About Active Plus
Active Plus mission
Bridges the health and education gaps by providing accessible, high-quality programs that encourage healthy lifestyles, wellness, and leadership for underserved youth and their communities.
We aim to inspire and empower young people to lead healthier, more successful lives while creating lasting community impact. Since our founding in 2015, Active Plus has worked across all five New York City boroughs, reaching over 2,500 youth annually through innovative, culturally relevant programming. Our work is rooted in equity, empowerment, and community healing.
What We Do
Active Plus provides daily programming in schools, parks, housing developments, online and community centers. Our initiatives are designed to address physical health, emotional wellness, leadership skills, and life readiness for youth from elementary through high school.
Active Plus by the Numbers
2,500+ youth served annually
60+ active school and community sites in the past 10 years
10 years of programming
3 states: NY, CT, NV
$0 cost to participants and families
Meet the Board
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EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR & FOUNDER
Tarik Kitson is a seasoned healthcare leader with a strong commitment to improving community health and wellness. With over 17 years of experience in the healthcare arena, Tarik currently serves as a healthcare administrator at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, where he has been instrumental in developing and implementing innovative healthcare programs that have improved patient outcomes and enhanced the overall patient experience.
In addition to his work at Memorial Sloan Kettering, Tarik is also the President and Co-Founder of Active Plus, a non-profit organization dedicated to improving the physical, mental, and emotional health of at-risk youth in local communities. Tarik's passion for promoting healthy living and ending the obesity epidemic led him to co-found Active Plus in 2013, after witnessing the lack of resources available to children while volunteering at a school in East Harlem.
Tarik's leadership and dedication have earned him numerous educational accolades and community activism awards. He is a proud graduate of SUNY Geneseo, where he was a four-year collegiate basketball star, and Columbia University, where he obtained his Masters of Public Health degree. Tarik's extensive experience and unwavering commitment to health and wellness make him a true leader in the healthcare field.
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BOARD OF DIRECTORS, CHAIR
David Corona has over 20 years extensive experience in the fitness and health industry. He is the founder of Start-Living, LLC, a growing New York City based concierge company specializing in a unique blending of fitness and therapeutic services. START specialists work with doctors and physical therapists to assist with any post rehabilitation needs.
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BOARD OF DIRECTORS, TREASURER
Mr. Charles has worked with various organizations and causes in the Harlem community for the past decade. He currently works as a Bookkeeper at 1199 SEIU United Healthcare Workers East and a licensed real estate professional. His vast network of local leaders and organizations in the community has been very beneficial for the growth of Active Plus.
Wayne obtained his BS in Business and Administration with a concentration in Management from SUNY New Paltz. Wayne was introduced to Active Plus through his involvement with Rotary International. At the time he was president of the club and collaborated with Active Plus on community events in the Harlem community.
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BOARD OF DIRECTORS
Dwayne Norris has been a financial service professional at New York Life for twelve years. Dwayne is a constant donor to nonprofit organizations, but gets the most satisfaction from hands on community service work. Dwayne volunteers time to assist at shelters in the city and hand out meals at food pantries. Through his involvement with Active Plus, Inc. and the Rotary Club he has provided health & fitness workshops to the youth and parents in the community and continues to be an advocate for living a healthy lifestyle. Dwayne is a martial artist who has been training in Bruce Lee’s Jeet Kune Do since 2008. Each week he volunteers his time to teach classes at New York Martial Arts Academy to new students and his peers.
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BOARD OF DIRECTORS,
BOARD SECRETARY
Carrie Torres is Director at Dormitory Authority State of NY. Carrie's objective is to promote equitable access to economic opportunities for minority and women owned business enterprises plus service disabled and veteran owned business enterprises by eliminating barriers to their participation in NYS contracting. She is currently serving on the Governor’s Interagency Taskforce on Health Equity and Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion. She was previously a Senior Advisor and Strategic Projects Manager for the Fund for Public Housing and the New York City Housing Authority. A public/private partnership where she led fundraising initiatives to develop and support resident programs for over 500,000 residents in North America's largest public housing authority. Carrie is an Adjunct Professor of Data Analytics in the Management & Information Technology Department at St. Francis College and Graduate Consumer Analytics Program at LIM College.
