The Alliance for Community Enhancement at Columbia University (ACE)
is the first student-run organization in the country to secure 501(c)(3)
nonprofit status. Organized during the 1999-2000 academic year by
a group of graduate students and faculty members at Columbia University’s
School of International and Public Affairs (SIPA), ACE is proving
to be a model as a non-profit laboratory.
In order to meet the demand for courses that teach nonprofit management,
Columbia first offered the “Nonprofit Management Laboratory” in
the fall of 1999. In its initial year, students conducted research
on community development models, the history of Harlem, and decided
to create ACE, with its name “the Alliance for Community Enhancement”
and the goal of engaging in collaborative community-based projects
with realizable benefits for the communities of the greater New
York area.
With the aid of their faculty advisors, students then proceeded
to shape the appropriate board and organizational structure of ACE,
and the role of Columbia University in its governance and operations.
ACE members then completed and filed all the necessary legal documentation
to create the organization. This included writing the Certificate
of Incorporation, the bylaws, and submitting all materials to the
Internal Revenue Service, the New York State Attorney General’s
Office, and the State Education Department. ACE was granted nonprofit
status from the State of New York on December 6, 2000 and by the
International Revenue Service on July 13, 2001.
During these initial years, ACE also developed the idea for its
first project: creating a guidebook about Harlem and its churches.
The idea had formed as a result of a relationship with the Harlem
Congregations for Community Improvement (HCCI), which had alerted
ACE members to the extent of growing tourism to Harlem, especially
Harlem churches. The two groups decided to work together in order
to write a book that would help visitors better understand the history
and culture of the Harlem churches. The book also discusses historical,
visual, and culinary highlights of the Harlem community, in order
to draw visitors into the Harlem neighborhood at large.
ACE members then proceeded to research, write, and take photographs
for this book, Harlem Treasures. A generous grant from the
Habitat Project gave ACE the means to publish Harlem Treasures
in the Spring of 2003.
After the publication, the Alliance for Community Enhancement wanted
to continue engaging in collaborative community development projects.
They decided to pursue a mentoring project in which graduate students
at the School of International and Public Affairs work with neighborhood
youth. The mentoring program would culminate with the completion
of a project related to the community. The program was developed
in the fall of 2003 and came to be known as the “Community Explorers
Program.” After partnering with the education and youth-focused,
Harlem Children’s Zone, a successful pilot of the Community Explorers
Program was run during the Spring of 2004. A year-long pilot of
the Harlem Community Explorers Program is planned for 2004-2005.
Today, ACE continues to focus on developing relationships with
community based organizations in the greater Manhattan area. At
the same time, it continues to create the necessary systemic programs
and internal structures to effectively organize and manage as a
new nonprofit agency.