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Extracted Text (OCR)
From: Lisa New Pe
Sent: 12/19/2016 4:36:41 AM
To: Jeffrey Epstein [jeevacation@gmail.com]
cc: Leah Reis-Denn is =
Subject: Thank You from Lisa and Poetry in America
Importance: — High
Dear
Jeffrey
(and please see note at bottom),
This end-of-the-year letter is to catch you up on developments and to report progress made in 2016
by Poetry in America, by its associated non-profit production company, Verse Video Education, and
by (and with) our new Harvard partner, the Derek Bok Center for Teaching and Learning. Whether
you are a longstanding adviser and supporter of Poetry in America, or you’ve more recently joined our
circle of proponents, your contributions, thought partnership and enthusiasm have made this year’s
successes possible.
Last fall, | knew this would be a crucial year. Goals for 2016 included moving our co-produced
television series, Poetry in America, toward a concrete release date (now entering post-production,
we launch nationwide in April 2018), converting our six HarvardX MOOC modules into for-credit
courses (now complete and being offered by Harvard’s Division of Continuing Education), and getting
the word out on our first course developed especially for K-12 educators, Poetry in America for
Teachers: The City from Whitman to Hip Hop. With a mission of creating and distributing the highest-
quality humanities content for a wide variety of learners, our projects now rely on a salaried
production staff of five, a rotating corps of part timers and contractors, and a growing cohort of
Harvard graduate students, undergraduates and interns whom we train in the public-facing
humanities. Growing fast, in 2016 we more firmly established Verse Video Education as a nimble and
stable producer of humanities-based content (now including an archive of over 120 separate
interviews with distinguished discussants), while also defining a forward-looking partnership and
growth strategy with Harvard. As 2016 draws to a close, | have much progress to report.
Verse Video Education: Independent 501c3
In April 2016, Verse Video Education, the fledgling production company |’d founded in 2014, received
IRS approval and became a 501c3. Now capable of accepting philanthropic contributions, Verse
Video Education has also begun to generate revenue by producing high-quality educational media for
other institutions. Clients within our first year included Greenwich Country Day School, YIVO Institute
for Jewish Research, Schlesinger Library, Harvard Institute for Global Health, and Project Zero. While
philanthropic donations remain essential, work for clients allows us to amplify the impact of
philanthropic donations, not only permitting additional investment in our flagship partnerships with
WGBH and Harvard, but also fostering development of new partnerships and projects. These include
a video series on poetry and science now running with award-winning magazine Nautilus, a
collaboration with distinguished poet Robert Pinsky and his Favorite Poem Project, and an expansion
of our poetry film series with partners at The Nantucket Project. Advised by a stellar and diversely
talented board, Verse Video Education is looking toward sustainability. We are now discussing
distribution of new content with a variety of stakeholders, including media providers in China.
New Harvard Partner: Bok Center for Teaching and Learning
Meanwhile, Poetry in America has deepened its partnership and formulated a plan for growth going
forward at Harvard. This fall, Harvard's Dean of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences, Mike Smith,
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Document Details
| Filename | HOUSE_OVERSIGHT_019203.jpg |
| File Size | 0.0 KB |
| OCR Confidence | 85.0% |
| Has Readable Text | Yes |
| Text Length | 3,586 characters |
| Indexed | 2026-02-04T16:37:27.999127 |