NYN_40under40_2016

U NDER FORT Y

RI S I NG STARS 2016

NYN 40 under 40 - Rising Stars

Congratulations

Mike Hollis Manager, Urban Farms Services for the UnderServed (SUS)

You are Outstanding in your Field Our Stake in the Ground A Rising Star!

So proud to call you one of our own.

2

sus.org/our-services/urban-farms

N Y Nmedia .c om

AIMÉE SIMPIERRE Editor-at-Large

N Y Nmedia .c om

Some of this year’s 40 under 40 honorees built a career at one nonprofit and became highly influential and indispensable there. Others worked at many organizations exerting influence across their field and community. Many have personal connections to the causes they champion. All have made what every nonprofit strives to make: an impact.

It was the desire to do something to help people that motivated most of our awardees to apply their skills to the nonprofit sector, along with the desire to choose a career that would make their children proud and one that would feel like a productive use of their precious “under 40” years. Otherwise, why would some have made the switch away from more lucrative for-profit careers to the nonprofit sector, where your job can often consist of helping to fundraise for your own salary?

Many had to combat misconceptions about their careers: It isn’t just a hobby, it’s a 9-to-5 commitment and beyond; fundraising is more than attending fancy dinners and making cold calls; skills gained within the corporate sector are transferrable to the nonprofit sector. And they’d have you know that there’s a lot more dedication and hard work going into it then most people realize. Some would even label their careers a calling.

There were many nominees – and plenty of additional slots that could have been filled with deserving candidates. There are also quite a few candidates who have a few years left to be considered among the 40-under-40 set. We are honored to undertake the challenging process of separating out 40 individuals who we feel exemplify the level of commitment and degree of influence that qualifies them as rising stars. It was also our pleasure to speak with each winner and learn more about what motivates them. Their profiles, found within the pages of this journal, are a snapshot of both the quality and the character that fills the nonprofit community.

Overall, the process sparked confidence in the future of a sector where leadership positions turn over frequently amid a challenging operating climate and much ink has been spilled fretting over the abundance of vacancies in the C-suite as baby boomers retire.

As our awardees look forward to continuing to wield influence on the New York nonprofit sector – whether by advocating for critical pieces of policy, creating safe spaces for young people to express their many and varied talents, helping to lift others out of poverty or leveling the playing field for older adults or individuals with special needs – we look forward to covering their successes and the causes that they’ve dedicated their young careers to. So congratulations to our 40-under-40 nonprofit rising stars. And dare I say – the best is yet to come!

NYN 40 under 40 - Rising Stars

Editor's Note

3

NYN 40 under 40 - Rising Stars

SPEAKERS

Helen Rosenthal Chairwoman, New York City Council Contracts Committee Helen Rosenthal is a New York City Councilwoman representing Manhattan’s Upper West Side. A strong believer in the value of civic engagement, Rosenthal pioneered Student Voter Registration Day, which registered over 8,500 New York City high school students to vote in time for the 2016 presidential primary. She also brought Participatory Budgeting to the Upper West Side so residents will be able to vote on how to spend $1 million of taxpayer money each year to improve local parks, schools and streets. Her legislative achievements include two bills that expand access to government services for people with disabilities and a bill in the historic Vision Zero package of 2014.

Her district office serves thousands of residents each year, and she funds free monthly housing clinics that are regularly attended by residents from other boroughs.

4

N Y Nmedia .c om

NYN 40 under 40 - Rising Stars Jessica Lappin President, Alliance for Downtown New York Since taking the helm of the Alliance in February 2014, Jessica Lappin has emerged as the voice of the downtown business community and ensured that the BID remains at the forefront of efforts to shape the neighborhood.

Under her leadership, the Alliance has advocated successfully for incentives to improve the business climate, significantly expanded its free public Wi-Fi network, instituted a district-wide solar-powered recycling program and helped secure nearly $15 million in resiliency funding for Lower Manhattan.

Prior to her tenure at the Alliance, Lappin was elected to serve two terms in the New York City Council, representing the Upper East Side, East Midtown, and Roosevelt Island. She played a key role in bringing the Cornell-Technion Applied Science and Engineering Campus to Roosevelt Island, oversaw the approval of over 20,000 new public school seats citywide and five new schools on the East Side, helped keep 100 senior centers from closing, expanded the city’s recycling efforts and spearheaded the successful development of four new waterfront parks. Lappin lives in Manhattan with her husband and two sons.

N Y Nmedia .c om

5

NYN 40 under 40 - Rising Stars

WINNERS WE ALL HAVE A ROLE TO PLAY Fast fact: Braithwaite’s favorite cartoon growing up?

Fraggle Rock

Unique Brathwaite Executive Director LIFT-New York Brathwaite heads LIFT-New York, a nonprofit working to break the cycle of poverty for South Bronx families by helping clients strengthen their personal, social and financial supports. Before joining LIFT in 2015, Brathwaite worked in education, first by designing college and career-focused curricula for high school students at iMentor, and later with the GO Project, an early academic intervention program. Born in Brooklyn, she lives in Harlem and works in the Bronx.

NYN: HOW DID YOU BECOME INTERESTED IN YOUR FIELD? UB: I am born and raised in Brooklyn, I’m a New York native and I’ve always done service in my community.

It’s been part of my family values and the schools that I went to, so it’s always been important to me that once I graduated from college and started my career that I would continue working in communities that are important to me: communities of color that are under-resourced.

NYN: DESCRIBE AN ACCOMPLISHMENT YOU ARE MOST PROUD OF. UB: There are many things that I’m proud of in terms of the work that I’ve done. When I think of my leadership in this sector, it’s been important to work with folks that are interested in the field, interested in this kind of work and really being able to provide professional development opportunities for them to grow and become emerging leaders themselves. In addition to work that I’ve done directly with the community – the parents, the families, the schools – it’s also been important to me to be able to provide the right kind of leadership and development opportunities for young people who also want to make the commitment in this field. I’m really proud of that.

