Andrea Wenner '05, cut the ribbon on the first refurbished Out2Play playground at Public School 53 in the south Bronx on Tuesday, October 24th. The grand opening marked the beginning of Wenner’s large-scale plan to build and restore school playgrounds in underprivileged neighborhoods throughout New York City. While at Columbia Business School, Wenner honed her plans for the nonprofit venture, working closely with Cliff Shorer and the staff at the Eugene M. Lang Center for Entrepreneurship as well as the Paul Milstein Center for Real Estate.
She launched Out2Play upon graduation, in May of 2005. "The Columbia Business School community has been tremendously helpful to me throughout this entire process," Wenner said. "From the very first stages of the venture, and even now that it is up and running, individuals associated with the Entrepreneurship, Real Estate and Social Enterprise programs have provided all types of support: access to resources, feedback and advice, introductions to other helpful people and general encouragement." Wenner added that these various types of support came not just from one or two specialized areas but rather, "from all different members of the CBS community - professors, staff, students and alumni."
The P.S. 53 playground project was sponsored by The Carson Family Charitable Trust.
For more information on Out2Play and its upcoming initiatives, please visit: www.out2play.org