Insights to Impact

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.

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.

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.

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

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! 

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

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

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.