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BOARD OF DIRECTORS
Salmaan "Sal" Javed is a recent NYC transplant and loves all things fitness, finance, and food! Sal is VP of Finance at a fintech company called Pietra and has spent his career in various finance and investing roles. He previously lived in NYC, spending three years doing investment banking and felt the pull to come back! He is a huge basketball fan, along with running, hiking, and tennis. Sal believes in the power of sports, fitness, and wellness to build communities up, especially with kids and schools.
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BOARD OF DIRECTORS
Dr. April Joy Damian is an epidemiologist, health services researcher, and classically trained public health professional with expertise in health equity, social determinants of health, psychiatric epidemiology, and mixed methods. She currently serves as the Vice President and Director of the Weitzman Institute, a research, education, and policy center dedicated to quality improvement and primary care transformation, with a particularly focus on vulnerable populations. Dr. Damian concurrently serves as a Senior Scholar for Health Equity at AcademyHealth, and holds faculty appointments at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and Wesleyan University. She provides thought leadership on numerous national committees, including as an appointed Member of the National Academies Board on Children, Youth, and Families, Forum for Children's Well-Being, Chair of the National Academies Healthy Parenting in Primary Care Collaborative, Member of the Committee on Advocacy and Public Policy (CAPP) and Membership Committee at AcademyHealth, and former inaugural Vice-Chair of the Health Equity/Patient Reported Outcomes/Community Engagement Committee of NIH's RECOVER initiative. Dr. Damian previously served as the Director of Quality Innovation at the National Quality Forum (NQF), where she spearheaded the expansion of NQF’s portfolio on social determinants of health quality measures, and co-led the NQF Measure Incubator®, an innovative effort that facilitates efficient measure development and testing through collaboration and partnership, and addresses important aspects of care for which quality measures are underdeveloped or non-existent.
Dr. Damian completed her PhD in the Department of Mental Health at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and Masters in Medical Sciences at Harvard Medical School. She graduated Phi Beta Kappa from the University of California, Berkeley with a Bachelors of Arts in Ethnic Studies, Highest Honors. She has received numerous recognitions in honor of her role as a social change agent, including the Harry S. Truman Scholarship, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation-funded Community Well-Being Warrior Award, and an honorarium from the University of Delaware.
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BOARD OF DIRECTORS
Kate Reilly is a Managing Director at Hamilton Lane where she serves as the Chief Operating Officer of the Client Solutions Group.
Prior to joining Hamilton Lane in 2024, Kate served as the Chief Operating Officer at PJT Park Hill, a division of PJT Partners Inc., where she was responsible for global operations including monitoring all legal and compliance matters, overseeing all personnel and human resource related affairs, infrastructure management, corporate budgeting and forecasting, and media relations. Previously, Kate worked at The Blackstone Group in its Legal Department.
Kate received a J.D. from New York Law School and a B.A. in Literature from Dartmouth College. She is a member of the state bar of New York and Connecticut.includes 175 employees across four countries. Prior to joining PJT Park Hill in 2015, Kate served as an attorney within The Blackstone Group’s Legal & Compliance department where she managed various litigation and regulatory matters for the firm in addition to providing legal and compliance support for Blackstone’s M&A, Restructuring and PJT Park Hill groups.Kate graduated from Dartmouth College with a B.A. in English Literature and received a J.D. from New York Law School. Kate was a Division I Track & Field athlete while at Dartmouth. She has been an active DEIB Committee member for her daughters’ school for the past 3 years and has been focused on DEIB initiatives at her current firm. Kate strives to make an active lifestyle as part of her daily life and has run several marathons and half-marathons across the country including the NYC marathon.
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BOARD OF DIRECTORS
Ben has an undergraduate degree in Psychology from Kenyon College in Ohio, where he did his research on Alzheimer’s Disease. After graduating, he spent three years in psychiatric research at Columbia University and University of California, Irvine, focusing mainly on early childhood disorders such as ADHD and Autism.
