How to Start a Nonprofit Organization | Groove NYC
“I’ve been dancing my whole life, and I really believe in the power of it,” says Maria Gutierrez, founder and executive director of Groove NYC, a nonprofit dedicated to bringing a new, more open style of dance to schools, communities, and workplaces in the New York City area.
A dance fitness instructor since age 15, when Maria learned about The World Groove Movement, she decided to shift her focus, immediately signing up to become the first licensed Groove Facilitator in New York City. Shortly after that, she founded Groove NYC.
“Groove is about getting people to move authentically, without judgment,” she says. “I fell in love with the simplicity of it, the community-building, the fact that we don’t care about the choreography, that there’s no right way or wrong way to move your body.”
As Maria continued teaching Groove, she began to take note of certain communities that, due to lack of funding, were unable to join the movement and benefit from this new style of self-expression.
“The goal, particularly with youth, is to make them feel good about themselves, to make them build confidence in moving their body authentically,” she says. “In my mind, I want to bring this to people for free. I [knew that] if I really wanted to take this to the next level, I needed to be able to move dollars into sectors that have no money to pay us.”
That’s when Maria decided to turn Groove NYC into a nonprofit organization.