NYN: WHAT IS THE ONE THING YOU’D LIKE TO ACCOMPLISH BEFORE YOU RETIRE? UB: When I think of the contribution that I want to have in the nonprofit sector and in the community, it’s being able to bring strong, high-quality, high-impact services to communities and people I care about. I want to be a good partner to different kinds of stakeholders, whether it’s families, institutions, schools. I want to be someone who is trustworthy and dedicated to doing good quality work.

When I think about my successes, there’s nothing that I’ve ever done by myself. I’ve always had a mentor or someone else or a group of people in my corner to be supportive and so I do think that it’s a moral responsibility that I have to provide support and opportunities to others.

NYN: WHAT DO YOU WISH PEOPLE KNEW ABOUT YOUR JOB? UB: Because poverty is so massive, it’s so complicated and nuanced, everyone can play a role in being able to address systemic change. Young people have a role, parents have a role, CEO’s have a role, institutions have a role, colleges, funders – everyone can play a role in this. And I think that it’s a missed opportunity if we’re not thinking longer term together as partners in this to be able to address poverty at all kinds of levels.

6

N Y Nmedia .c om

Mark Cheever Director of Strategic Partnerships Friends of Hudson River Park

NYN 40 under 40 - Rising Stars

"EACH DAY HERE IS DIFFERENT" Fast fact: Tweet him @Mark_Cheever

Mark Cheever has always had a strong passion for the environment and the outdoors. He spent a few years “island hopping” as a diving instructor in the Caribbean before being hired as an Environmental Educator at Hudson River Park in 2011. He credits a lot of the success he has experienced to the amazing staff he works with. Mark has a strong love for the volunteer program at The Park, and is in awe of how much he has seen it affect the volunteers that it attracts.

NYN: DESCRIBE AN ACCOMPLISHMENT YOU ARE MOST PROUD OF. MC: Our volunteer program overall here at The Park has been incredible. We didn’t have an official program until about three years ago. We knew it would be beneficial to The Park, but we didn’t have resources to contribute. This past year we actually got a grant to hire a full-time volunteer coordinator, so to see her and work with her and take the program to the next step is incredible. Through June we have already hit our record number for volunteers, and we’re still growing from there. I imagine that we might even double it this year, which is pretty amazing.

NYN: WHAT CHANGE WOULD MOST HELP THE INDIVIDUALS YOUR ORGANIZATION SERVES? MC: We really only serve New Yorkers, Hudson River Park; unlike the Highline, which is a very tourist destination, we have people from all five boroughs. A lot of it is people being able to get here, so if you could invent a teleportation machine that would be great. The program has such an amazing staff that all do incredible work, and if we could hire more staff we would be able to run more programs, making a bigger impact. These programs affect tens of thousands of New York City students each year, and a lot of times give them some of the only nature programming that they are going to have.

NYN: WHAT IS THE ONE THING YOU’D LIKE TO ACCOMPLISH BEFORE YOU RETIRE? MC: One day I would like to be an executive director of a community-focused nonprofit. That’s definitely up there and I think that I am well on my way. I am patient, and I’m willing to take my time, I don’t need to get there tomorrow, life will sort itself out.

NYN: WHAT DO YOU WISH PEOPLE KNEW ABOUT YOUR JOB? MC: My job is incredibly fun because each day here is different. There is a wide range of things that we do, whether it be high-end events, golf cart tours in The Park, or putting on gloves and picking up tools and volunteering alongside our partners. As a park we get to do so much, especially in my role. I just wish everyone would know that I have a great job, and I have a lot of fun being able to interact with so many different folks and doing so many different things at The Park.

N Y Nmedia .c om

7

NYN 40 under 40 - Rising Stars

The Board and Staff Community Resource Exchange 8

N Y Nmedia .c om

Stephanie Circosta Social Work Supervisor The Children’s Village

NYN 40 under 40 - Rising Stars

HIGH CASELOADS AND COMPLEX NEEDS Fast fact: Circosta holds a master’s degree in social work from New York University

Stephanie Circosta supervises social workers and caseworkers who treat children placed in the foster care or juvenile justice systems, some of whom suffer from psychological or emotional issues. She has also just welcomed her own rising star with the birth of her son Jacob William Circosta on June 8.

NYN: HOW DID YOU BECOME INTERESTED IN YOUR FIELD? SC: I think I always wanted to be a social worker, but I don’t think I even knew what it was. I just knew that I wanted to help people. My mom will joke and say that even in high school, I would stick up for all of the kids who were getting picked on or I would always back up the kids that needed more help.

When I went to college, I got a degree in psychology and women’s studies and when I graduated I got a job working at a domestic violence shelter. Through that job, I met a lot of different people in a lot of different positions. I met nurses, I met people from the ER, attorneys, so it kind of opened my eyes to what I wanted to do.

NYN: DESCRIBE AN ACCOMPLISHMENT YOU ARE MOST PROUD OF. SC: Personally, it was getting my clinical license because I took a long time, I postponed it a lot. And honestly, when I got pregnant, I realized I gotta do this before this baby comes.

I had one young man that I was working with and I really tried to do a lot to get his family involved, so I was working really closely with his aunt, his sister and his mom. We really wanted to find his dad, so we worked closely with somebody at our agency called a family finding specialist. There was a lot of anger and resentment and problems.

The kid was kind of stuck in the middle. I really did try to do a lot to change the family dynamic and when I realized that wasn’t really working, helped him to figure out how to manage that for himself.

NYN: WHAT CHANGE WOULD MOST HELP THE INDIVIDUALS YOUR ORGANIZATION SERVES? SC: Caseloads are really high for social workers and caseworkers. I think that the kids and the families that we service need a lot more than we’re able to give them. I think the demands are really high. The caseload for kids in the juvenile justice system is significantly lower than the kids in the foster care system.

NYN: WHAT IS THE ONE THING YOU’D LIKE TO ACCOMPLISH BEFORE YOU RETIRE? SC: The understanding of how important family is, and not just mom and dad but really getting other people involved: doing family trees and helping kids remember aunts, uncles, grandparents, brothers, sisters, cousins, old teachers and old coaches to get them more involved in the youth’s life.