In 2005, Ben began working at Novartis Pharmaceuticals, where he worked across multiple therapeutic areas in clinical development and involved in several FDA new medication approvals. After short stints at GlaxoSmithKline and Shionogi, Ben took on a leadership role at Axovant Sciences in 2016 which focused solely on neurodegenerative disorders such as Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s and Lewy Body Dementia. Since 2016, Ben has served in various leadership roles at small biotech startup companies, most recently at Geron where his team received an approval for Rytelo, FDA-approved for blood cancer and available in the US and Europe.
Ben also ran a side entrepreneurial venture from 2013-2023, owning a tattoo and piercing business in Jersey City, NJ.
Ben was a student-athlete growing up in Bergen County, NJ, playing a range of sports including Baseball, Football, Wrestling and Swimming. He credits much of his career success to his early involvement in team sports and academic ventures.
Ben currently resides in Manhattan on the Upper West Side with his wife Jasmine, who is a financial technology lawyer and born and raised New Yorker. Ben is so excited to be the newest board member and part of the expanding Active Plus community.
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BOARD OF DIRECTORS
Gati Dharani- is a pharmaceutical executive, with 20 years of experience in healthcare consulting, marketing and strategy. She also is an investor and advisor to healthtech startup companies, with specific interest in companies focused on equity and women’s health. Gati has an undergraduate degree in Biomedical Engineering from Tufts University and a Master in Public Health from Columbia University. Gati comes from a large family of immigrants who have successfully established themselves in the US as doctors, engineers, lawyers and entrepreneurs. She credits her own success to opportunities that were shown to her by mentors and programs focused on uplifting students from lower socio-economic environments.
Gati currently reside in Manhattan with her two young daughters and husband. Her current role is at Pfizer in business development and her husband is an orthopedic surgeon, serving patients in Brooklyn. The couple is proud to share a similar background and continuously look for opportunities to give back. Their two daughters attend public school in Battery Park City and are also passionate about volunteering and community service. Gati and her family are excited to be a part of the Active Plus community!
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We are located in Manhattan, NY and offer programs to all NYC communities.
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Yes, we are always looking to collaborate with other organizations and schools in the NYC community.
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Yes! Our services are always free for the students and their families.
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Our focus is 5-18 year old’s.
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We employ certified former educators, as well as other qualified instructors who have undergone thorough screening and background checks by the Department of Education.
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Please do not hesitate to contact us through our Volunteer or Contact Us page.
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Our Programs are funded through grants or by school contracts, individual and corporate donors.
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Each of our youth coaches and instructors is required to successfully complete the comprehensive Active Plus Academy Training program prior to engaging with any students.
FAQs
New York City Mission Society
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West 150th St. Block Association
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Kingsbridge Heights Community Center
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New York Dermatology Group
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Hip Hop Loves
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Chinese American Planning Council
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NYCHA
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NYPD Explorers
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Salvation Army
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Rotary District 7230
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Amal Alliance
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1st Responders Children Foundation
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PAL
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PISTE Academy
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New York City Mission Society + West 150th St. Block Association + Kingsbridge Heights Community Center + New York Dermatology Group + Hip Hop Loves + Chinese American Planning Council + NYCHA + NYPD Explorers + Salvation Army + Rotary District 7230 + Amal Alliance + 1st Responders Children Foundation + PAL + PISTE Academy +
International School for Liberal Arts
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Young Women's Leadership School at East Harlem
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Bronx Prep Charter High School
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PS 149 Sojourner Truth School
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PS 11 Highbridge School
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PS 188 The Island School
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Esperanza Preparatory Academy
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Public School 145
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PS 196
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PS 6X
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PS34 FDR
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International School for Liberal Arts + Young Women's Leadership School at East Harlem + Bronx Prep Charter High School + PS 149 Sojourner Truth School + PS 11 Highbridge School + PS 188 The Island School + Esperanza Preparatory Academy + Public School 145 + PS 196 + PS 6X + PS34 FDR +
Harlem Community Development Corporation
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Obe Fitness
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Manhattan Borough President's Office
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The Pinkerton Foundation
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Citi Bike
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Harlem Community Development Corporation + Obe Fitness + Manhattan Borough President's Office + The Pinkerton Foundation + Citi Bike +
