Brooklyn Community Foundation Receives National Impact Award
On Tuesday, May 19th, the National Committee for Responsive Philanthropy (NCRP) awarded Brooklyn Community Foundation with the 2015 Impact Award in the category of Grantmaking Public Charity at a reception in conjunction with The Center for Effective Philanthropy National Conference in San Francisco.
The NCRP Impact Awards honors foundations that have made a visible commitment to exemplary grantmaking, diversity and inclusion, and empowering and strengthening communities throughout the United States. As the country's only independent watchdog of foundations, NCRP inaugurated the awards in 2013 to honor foundations that embody the ideals of high-impact philanthropy.
Brooklyn Community Foundation—the first and only public foundation dedicated to New York City’s largest borough—was honored alongside fellow winners New York Foundation (Small Private Foundation), Open Society Foundation (Large Private Foundation), Blue Shield of California Foundation (Corporate Foundation) and Needmor Fund (Small Private Foundation).
Brooklyn Community Foundation President and CEO Cecilia Clarke accepted the award, which recognizes its work on “Brooklyn Insights,” a 2014 strategic planning process that extensively engaged grantees and community members to identify the best direction for the Foundation to take. The Foundation identified five major issue areas of greatest importance to the communities it serves: Neighborhood Cohesion, Youth, Criminal Justice, Immigrant Communities and Racial Justice.
In response to the feedback the Foundation received, Brooklyn Community Foundation has developed a more community-based approach to its operations and grantmaking strategy.
About the National Committee for Responsive Philanthropy (NCRP):
The National Committee for Responsive Philanthropy in Washington, D.C., is a national watchdog, research and advocacy organization that promotes philanthropy that serves the public good, is responsive to people and communities with the least wealth and opportunity, and is held accountable to the highest standards of integrity and openness.
Since 1976, the NCRP has served as the voice of nonprofits and the communities they serve in philanthropy. Through research and advocacy, NCRP works to ensure that philanthropy contributes in meaningful ways to the creation of a fair, just and equitable world. Visit www.ncrp.org for more information.
About Brooklyn Community Foundation
Brooklyn Community Foundation is on a mission to spark lasting social change, mobilizing people, capital, and expertise for a fair and just Brooklyn. Since its founding in 2009, the Foundation and its donors have provided over $20 million in grants to more than 300 nonprofits throughout the borough, bolstering vital programs and services while responding to urgent community needs and opportunities. In 2014, following a six-month boroughwide community engagement project, Brooklyn Insights, the Foundation unveiled a new strategic action plan focused on youth, neighborhood strength, nonprofit capacity, and racial justice.