N Y Nmedia .c om

9

NYN 40 under 40 - Rising Stars

"SOCIAL MEDIA IS LIKE HIGH SCHOOL" Fast fact: Tweet him @MarcClimaco

Marc Climaco Social Media Engagement Strategist Ford Foundation Marc Climaco grew up in a “humanitarian family,” established a nonprofit with his mother at age 18 and hasn’t looked back since. He is a strategist who works to elevate the digital presence of nonprofit organizations. He is also responsible for growing the Ford Foundation's digital audience and designing campaigns. Previously, Climaco worked at the ACLU, establishing its social media presence in Ferguson, Missouri, shaping digital strategy ahead of the marriage equality win and tripling the organization's social media followers in one year. He has worked on digital campaigns with Edward Snowden, Jimmy Wales and Black Lives Matter.

NYN: DESCRIBE AN ACCOMPLISHMENT YOU ARE MOST PROUD OF: MC: I’ve been part of a variety of movements that have been very successful. The marriage equality movement: The ACLU, as an institution, has for the past 40 years really been pushing for marriage equality. And to be a part of that, to make marriage equality happen, was, I think, a huge success. Establishing a nonprofit when I was 18 is a massive success for me. A lot of that is because I come from an immigrant family. My parents, they didn’t really know too much about how to establish a nonprofit and I really took the lead in terms of making that happen.

NYN: WHAT CHANGE WOULD MOST HELP THE ORGANIZATIONS YOU SERVE? MC: The reality is nonprofits do lag behind in terms of their expertise in the digital world and we do have a role here at the foundation to play in terms of making sure that folks have the resources, the thinking, the learnings behind digital campaigns so that they can actually do more in the digital sphere.

NYN: WHAT IS THE ONE THING YOU’D LIKE TO ACCOMPLISH BEFORE YOU RETIRE? MC: Oh there’s a lot I’d like to accomplish. I’d like to do election campaigning work, I think there’s a lot of insights there. As a communicator, doing communications work, it’s just one of the most exciting environments that you could be a part of: 24/7, for six to nine months, where every day you’re looking at polling data, you’re defining messaging, you’re executing at the same time. But overall, ever since I started in the nonprofit world I realized how behind the nonprofit world is in digital, so my ultimate goal in my career is to help other organizations be at the forefront of the digital sphere.

NYN: WHAT DO YOU WISH PEOPLE KNEW ABOUT YOUR JOB? MC: Half of my job is metrics. It’s not just about chatting with people online, it’s really taking a look at how effective our methods are using data. Social media is like high school, in terms of building relationships with people. So everything that we learn in highschool in terms of interacting with people and building relationships with them – all those rules are pretty much the same in social media.

10

N Y Nmedia .c om

Henry Cross Executive Director Hosh Kids

NYN 40 under 40 - Rising Stars

"NO ISSUES IN THE TISSUES" Fast fact: Cross’ favorite cartoon growing up? Road Runner

Henry Cross joined the nonprofit studio Hosh Yoga in 2011 as an instructor. He soon rose to assistant executive director and founded Hosh Kids, an affiliate that offers over 30 programs citywide and holds over 500 classes each month for more than 4,000 children. Cross will tell you that Hosh Yoga promotes “no issues in the tissues,” implying that a focus on health and wellness can prevent one’s body from being a repository for diseases. Outside of work, Cross serves as Community Relations Director for the Sonima Foundation, which delivers health and wellness programs to public schools. He is an appointed official of Community Board 5 in Ridgewood, Queens, and serves on the advisory board for the New York City Department of Youth and Community Development. Prior to his work with Hosh Yoga, Cross was a high school teacher and yoga instructor at Fit 4 Life NYC. Hosh Yoga (‘hosh’ is Turkish for welcome) celebrated its seventh anniversary in May. NYN MEDIA: HOW DID YOU BECOME INTERESTED IN YOUR FIELD? HC: In a circuitous way: while I was a ballroom dancer in high school. My parents sent me for lessons, and although I was reluctant at first, I soon began to compete. A colleague mentioned that it would be beneficial to crosstrain with yoga. I embraced the practice and gave up dancing.

NYN MEDIA: DESCRIBE AN ACCOMPLISHMENT YOU’RE MOST PROUD OF. HC: Nothing gives me greater satisfaction than sharing the joy and the smiles of the staff, students, happy school principals, local officials and seniors after each session. I want our practice to leave everyone a little healthier and happier. I’m also proud of the transparency of our organization: Every staff member is familiar with how our budget operates and understands how every dollar is spent, which resonates with our mission. We’ve got a great staff of 60, which I attribute to our Brooklyn community that attracts the right people. When I’m recruiting, I’d rather delay a program until I find a candidate who is a good fit.

NYN MEDIA: WHAT IS THE ONE THING YOU’D LIKE TO ACCOMPLISH BEFORE YOU RETIRE? HC: I love this question! Will we, could we, shall we undertake to make yoga part of a broader public health initiative? My dream is to iterate our Brooklyn program as a national model to reach out to children and seniors nationwide. We have already launched a successful standalone center in Vermont.

NYN MEDIA: WHAT DO YOU WISH PEOPLE KNEW ABOUT YOUR JOB? HC: Who would have thought that helping people is so difficult! I share so much of my time and energy, I have had to learn to create a balance, hitting the ‘pause’ button and asking myself, “am I taking care of myself ?” Now I stop and work out twice a day. One of my friends likes to say, “don’t take so much, so you don’t have to give back so much!”

