Insights to Impact

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Insights to Impact

September 1, 2023
Dr. Jocelynne Rainey
President & CEO (She/Her/Hers)

At this year's Brooklyn Changemakers Ball we are privileged to honor Congressman Hakeem Jeffries and Gabriel Schwartz and Jolie Curtsinger Schwartz for their changemaking commitment to the people of Brooklyn. 

March 11, 2020
Liane Stegmaier
Chief of Staff (She/Her/Hers)

Starting March 12th, households around the country will receive their 2020 Census mailers with a unique code to complete the survey online. Now is the time to #MakeBrooklynCount — 100%! 
 

February 27, 2020
Liane Stegmaier
Chief of Staff (She/Her/Hers)

We celebrated the milestone as we honored the five newest winners of our $100,000 Spark Prize and ALLINBKLYN founder Eliza Winans Rossman, along with over 300 guests at BAM Lepercq Space.

February 26, 2020
Mars Ikeda
Communications Intern

Invest in Youth grantee Girls for Gender Equity (GGE) are taking on a source of major injustice they face every day in their own schools. GGE’s new policy brief “Suspending Self Expression” examines the link between school dress codes in NYC public schools and school pushout—and the disproportionate impact it has on Black and Latinx young women and gender non-conforming/non-binary (GNC/NB) youth.

February 13, 2020
Sabrina Hargrave
Vice President of Programs (She/Her/Ella)

We are pleased to announce $405,000 in grants from our Brooklyn Elders Fund for community-based organizations taking on complex, critical issues of racial and social injustice confronting older adults in Brooklyn.

February 11, 2020
Mars Ikeda
Communications Intern

It happens once every 10 years, and it’s just a month away!

The Census is the largest non-wartime activity that America takes on, and so many things in our day-to-day life are determined by the data it collects—from how well-funded our local schools and public transportation system are, to how many representatives a state sends to Congress.

January 30, 2020
Sabrina Hargrave
Vice President of Programs (She/Her/Ella)

We are pleased to announce that we are partnering with Brooklyn Borough Hall to distribute New York State funding for Census 2020 outreach in hard-to-count communities. 
 

January 30, 2020
Liane Stegmaier
Chief of Staff (She/Her/Hers)

Since we created the Spark Prize—the first to celebrate social change organizations in Brooklyn—we have awarded more than $2.4 million to 20 winners and 60 finalists. We couldn't have done it without the Brooklynites who shared their time and expertise as members of the Spark Prize Committee.

January 22, 2020
Sabrina Hargrave
Vice President of Programs (She/Her/Ella)

We are so pleased to introduce to you the first cohort of our Brooklyn Elders Fund Advisory Council—a group that is working hand-in-hand with our Programs team to review grant proposals, conduct site visits, and ultimately recommend which organizations will receive funding.

January 15, 2020

Thanks to our generous donors and community partners, 2019 set new records for the Foundation’s grantmaking! 

January 9, 2020
Liane Stegmaier
Chief of Staff (She/Her/Hers)

We are pleased to announce the five recipients of this year’s $100,000 Spark Prize, the only honor celebrating outstanding social justice nonprofits in the borough. 

December 18, 2019

We are announcing funding for 55 local nonprofits as part of our Invest in Youth initiative, bringing our overall support for youth-focused programs to $2.6 million in 2019! 

December 5, 2019
Sabrina Hargrave
Vice President of Programs (She/Her/Ella)

The New York State Census Equity Fund—of which Brooklyn Community Foundation is a Steering Committee member—has announced its second round of grants, totaling $1,437,000, to 56 organizations to support efforts across the state to reach hard-to-count communities in the 2020 Census. 

 

December 3, 2019
Liane Stegmaier
Chief of Staff (She/Her/Hers)

2,400 donors raised over $640,000 (and counting!) for local nonprofits through our #BrooklynGives campaign at www.BrooklynGives.org.

 

November 20, 2019
Liane Stegmaier
Chief of Staff (She/Her/Hers)

We are pleased to announce the newest member of our Board of Directors, Connie Sargent.

