40 THE QUEENS COURIER • KIDS & EDUCATION • SEPTEMBER 27, 2018 FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT WWW.QNS.COM
kids & education
Queens tech nonprofi t gets new name and mission
BY JENNA BAGCAL
jbagcal@qns.com/ @jenna_bagcal
Coalition for Queens (C4Q), a nonprofi
t aimed at helping young residents
become interested in pursuing tech
careers, will now be known as Pursuit.
Th e Queens-based tech nonprofi t
announced its new name today, which is
part of the organization’s larger rebranding
and expansion eff ort to “serve as a
long-term transformation partner to people
and communities with the highest
need and highest potential.” According to
the organization, their goal is to eventually
expand their reach beyond Queens and
New York City.
New services off ered by Pursuit
include a 10-month training program
supplemented by Pursuit Advance, the
organization’s three-year-long career
success program. Th rough Pursuit
Advance, program graduates will be
able to receive coaching, additional tech
learning and individualized support that
will help them advance through the tech
industry.
Since 2011, Pursuit has been training
those enrolled in their program for jobs at
top companies like Pinterest, Kickstarter,
LinkedIn, BlackRock and JPMorgan
Chase. Pursuit’s website said that individuals
go from making $18,000 to over
$85,000 a year.
“When we launched C4Q in 2011, we
recognized the immense impact technology
was going to have on our society. Th e
industry has created more wealth and jobs
than ever before, but these opportunities
weren’t reaching everyone, so we set out
to give talented people the opportunity
they deserve,” said Jukay Hsu, co-founder
and CEO of Pursuit. “Pursuit will guide
graduates as they navigate the tech sector,
providing our students with not only the
skills but also the hands-on guidance to
succeed and thrive. Th eir journey doesn’t
end when they get their fi rst job, so neither
should our work together.”
According to its website, the name
“Pursuit” mirrors the desire of individuals
in their program to better their careers
and lives. Th e Google and Robin Hood
Foundation-backed nonprofi t will be
funded in part by $1.85 million in grants
from Siegel Family Endowment (SFE) and
Salesforce.org. Funding will go toward
developing career advancement programs
and supporting expansion initiatives.
Th e organization also developed the
Pursuit Bond funding model which allows
“impact investors” to invest money into
students’ training and provide low-income
students with training at no upfront
cost. Once students graduate, they pay
back the investments with their future
earnings.
For more information on Pursuit’s
rebranding and expansion, visit pursuit.
org.
Photo credit: Pursuit
RIOULT Dance Center in Astoria to offi cially open doors in early October
BY ALEJANDRA O’CONNELLDOMENECH
ADomenech@qns.com
RIOULT Dance Center will offi cially
open its doors to the Astoria community
on Oct.4. Open houses will be held on
Oct. 6 and 13.
Last year, Th e Wall Street Journal
reported that the 24-year-old RIOULT
Dance NY would move from its location
in Manhattan to Queens. Th e company’s
founder, Pascal Rioult, signed a
15-year lease for the new 11,000-squarefoot
34-01 Steinway St. location.
According to Joyce Herring, associate
artistic director of the RIOULT Dance
NY, the open house is meant to allow
Queens residents to get to know instructors
and company members. But also, and
more importantly, to allow for RIOULT
to learn about the community so that
future programing could enrich the lives
of the center’s new neighbors.
Open houses will consist of free dance
classes for children and adults from 10
a.m. to 5 p.m. Classes will incorporate a
variety of dance styles from the traditional
ballet and jazz to Gyrokinesis, a movement
method that addresses the entire
body similar to yoga and pilates.
During the open houses, company
members will perform excepts from their
repertoire and will aft erwards greet and
talk with visitors.
Th e modern dance company was
founded by Rioult, a French track-andfi
eld star turned modern dancer, in 1994.
Rioult was a principal — or highest ranking
dancer — with the Martha Graham
Dance Company before founding his own
troupe. He developed a reputation as a
leader in the neo-modern genre of dance.
Since its creation, the dance company
rehearsed and produced their dance season
in temporary spaces in Manhattan,
making the Astoria location their fi rst
permanent home.
“We have long sought a permanent home
for our professional company of dancers
and we can now proudly off er the Queens
and greater New York City arts communities
a world-class dance facility and school
performance, teaching and rehearsal,” said
Hope Greenfi eld, chairman of the RIOULT
Dance NY board of directors.
For more information about classes
open to the public and the school, visit
www.rioult.org.
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link
/www.rioult.org