N Y Nmedia .c om

11

NYN 40 under 40 - Rising Stars

HR WORKS HARD FOR YOU Fast fact: D’Ambrosio holds an M.S. in industrial/ organizational psychology from Baruch College

Steven D’Ambrosio Director of Human Resources and Professional Development Sheltering Arms Children and Family Services n Steven D’Ambrosio started as an intern with Sheltering Arms in 2010 and now serves as the director of human resources and professional development. He has facilitated the growth of the organization’s staff by more than 200 percent to support programs serving thousands of New York City children and families in need. His colleagues say he is “optimistic during difficulty, compassionate during uncertainty, and strategic during complexity. Steven is willing to be the positive voice when nobody sees it coming, and will even be the one to shake things up when we're too comfortable with the status quo.”

NYN: DESCRIBE AN ACCOMPLISHMENT YOU ARE MOST PROUD OF. SD: The agency, when I started working here, was a lot smaller. Since that time we’ve tripled. So I’ve always been very proud of my efforts and my team’s efforts at developing the agency and opening new and innovative programs with very unique offerings. It’s always very fulfilling to start something from the ground up.

NYN: WHAT CHANGE WOULD MOST HELP THE INDIVIDUALS YOUR ORGANIZATION SERVES? SD: A major challenge for us has been our early childhood education department. As a voluntary provider agency, we have a very dedicated staff and that is a very large area of programming for us but the funding we receive really pales in comparison to the Department of Education. That would be a change for the better – really lessening the gap of compensation practices for voluntary providers that run early childhood centers versus the Department of Education. At the end of the day they’re working just as hard. That’s always been something very important for me.

NYN: WHAT IS THE ONE THING YOU’D LIKE TO ACCOMPLISH BEFORE YOU RETIRE? SD: I think on an internal level, right now for our agency, I think we’ve accomplished so much. What I’d like to do is to maybe further use my expertise in industrial organizational psychology and engage in more metrics for the agency, and more analysis of the data that we have so that it can support our strategy and decision-making.

And a fun one – I’m a big volleyball player and I really enjoy working in a support role in social services. Eventually I have this dream where I kind of merge the two, and I start my own organization that serves children in need but teaches them how to play volleyball.

NYN: WHAT DO YOU WISH PEOPLE KNEW ABOUT YOUR JOB? SD: I think folks should know that sometimes even though it’s a little more behind the scenes that we work very very very hard for our employees interests and to support them. It’s not all about disciplinary and firing people.

12

N Y Nmedia .c om

for being selected one of New York Nonprofit Media’s

40 under 40

NYN 40 under 40 - Rising Stars

Congratulations Kevin Douglas

Thank you for your work keeping New York City’s communities strong!

UNH, founded in 1919, is the membership organization of New York City settlement houses which serve more than a half million New Yorkers each year. www.unhny.org

N Y Nmedia .c om

13

NYN 40 under 40 - Rising Stars

USING POLICY TO SHAPE CHANGE Fast fact: Tweet him @douglaskev

Kevin Douglas Co-Director of Policy and Advocacy United Neighborhood Houses Kevin Douglas leads United Neighborhood Houses’ state lobbying, policy analysis and media engagement efforts with a focus on immigration, workforce development and adult literacy. He also helped create the New York State Nonprofit Infrastructure Fund and held leadership positions in coalitions such as the Campaign for Summer Jobs.

NYN: HOW DID YOU BECOME INTERESTED IN YOUR FIELD? KD: When I got to college, I tried out a couple of different majors and found myself really drawn to the profession of social work, which is all about helping people in different ways. Through a policy class I took, I discovered that social work wasn’t just taking care of children or working directly one-on-one with families doing counseling and benefits and that sort of stuff, but was also about working on social change.

NYN: DESCRIBE AN ACCOMPLISHMENT YOU ARE MOST PROUD OF. KD: I helped lead something called the New York City Coalition for Adult Literacy. In partnership with this coalition we developed a strong campaign working with the City Council and working with the mayor’s administration to really put adult literacy out there as a policy issue that was being passed over and not really looked at and not really invested in, and managed to secure a pretty significant investment of $12 million in new money this year for adult literacy programs.

The other thing that comes to my mind that I’m proud of is creating opportunities for community members to engage in government. A lot of times we do these rallies and press conferences and legislative visits and we know that it’s more effective when someone is up there telling their story as opposed to when I’m there with facts and statistics and papers like a thousand other lobbyists. It sort of changes their view of themselves and what they’re capable of.

NYN: WHAT IS THE ONE THING YOU’D LIKE TO ACCOMPLISH BEFORE YOU RETIRE? KD: I’m really interested in figuring out how we can make government work better for people, making sure that our government has transparency and there’s checks and balances and there’s not this constant spectre of corruption over government, because it undermines people’s faith in government. And that means there’s less willingness for government to spend money on programs that are perceived as just for this group of people or that group of people.

NYN: WHAT DO YOU WISH PEOPLE KNEW ABOUT YOUR JOB? KD: There’s a lot of politics involved and understanding who influences whom and when it’s the right time to do something and when it’s not the right time to do something. What do you do when people agree with you, but aren’t motivated to do anything about it? Maybe that’s not super surprising, but it continues to frustrate and surprise me how much politics gets in the way of actual policy.

14

N Y Nmedia .c om

Antonio Freitas Early Childhood Deputy Director The Children’s Aid Society

NYN 40 under 40 - Rising Stars

BUILDING SUPPORTIVE FAMILIES Fast fact: Tweet him @lilpor2guy

Antonio Freitas, who started working at the Children’s Aid Society as a program director in 2011, helps train early childhood staff and manages educational compliance at sites in Manhattan, Staten Island and the Bronx. He previously recruited for Uncommon Schools and taught second graders at its Leadership Prep Bed-Stuyvesant school.

NYN: HOW DID YOU BECOME INTERESTED IN YOUR FIELD? AF: I did my school background in social work and working over the course of my college career in the state penitentiary in Washington state got me motivated in the idea of educational equity and limited opportunity in areas of high need, high poverty and low resources. I started in second grade but then continued earlier and earlier, thinking more about family engagement with education as the ideal partnership.

