growth of Ifetayo's programs in size and scope.


The Ifetayo that has come of age has grown from serving its ten core students who were the founding members of the Ifetayo Youth Ensemble, to serving 800 students annually through seven major programs. Since 1995, our organization has been awarded more than $100,000 in grants to continue to fulfill its important mission.

In addition to being awarded the 2001 Union Square Award recognizing our work as an organization addressing youth and family development, we have most recently been selected as one of four finalist for the 2008 New York times Non- Profit Excellence Awards. We are proud to announce that The New York Times Company has recognized Ifetayo for Excellence in Culturally- Based Management Strategies.