 
November 12, 2019
Liane Stegmaier
Chief of Staff (She/Her/Hers)

Our #BrooklynGives campaign aims to prove that Brooklyn is not just New York City’s largest borough, it’s also its most generous!

November 4, 2019
Liane Stegmaier
Chief of Staff (She/Her/Hers)

A packed house filled St. Ann's Church in Brooklyn Heights on Friday, October 18th for the penultimate program in Brooklyn Historical Society's month-long series, "400 Years of Inequality: Slavery, Race, and Our Unresolved History."

October 21, 2019

Our Invest in Brooklyn Dinner, held on Friday, October 18th, featured a powerful discussion with Stacey Abrams and Elaine Welteroth.

October 16, 2019
Liane Stegmaier
Chief of Staff (She/Her/Hers)

We are excited to announce the 20 finalists for this annual Spark Prize, the only award of its kind honoring longstanding nonprofits that have “sparked change” across Brooklyn.

 

October 15, 2019
Liane Stegmaier
Chief of Staff (She/Her/Hers)

We are pleased to announce the addition of political strategist and CNN commentator Aisha C. Mills to our Board of Directors, effective Friday, September 27, 2019.

October 2, 2019

As we near the three year anniversary of our Immigrant Rights Fund, we are pleased to announce our largest disbursement of quarterly grants from the fund to date: $255,000 to 18 immigrant-serving, immigrant-led organizations across Brooklyn.

 
September 4, 2019
Sabrina Hargrave
Vice President of Programs (She/Her/Ella)

In order to determine our programmatic strategy for our new $10 million Brooklyn Elders Fund we launched Elders Insights, a community outreach project modeled after Brooklyn Insights, in late 2018. Today we are pleased to share our Elders’ Insights report detailing what we’ve learned about the state of Brooklyn’s older adult communities.

August 31, 2019
Jameela Syed
Communications Manager (She/Her/Hers)
Esmeralda Simmons, founder and executive director of 2018 Spark Prize winner the Center for Law and Social Justice, spoke with us about her work and the importance of celebrating philanthropy in the Black community.
August 26, 2019
Jameela Syed
Communications Manager (She/Her/Hers)

In this second half of our interview with author Valaida Fullwood, we discuss the theme of this year’s Black Philanthropy Month, and how people can get started on their journey as philanthropists.

 
 
August 22, 2019
Jameela Syed
Communications Manager (She/Her/Hers)

Our #BlackPhilanthropyMonth interview with Valaida Fullwood, award-winning author of Giving Back: A Tribute to Generations of African American Philanthropists

August 21, 2019

Last month, our donors responded to the threats of widespread ICE arrests with an outpouring of support that raised nearly $35,000 for our Immigrant Rights Fund. With those crucial funds, we were able to issue two new Immediate Response grants.

 
    August 15, 2019

    We have come a long way in our 10 years as Brooklyn’s community foundation. In our annual Insights to Impact Report, you will learn more about our work meeting the needs of our borough’s most vulnerable communities and supporting nonprofits on the frontlines of change.

    August 14, 2019

    For our Black Philanthropy Month series we spoke with BlackSpace about philanthropy, legacy, and their work to protect and create Black spaces. BlackSpace is a collective of Black residents, changemakers, urban planners, architects, artists, activists, designers, and leaders, and one of the Foundation’s 2019-2020 Incubator Project Winners.

    August 12, 2019

    The moment demands that every institution with a platform use it to speak out. Together, we must raise our voices to drown out the hate and call it out for what it is. This is racism. We must not tolerate or normalize it. We must condemn it, and then we must connect that rhetoric to the policies that are ruining the lives of people of color and holding back progress for us all.

    August 5, 2019

    For Black Philanthropy Month (BPM) we are highlighting stories of those who are committed to informing, inspiring, and investing in Black communities. Our first spotlight is on Jocelynne Rainey, Chief Administrative Officer and Executive Vice President at the Brooklyn Navy Yard Development Corporation and member of the Foundation’s Spark Prize Committee.

    July 29, 2019
    Jameela Syed
    Communications Manager (She/Her/Hers)

    We are pleased to officially announce the addition of Susannah Taylor to our Board of Directors, effective Friday, June 7, 2019.

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