NYN: DESCRIBE AN ACCOMPLISHMENT YOU ARE MOST PROUD OF. AF: We’re in this process of making sure that there is an explicit, articulated definition of what it means to be a successful site that engages families, that defines teaching excellence and that really ensures kindergarten readiness for all of our students and all of their families. The training of the education coaches, the delegation of responsibilities and the work that I’ve done with them is pivotal in that process.

NYN: WHAT CHANGE WOULD MOST HELP THE INDIVIDUALS YOUR ORGANIZATION SERVES? AF: Based on both your certification and also the grade you teach, there are wild disparities between people’s salaries. And they’re all very close, if not directly on or below, the minimum wage. What we’ve found is that those people who are either the most highly skilled or the most highly certified quickly get trained and then move on to other positions or other places where they can be paid more to do the same work.

NYN: WHAT IS THE ONE THING YOU’D LIKE TO ACCOMPLISH BEFORE YOU RETIRE? AF: We’re wanting to both support families and to create supportive families. What that looks like is a very selfsustaining approach in that we’re providing a space for families to take risks and to train and to learn so that they don’t need us and they see us a resource, but then they’re ultimately able to navigate through the waters of living in New York. I think that ultimately I’m working myself out of a job, if I’m doing it right.

NYN: WHAT DO YOU WISH PEOPLE KNEW ABOUT YOUR JOB? AF: If early childhood educators are doing our job well, then we are secondary parents, parents are primary educators. And we’re speaking the same language in both places so that there’s a seamless transition between school and home for our students. For kids in early childhood centers, play is work. Early childhood lunchtime is a little bit like a happy hour. Kids are just talking about whatever and shooting the breeze but it’s a fascinating way to see how kids at different ages are engaging with the world and making sense of it with each other.

N Y Nmedia .c om

15

16

healthit.gov supportcenteronline.org eclkc.ohs.acf.hhs.gov/hslc socialworkers.org businessinsider.com ted.com nyfa.org chcs.org 10 10 10 16 17

Staten Island Arts Common Impact National Black Theatre Inc. Rebuilding Together NYC Friends of Hudson River Park The Coalition of Behavioral Health Agencies

nycafp.org coalitionny.org samhsa.gov nyehealth.org economist.com nonprofitquarterly.org ssir.org shrm.org

465 Breaking Ground

1,240

The Children's Aid Society

Services for the UnderServed

Goodwill NYNJ

PSCH

1,200

1,000 ICL

1,000

The Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of New York Sheltering Arms Children and Family Servicess

1,000 Children's Village

700

600

University Settlement and The Door

Henry Street Settlement

Community Healthcare Network

Ford Foundation

500

450 450

HeartShare St. Vincent's Services Union Settlement

425

Brooklyn Community Services

300

260

The Fortune Society Mercy Home

200

100

Jericho Project

New York Cares

74

30

53

30

Federation of Protestant Welfare Agencies Korean Community Srvcs. of Metropolitan NY

27

Community Resource Exchange Brooklyn Legal Services Corporation A

25

America Needs You Citymeals on Wheels

United Neighborhood Houses

7

15

3 4

Hosh

NY Police & Fire Widows' & Children's Benefit Fund

2,000

1,700 1,800

NYN 40 under 40 - Rising Stars

2,800

HOW MANY EMPLOYEES DOES YOUR ORGANIZATION HAVE?

HELPFUL ONLINE RESOURCES FROM OUR 40 UNDER 40 WINNERS

nyshcr.org socialservice.com crainsnewyork.com philanthropy.com afpnet.org progressiveexchange.org nonprofitleadershipalliance.org

N Y Nmedia .c om

Senator Kirsten Gillibrand (Top Pick)

Gov. Andrew Cuomo

Michelle Obama

Preet Bharara

Michael Eric Dyson

NYN 40 under 40 - Rising Stars

WHO WOULD YOU LIKE TO SEE AS THE NEXT GOVERNOR OF NEW YORK?

IF YOU WERE GOVERNOR, WHERE WOULD YOU SET THE MINIMUM WAGE?

≤$15

$16-$20

≥$21

22 votes

7 votes

2 votes

WHO SHOULD BE OUR NEXT GOVERNOR? "Any candidate who advocates for a more sustainable and equitable food system, and for stronger supports for New Yorkers in need."

"I would like to see a woman governor for New York. Give me a few years and lets see where I am :)" "I would like to see the next chief executive of New York embrace and invest in social determinants of good health, such as affordable housing and food security."

"Me. But if not, Giuliani would be awesome."

"Someone who understands the challenges and strengths of the immigrant community."

N Y Nmedia .c om

17

NYN 40 under 40 - Rising Stars

THE POWER OF COLLABORATIONS Fast fact: Gee grew up in California

Peter Gee Director of New Business Development University Settlement and The Door Peter Gee spends much of his time getting to know his staff across all departments and listening to their ideas about affordable housing and policy change. Peter is a strong advocate for long-term homes in Chinatown and the Lower East Side. He leads campaigns and strives to inspire those around him to improve housing conditions for those in need. Peter looks forward to making strong ties and collaborating with other organizations that share common interests with University Settlement and The Door.

NYN: HOW DID YOU BECOME INTERESTED IN YOUR FIELD? PG: My first job out of high school was at a nonprofit, and so I think it was one of those experiences that changed world views and introduced me to a career where you can do and make social change. I work for University Settlement and The Door, and we’re like a family of organizations, so together both of our agencies are 40,000 people of all ages across New York City. My position focuses on helping both of our organizations to be innovative and continuously improving ourselves as leaders in the field. It is exciting because it is a very forward-looking position, where I get the opportunity to collaborate with a lot of my colleagues here to help plan for the future of the organization.

NYN: DESCRIBE AN ACCOMPLISHMENT YOU ARE MOST PROUD OF. PG: I’ve always felt good about the teams that I have worked in or lead. I feel like internal organizational development is so critical and is really facilitated by strong teams. I feel really good about a lot of the teams that I have been part of at all of the different organizations.

