NY Sun Works

"What else can you ask for?"

NY Sun Works is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization dedicated to bringing quality sustainability science and climate education to K-12 city schools. Their hydroponic classrooms provide hands-on learning experiences that foster scientific inquiry and environmental stewardship. This allows students to grow food from seed-to-harvest, understanding the connection between humans, technology, and the environment and their direct relationship to climate change — all while growing hundreds of pounds of fresh produce to share with their families and school communities!

Manuela Zamora, Executive Director, was recommended YPTC by their development director who heard about the company on NPR, “We were looking to get support for our finance department and since it was so specific to a not-for-profit, we had to explore, and I really liked the firm.” She continues, “We were growing very fast so we needed to make sure we were upholding GAAP standards and ensure that all of our practices were in compliance, but we also wanted guidance on defining processes that would allow us to continue growing at that rate.”

She explains that YPTC heavily assisted with revamping their chart of accounts to be more efficient and reflect the needs of reporting. “We currently have 350 sites, so we have a lot of projects requiring budgeting, invoicing, and tracking that is fundamental to each project, and we have several different sources of funding so that adds to the complexity. YPTC helped us be compliant with our different grants, especially with public and federal funding.”

Manuela appreciates how the teams are set up at YPTC, “We have someone that is dedicated to the account, and we also have someone with more bigger picture knowledge and perspective so we can bounce back in terms of problem solving and the evolution of our organization, truly managing our growth.” She calls out Jane Aldea, Manager, “She’s fantastic, a wonderful listener and she produces applicable solutions that we feel very confident in, allowing us to move forward in the right direction. She also helped me immensely with hiring our finance director and building a very robust finance team which was critical.” Also mentioned is Dana Parsons, Associate, “In the day-to-day work she keeps us on track, but also brings such a wealth of knowledge and is such an easy and wonderful person to work with.”

“YPTC can support nonprofits at any level. With them, you know that you’re taking good care of your financial department, but also if you have more complex needs, nothing is too small and nothing is too big, which is great because you get what you really need to move to the next level with confidence. I always have the level of support that I need. What else can you ask for?”