Year-End Reflections and Gratitude

As the year draws to a close, I want to extend my heartfelt gratitude to each member of our community who has made this year remarkable. 2024 has been a year of progress, collaboration, and inspiration across New York, and none of it would have been possible without your support and engagement.

This year, we’ve seen incredible milestones, including launching the Anti-White Nationalism Pooled Fund, which is supporting 16 community-based groups, as well as continuing to support a multi-sector table of funders, researchers, nonprofit partners, and census experts preparing for Census 2030 (census never stops!). Engage New York has supported our Racial Equity Pooled grantees through capacity-building initiatives and convenings. We also brought our grantees together with organizers in New York City to attend a virtual digital security training course through our partnership with the New York City Capacity Building Collaborative. And, of course, we supported our members through connections and convenings throughout the year, with our last convening of this year taking place just last week in the City, where we had 45 funders come together to talk about the future of civic engagement in the State.

These accomplishments reaffirm our mission to strengthen philanthropic coordination across the State by building a network of funders who support community organizations in developing a statewide civic engagement infrastructure that advances racial, economic, gender, and climate justice. As we reflect on our shared successes, we’re preparing for the opportunities and challenges 2025 will bring. With your continued support, we’re poised to build on our momentum and set the stage for an even brighter future. We know it will take all of us working together to make New York a home where everyone can thrive.

I also want to thank our outgoing co-chairs, Sue Kittel from the Park Foundation and Sol Marie Alfonso Jones from the New York Community Trust – Long Island, for their leadership over the past two years. This network continues to thrive because of the people who tend and care for it. I am also pleased to share that Monica Brown from the Greater Rochester Health Foundation and Rickke Mananzala from the New York Foundation will be the incoming co-chairs starting in January. Thank you for being part of this journey with us – whether in formal or informal ways. Your partnership makes Engage New York more than an organization—it’s a community, a movement, and a family.

I hope to see you at an upcoming Engage New York event or hear from you about how you can connect to our work. I wish you and your loved ones a joyful holiday season and a prosperous New Year.

Lisa Fasolo Frishman

Program Director

Engage New York

For more information about upcoming events and highlights from 2024, keep reading!

Engage New York is pleased to announce the distribution of its first rapid response grants from the Anti-White Nationalism Pooled Fund, which has supported 16 organizations across New York State. In partnership with the NYS Anti-White Nationalism Working Group, this fund has focused on building field infrastructure to combat white nationalist ideologies and support pro-democracy and racial justice leaders. The initial grants were between $2,500 and $7,500 to support a variety of safety and narrative projects.

The list of current grantees is as follows:

• Adirondack Diversity Initiative/Adirondack North Country Association, North Country
• Alianza Agricola, Western New York
• Asian American Institute For Research and Engagement, Long Island
• Black Farmers United – New York State Inc., Statewide
• Black Trans Travel Fund, Statewide
• Columbia County Sanctuary Movement, Capital Region/Hudson Valley
• For the Many Education Fund, Hudson Valley
• Good Neighbors Initiative, Long Island
• John Brown Lives!, North Country
• Niagara Organizing Alliance for Hope, Inc., Western New York
• OLA of Eastern Long Island, Long Island
• Saratoga Black Lives Matter, Capital Region
• Secure Families Foundation, Statewide
• Seven Dancers Coalition, Statewide
• Watkins Glen New Neighbors Program/The Arc of Chemung-Schuyler, S.Tier
• Workers Center of Central New York, Central New York

About the Anti-White Nationalism Pooled Fund and Working Group

Engage New York created the Anti-White Nationalism Working Group to bring funders together to learn and take action together. The working group meets roughly 6 times a year. Through the learning process, the group created a pooled fund dedicated to supporting organizations bravely standing up for communities impacted by injustice and facing political violence or backlash. The pooled fund was inspired by the report Assessing the Threat of White Nationalism in New York State & Recommendations for the Building the Field, as well as from various education sessions we held over the past few years and from working with our Racial Equity Pooled Fund grantees.

We invite you to join us in this important work. Whether you're interested in joining the working group, contributing to the fund, or learning more about its goals and impact, we’d love to connect with you. Contact us to explore how you can contribute to this collective effort to foster resilience and equity in our communities.

Since 2020, Engage New York's Racial Equity Pooled Fund (REPF) has invested $2.1 million into grassroots and statewide coalitions, catalyzing organizing wins and expanding regional capacity across New York. Through this fund, Engage New York supported 14 statewide projects and 22 local organizations outside of New York City, Hudson Valley, and Long Island. In the Hudson Valley, our funding helped to create a leadership series to bring organizers together across the region to build and strengthen connections. On Long Island, our money helped to see the Good Neighbors Initiative, a collaborative fund that advances infrastructure for local advocacy; facilitates people power building, strengthens organizational capacity; coordinates the work of groups focused on organizing, human services, and leadership development; connect immigration advocacy groups with other allies; and identify opportunities for expanded social justice work across Long Island.

Grantees have achieved remarkable outcomes, including new sanctuary policies, transformative farmworker advocacy, restorative justice initiatives, and multiracial coalition-building. By providing flexible, general operating grants, the fund has empowered organizations to retain talent, build long-term leadership, and achieve community-driven change.

What we’ve learned:

• Cross-regional collaboration is key. Strategic investments in under-resourced areas like the North Country, Western NY, and the Southern Tier amplified statewide impact.
• Flexibility drives innovation. Small, unrestricted grants enabled grantees to respond to emerging challenges while maintaining momentum.
• Sustained funding matters. Long-term commitments foster resilience against disinvestment and threats to organizing infrastructure.

The work is far from over. Amid escalating authoritarianism and widespread defunding, these gains remain at risk. However, with continued support, we can solidify New York's organizing landscape to protect all communities.

To read more about these accomplishments and lessons, visit the Racial Equity Pooled Fund Fall 2024 Impact Report and Listening Series.

Date: Tuesday, January 28, 2025 

Time 9:00 am - 2:00 pm (lunch will be provided)

Format: In-person and live-streamed (For those outside NYC, a similar in-person event is being planned for late 2025).

Location: New York Law School

This event is for all funders, nonprofits, government, and business leaders.