NYN: WHAT CHANGE WOULD MOST HELP THE INDIVIDUALS YOUR ORGANIZATION SERVES? PG: There is a lot of data that shows that the income gap between the wealthy and the poor is very high, especially in New York City. I think that our organizations are able to provide direct services to help get people out of poverty, but there has to be larger systemic changes and efforts made, and we have to make it a priority to end poverty in New York City.

NYN: WHAT IS THE ONE THING YOU’D LIKE TO ACCOMPLISH BEFORE YOU RETIRE? PG: I really do believe that a part of the work is about collaboration. A lot of times a lot of organizations are competing for funding, it’s not easy to work together. I definitely am hoping that before I retire that there is a better way for groups with common interests, that might be doing different types of work, to truly collaborate in a way that brings lasting change.

NYN: WHAT DO YOU WISH PEOPLE KNEW ABOUT YOUR JOB? PG: My position is actually a new role at both of the agencies. Externally we are hoping to establish partnerships with other organizations, we are really open to collaboration.

18

N Y Nmedia .c om

Kimberly George Executive Director Rebuilding Together NYC

NYN 40 under 40 - Rising Stars

ADDRESSING ISSUES AT THE HEART OF SOCIAL DISPARITIES Fast fact: Tweet her @NYC_RT

Kimberly George’s work at Rebuilding Together New York City is designed to better the living conditions of low income New Yorkers by improving the health and safety of their homes and revitalizing their communities through free critical home repairs, community renovations and workforce training. Prior to joining RT NYC, she worked for eight years as executive director of the Greater Brooklyn Health Coalition. She also previously served as program director at CAMBA. NYN: HOW DID YOU BECOME INTERESTED IN YOUR FIELD? KG: Social justice issues have resonated with me since a very young age, and that drew me to a career in nonprofits. I transitioned to a job in public health, focused on Brooklyn’s diverse communities and meeting the challenges faced by Brooklyn’s public health system. Through that work I was exposed to the significant connection between housing and health. Ensuring that someone has a safe home is one of the best ways to guarantee their personal health – and that disparities in income lead to major health disparities. These all lead me to Rebuilding Together in New York City, where fortunately I am able to address the core issues at the heart of social disparities – being housing, health and wealth.

NYN: DESCRIBE AN ACCOMPLISHMENT YOU ARE MOST PROUD OF. KG: I have been fortunate to join rebuilding together New York City at a time when it was at the beginning of a gigantic growth curve. I have been able to help build the infrastructure for every Rebuilding Together New York City that allowed us to expand the number of families that we serve. Since joining in December of 2013 we have tripled the volume of annual health repairs, and we have created new programs.

NYN: WHAT CHANGE WOULD MOST HELP THE INDIVIDUALS YOUR ORGANIZATION SERVES? KG: In order to maximize our impact we will continue to enhance our role as a partner in community vitalization, and we need to tailor our work to address the specific needs of New York City clients. This means directly addressing the city’s affordable housing crisis by expanding the work that we do to include repairs and renovations within affordable multifamily buildings, and public housing developments in both occupied and vacant units.

NYN: WHAT IS THE ONE THING YOU’D LIKE TO ACCOMPLISH BEFORE YOU RETIRE? KG: I would like to see us increasing the number of families and communities we serve through our programs dramatically. Having Rebuilding Together New York City be a partner in addressing the city’s housing crisis, to be seen as a vital partner to both other nonprofits, but also our government agencies.

NYN: WHAT DO YOU WISH PEOPLE KNEW ABOUT YOUR JOB? KG: I wish people knew that nonprofits exist because the world is a hard place, and this is not a level playing field. At Rebuilding Together New York City we address the core issues at the heart of social disparities in an effort to level the playing field.

N Y Nmedia .c om

19

NYN 40 under 40 - Rising Stars

Goodwill NYNJ

We believe in the Dignity of Work!

congratulates

Sarah Nannery and the other awardees for a job well done!

DONATE STUFF. CREATE JOBS. www.goodwillnynj.org

Goodwill NYNJ serves individuals with disabilities and other barriers to employment to gain independence through the power of work.

CONGRATULATIONS!

ALEX RODRIGUEZ director of communications, united way of new york city

and all of the 2016 40 UNDER 40 Rising Stars for their unwavering dedication to building a City of Possibility for all New Yorkers.

20

N Y Nmedia .c om

Julie Haar-Patton Director, Care Coordination Services PSCH Inc.

NYN 40 under 40 - Rising Stars

HELPING THOSE WITH MENTAL ILLNESS Fast fact: Haar-Patton’s favorite cartoon growing up?

The Care Bears.

Julie Haar-Patton has held several different roles since she started working at Promoting Specialized Care and Health (PSCH) in 2007 as an unlicensed clinician in the psychiatric rehabilitation program. She now supervises Health Home and Assertive Community Treatment teams that provide care coordination services. She manages reporting, staffing, budgeting and quality assurance. Under her management the Care Coordination programs increased their census by 60 percent.

NYN: HOW DID YOU BECOME INTERESTED IN YOUR FIELD? JHP: I have friends and family who had been affected by mental health and mental illness over the years. I was just really interested in that interaction between environments and biology and your own personal growth because it seems like sometimes one of those factors can have a much bigger influence on the outcome of somebody’s life or wherever they are in that point of their life. I thought it was really interesting and I knew that people suffering from mental illness definitely needed help and I wanted a job where I was helping people.

NYN: WHAT CHANGE WOULD MOST HELP THE INDIVIDUALS YOUR ORGANIZATION SERVES? JHP: Right now, we’re just starting to see some genetic testing. Of course we don’t know everything yet, but I think that would save people a lot of suffering and time where somebody’s trying a medication and it doesn’t work, and then they try another one, or the doctor adds one and they have twice the side effects. Being able to screen for a match between somebody’s genes and the medication they’re prescribed would be pretty transformative.

