Fernandez, Henry, 2007 February 14

Henry Fernandez moved to New Haven in 1990 to attend Yale Law School then co-founded LEAP (Leadership, Education and Athletics in Partnership) and served as its Executive Director for the next six years. As a college student in Boston, Fernandez had worked in summer programs for children who lived in public housing. He wanted to establish similar programs in New Haven. With fellow Yale student Matt Klein and Law Professor Anne Calabresi, Fernandez started LEAP. The interview focuses on LEAP's formative years. Fernandez discusses the assistance of local philanthropists like Roz and Jerry Meyer. He also talks about organizing the program and the relationships that he forged with the New Haven Housing Authority and Board of Education. LEAP was organized to serve low-income youth, primarily those living in public housing, and to provide them with educational and athletic activities in the summer. Fernandez envisioned this program as a way to deter violence in neighborhoods such as Church Street South, Elm Haven, Newhallville, and Dwight Kensington. He also intended LEAP to build relationships between the New Haven community and students at six local colleges, whom LEAP recruited as counselors. Fernandez talks fund raising, organizing programs, and ensuring the safety of counselors. He concludes by discussing the public image he helped craft for LEAP: an organization of diverse people from different backgrounds working together to improve community life for children.

Interviewer: Howard, Meg