Engage New York Update

On May 14 a white nationalist drove from Broome County, New York with the intent to kill African Americans on the east side of Buffalo. Ten people lost their lives, three were injured, and countless others now live in constant fear for their lives. The sad reality is this is not just happening in our own backyard. This terror is ravaging American communities from coast to coast, and the greater replacement theory is being passed around and consumed through mainstream media and other outlets.

 

At Engage New York, we have been listening and learning from experts in the field like Eric Ward from the Western States Center and Tarso Ramos from Political Research Associates about the rise of white nationalism as we plan to move together to take action. Why? Because philanthropy has a role to play in changing the narrative, changing the script, and building off many of the racial equity pooled funds that were created in the wake of George Floyd’s death. Through our Anti-White Nationalism Working group, we helped produce a report, Assessing the Threat of White Nationalism in New York State and Recommendations for Building the Field. But it is not enough. As our group begins to move towards action, we invite other funders who are ready to stand with us to join our group now. Please contact our staff to discuss this body of work and how your foundation can take a proactive stance against hate.

 

I am grateful to our funder colleagues and our nonprofit partners in Buffalo for allowing Engage New York to listen in on calls and to help spread information about how to support the Buffalo community. If you are a funder who would like to move resources, there are many ways to help. Here is some information to help your leadership make decisions:

 

  • The BuffaloTogether website outlines two funds that have been set up. The first fund, which will be supported by the National Compassion Fund and Tops Grocery Store will provide direct assistance to the survivors for the deceased and those directly impacted by the mass shooting. This fund is the Buffalo 5/14 Survivors Fund.

 

  • The second fund will support ongoing community needs. This fund is being coordinated by the Community Foundation for Greater Buffalo and the United Way of Buffalo and Erie County. This fund is the Buffalo Together Community Response Fund.


 

I am heartened by all the calls, emails, and texts I have received over the past ten days from funders from across the State asking how their foundations can support our colleagues in Buffalo that will be caring for and stewarding resources to help those that were targeted and terrorized on May 14. I am pleased that place-based funders that normally wouldn’t be able to move resources to another community are working with their boards to step up to what this moment calls for – compassion for a community that has been targeted and victimized because of the color of their skin. As one Engage New York member said this past week, “Five years ago I wouldn’t have known a funder in Buffalo to call, and now I do. This is the power of Engage New York.” And while I love that our network is fulfilling its mission to strengthen inter-region cooperation to strengthen the community organizing infrastructure through relationships, resources, and collaboration it was never our intent to have to confront this type of hate. White nationalism and white supremacy are no longer fringe issues in philanthropy; they haven’t been fringe issues for some time now.

 

I hope you are having difficult conversations in your office about what philanthropy needs to do right now at a local, regional, state, and national level. I hope your board and staff are reflecting on your equity statements and asking where this conversation fits in and how is it motivating and informing your grantmaking? And most importantly, I hope you are thinking about how your institution is standing and acting in solidarity with BIPOC leaders and organization leaders on the front lines in this fight with your time, expertise, money, and voice. There are numerous national and state organizations that are ready to do something bigger, ready to organize and change the narrative that is now pervasive but they need to be resourced – and resourced to win this fight. Our communities deserve philanthropy to take a stand and to move together to end this public health crisis because if we don’t, we stand to lose more lives and more of our democratic way of life. 

NEW YORK STATE REDISTRICTING

In recent weeks, the NYS Court of Appeals declared the redistricting lines approved in February by the legislature unconstitutional. The high court-appointed special master, Jonathan R. Cervas, to redraw the lines for both the congressional and senate lines based on the fact that the Independent Redistricting Commission failed to produce two sets of maps. The high court ruled the legislature proceeded to redraw the lines without authority. On May 20, the new maps were approved by the court and explicitly stated that the prior maps could not be used for the upcoming election cycle.


However, that is not the end of the challenges ahead of the 2023 election cycle. There is a new lawsuit - League of Women Voters vs. NYS BOE stating that there is not enough time for candidates to collect the signatures required to run for office. There is also an ongoing lawsuit challenging the Assembly lines; Nicolas et al v. Hochul et al that is expected to be decided upon in the upcoming weeks. The delays and challenges will create many challenges for candidates, advocates, and voters in the upcoming months.

FIGHTING FOR A

LEAD FREE NEW YORK

The Lead-Free Kids New York (LFKNY) Coalition is just about to wrap its second year of legislative advocacy here’s a summation of its legislative and programmatic accomplishments


Legislative and Programmatic Accomplishments:


Lead in School Drinking Water Bill Signed into Law

  • Requires testing of school drinking water once every three years
  • Public school drinking water standards are now the same as FDA’s bottled water standard (until now schools were allowed to have 3x more lead in their drinking water than bottled water)
  • Remediation costs are now 100% reimbursable to school districts from the State’s water infrastructure fund


First Legislative Hearing on Childhood Lead Exposure in over 25 years


Advancing Bills Despite Industry's Hold on Key Senators via Campaign Contributions


Maintained a Full Time (Virtual) Presence In Albany

  • Successfully pivoted from in-person advocacy tactics to virtual lobby days, rallies, and other pandemic-safe advocacy tactics
  • Held over 100 lobbying meetings and legislative strategy sessions with state policymakers
  • Hosted 4 virtual advocacy days with two more scheduled for 2022
  • Hosted 1 public forum
  • Launched a grassroots 'clicktavism' tool to send emails to elected officials about LFKNY policy and budget priorities


Engage New York has been supporting the Coalition to ensure that communities across New York State are engaged in the work of the campaign to end lead poisoning in children. If your foundation is interested in engaging or learning more about this work, contact John Monaghan.

Engage New York | The New York Foundation, 150 West 30th Avenue, Suite 1401, New York, NY 10001
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