NYN: WHAT IS THE ONE THING YOU’D LIKE TO ACCOMPLISH BEFORE YOU RETIRE? JHP: Right now we’re looking at the reality of value-based payments, and I don’t think anyone really knows what that’s exactly going to look like yet. I think there’s a lot of fears that we won’t be serving the clients the way we were in the past, but there’s also just a financial reality that this is going to happen. If I could help to design some programs that effectively meet clients’ needs maybe even better than we’re doing now, and achieve the results that managed care is looking for in the form of some value-based payments that still allows the agency to be financially viable … I’d be very happy.

NYN: WHAT DO YOU WISH PEOPLE KNEW ABOUT YOUR JOB? JHP: There’s a lot of stigma attached to mental illness in general, which of course makes it more difficult to treat and it adds extra trauma for an individual or family who’s trying to cope with it if they feel like they can’t even be open about it or there’s something to be ashamed of. I think people see things in movies and they have an idea of what a crazy person is like, and the people that come into our offices are just like anybody else and they want the same things as anybody else.

N Y Nmedia .c om

21

NYN 40 under 40 - Rising Stars

THE MULTIPLIER EFFECT Fast fact: Tweet her @America Needs You

Kimberly A. Harris CEO America Needs You As CEO of America Needs You, a national nonprofit that helps first-generation college students, Kimberly Harris combined her private-sector legal experience and management skills. The organization has recently developed programs in Chicago, Los Angeles and elsewhere. Kimberly was a founding board member and has worked as a pro-bono lawyer with clients on political asylum matters, child custody disputes and domestic violence cases. Harris was previously an associate at Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP, where she managed mergers, acquisitions and other complex corporate transactions.

NYN: HOW DID YOU BECOME INTERESTED IN YOUR FIELD? KH: I was not the first member of my family to go to college, but still was really passionate about education and giving back, so I got involved at the board level and then when we decided to build the national platform, they asked me to join on to lead the team.

NYN: DESCRIBE AN ACCOMPLISHMENT YOU ARE MOST PROUD OF. KH: Every day, we have different students pop into the office, and they’re here to celebrate good grades or an internship or graduating from college. It’s just so rewarding every single day to see those great minds go out and do big things. Also it’s exciting because you have the multiplier effect: students will then have their siblings come in and join our program or help their parents get higher-paying jobs. I’m really excited to watch that progression over time. One of our students just graduated. She’s from Kazakhstan, and her parents were going to marry her off and she fled. She ran away and she found herself with us. Our students have had incredible life experiences.

NYN: WHAT CHANGE WOULD MOST HELP THE INDIVIDUALS YOUR ORGANIZATION SERVES? KH: The reason why we started our organization is because only 11 percent of first-generation students are expected to graduate. I think there’s been this huge movement to help students from low-income families and students who are firstgen to get into college, but the varied support basically goes away because people say, “Oh they’re in college the issues are over.” And that’s absolutely not the case. I think it’s important to have touchpoints at all points of the continuum.

NYN: WHAT IS THE ONE THING YOU’D LIKE TO ACCOMPLISH BEFORE YOU RETIRE? KH: A goal for people to work toward is that if we can put energy and resources and really collaborate as support systems for college students, the more students we’ll be able to affect and change, and the better position our country will be in.

NYN: WHAT DO YOU WISH PEOPLE KNEW ABOUT YOUR JOB? KH: I think people are constantly surprised by how much of the work revolves around fundraising. I do fundraising in lots of different capacities: long-term relationship building in all types of spaces between special events, at corporations, foundations. There is a lot of pressure on executive directors for organizations to constantly fundraise.

22

N Y Nmedia .c om

Joshua Hoffman Chief Financial and Operating Officer Brooklyn Legal Services Corporation A

NYN 40 under 40 - Rising Stars

CONNECTING NEW YORKERS TO LEGAL SERVICES Fast fact: Hoffman holds a J.D. from St. John's School of Law

Joshua Hoffman, a St. John’s University School of Law graduate, directed finance and administration for the legal assistance nonprofit for six years before taking on a role that has him “wearing many, many hats,” such as creating budgets, drafting proposals, sending reports to funders and managing human resources.

NYN: HOW DID YOU BECOME INTERESTED IN YOUR FIELD? JH: During college I interned at Legal Services, and from there I knew I wanted to go to law school. During law school, I interned again as a law student at Legal Services and I was very involved in the public interns committee at my law school, where we would raise money for law students to get scholarships to be able to work at Legal Services during the summer. I’ve pretty much been committed to free legal services for low-income people since college.

NYN: DESCRIBE AN ACCOMPLISHMENT YOU ARE MOST PROUD OF. JH: In 2012, my board of directors voted unanimously to disassociate from Legal Services NYC. I spent about a year working with accountants and staff at Legal Services NYC, because pretty much it was two organizations getting divorced. We went from a $4 million organization down to a $1 million organization by disassociating and we had to build back up. We committed to do that, and three years later we’re over a $6 million budget. I don’t take full credit for it, but I was part of the team that did that.

NYN: WHAT CHANGE WOULD MOST HELP THE INDIVIDUALS YOUR ORGANIZATION SERVES? JH: The challenge that we face is that the people who qualify for affordable housing are people who are making money. And the people who are not making enough money, they’re not even qualifying for it because they can’t afford it. When they don’t have adequate housing and they’re being pushed out, or they can’t pay their rent, or they end up in a homeless shelter, that’s when everything starts to fall apart.

NYN: WHAT IS THE ONE THING YOU’D LIKE TO ACCOMPLISH BEFORE YOU RETIRE? JH: I would like to be sure that every New Yorker who needs legal help gets it. In most legal situations, if you don’t have a lawyer, you don’t stand a chance, and it’s just because there’s so many technicalities and so many rules that no one’s ever taught unless you go to law school and become trained as a lawyer.

NYN: WHAT DO YOU WISH PEOPLE KNEW ABOUT YOUR JOB? JH: Funders tend to want to only fund programs directly, so it’s up to an organization to raise unrestricted funds, which is just generally going out asking people for donations In order to staff their back office adequately. I think it would be good if funders – both government and nongovernment – understood the need for back office staff to make a nonprofit run efficiently. If they would invest in that, they would end up saving money because the more efficient the nonprofit can be running itself, the less money it’s going to need.

N Y Nmedia .c om

23

NYN 40 under 40 - Rising Stars

THERAPEUTIC HORTICULTURE IS GROWING Fast fact: Hollis’ favorite cartoon growing up? He-Man.

Mike Hollis Urban Farms Manager Services for the UnderServed Mike Hollis manages a multi-divisional therapeutic horticulture program for individuals and families with challenges such as mental illness, developmental disabilities and HIV/AIDS. He oversees design and operations management for programs at sites that include in-ground community farms, rooftop gardens, an apiary initiative and propagation and hydroponics greenhouses. His previous experience in the nonprofit sector includes disaster relief work with the American Red Cross, environmental compliance consulting and off-grid building design and construction.

NYN: DESCRIBE AN ACCOMPLISHMENT YOU ARE MOST PROUD OF. MH: At SUS I’m very excited just in terms of the growth of the program over the last few years. Since I’ve started, we’ve gone from just nine recreational gardens to over 30 sites citywide. Last year we received (a grant) that allowed us to pilot a vocational training program. Overall, the growth of the program, the increasing recognition of the program is definitely an accomplishment that I’m proud of.

NYN: WHAT CHANGE WOULD MOST HELP THE INDIVIDUALS YOUR ORGANIZATION SERVES? MH: Funding is always a big one. There’s just very little in terms of grant money and really any funding whatsoever for therapeutic horticulture at the moment – even though there’s a lot of momentum behind food systems, the mobile food movement, urban agriculture. That means a lot of our funding at the moment is from the private sector. To really grow the program and to make it something that’s sustainable in the long term, it would be lovely to see those private-sector dollars really matched by greater public interventions to food security, healthy eating, nutritional education, vocations through involvement in the green sector. A greater financial commitment would be something that would be really nice to see.

NYN: WHAT IS THE ONE THING YOU’D LIKE TO ACCOMPLISH BEFORE YOU RETIRE? MH: A medium-term goal perhaps. We’re currently exploring some ways of transforming some aspects of the program into for-profit or low-profit subsidiaries. We’ve been taking some of these landscaping activities that we’re doing right now and turning that into for-profit landscaping subsidiaries. Currently a lot of the product development that we do – doing honey pickles, selling that through farmers markets – to be able to transform that from a very supported environment with the nonprofit sector to something that’s able to stand alone would be I think a really neat way of taking something in the nonprofit world and transforming it into a much more diverse offering for our clients.

NYN: WHAT DO YOU WISH PEOPLE KNEW ABOUT YOUR JOB? MH: Just in general, greater awareness of therapeutic horticulture, just the benefit that participating in horticultural activities has for individuals with either developmental disabilities or with mental illness. I think it's just not something that people may instinctively be aware of. It will kind of click when you bring it up in discussion. People will usually kind of say of the program, “oh that’s incredibly innovative,” which it is, but it would be wonderful for people to have that as a given.

24

N Y Nmedia .c om

Danielle Holly CEO Common Impact

NYN 40 under 40 - Rising Stars

WORKING TO FULLY INTEGRATE SOCIAL IMPACT Fast fact: Tweet her @dholly8

Danielle Holly is a connector, uniting corporate employees and their unique skills with nonprofits that could use their time and effort. In the partnership, both parties win and communities benefit. Holly speaks with passion about her job and has used her experience as a writer to become a thought leader on skills-based volunteerism. Under Holly, Common Impact continues to expand, bringing the organization's mission to more partners in new cities.

NYN: HOW DID YOU BECOME INTERESTED IN YOUR FIELD? DH: I was working at the New York Stock Exchange after college and also supporting small nonprofit organizations at night. That experience of seeing the money move through the market every day and tiny budgets that nonprofits were working with got me interested in this question around nonprofit capacity and the way that the private sector can help.

NYN: DESCRIBE AN ACCOMPLISHMENT YOU ARE MOST PROUD OF. DH: I think I’m most proud of establishing Common Impact’s presence in New York. We were a Boston-based organization for years and over the past five years have really become national and New York is now really one of the main pillars of that. It took a lot of work and I’m really proud of the work we did there.

NYN: WHAT CHANGE WOULD MOST HELP THE INDIVIDUALS YOUR ORGANIZATION SERVES? DH: My organization serves other nonprofit organizations, so I’ll speak to that. I think what would shift the space the most in a positive direction is if more companies started thinking about social impact as part of their business model versus a side function, a CSR function, a nice-to-have function, but if it were really core to how they ran their operations. That would do a lot to support the nonprofit organizations that Common Impact supports but it would also do a lot to eliminate some of the social challenges that we’re all collectively trying to solve.

NYN: WHAT IS THE ONE THING YOU’D LIKE TO ACCOMPLISH BEFORE YOU RETIRE? DH: One thing that I’m really intrigued by is shifting the corporate landscape to what I had just mentioned before – thinking about social impact not as a nice-to-have but really integrated. I would love to be able to look back and be able to say that I made that happen for a particular company and that because of my work a company now has real purpose and social impact as part of their everyday operation. I would also love to go to South Africa.

NYN: WHAT DO YOU WISH PEOPLE KNEW ABOUT YOUR JOB? DH: I wish they knew how fun it was! A lot of our clients and particularly our team, they see the challenges, the fires that I’m putting out every day and me in problem-solving mode. When I take a step back in the evening, I just have a ton of fun with my work and I hope that everyone that I work with and will work with knows that.

N Y Nmedia .c om

25

NYN 40 under 40 - Rising Stars

HELPING HOLOCAUST SURVIVORS MANAGE AGING Fast fact: Kelman’s favorite cartoon growing up?

Sesame Street.

Aliza Kelman Supervisor, Social Work Department Jewish Community Council of Greater Coney Island As the granddaughter of a Holocaust survivor, Aliza Kelman’s job supervising social workers that aid Holocaust survivors living in Brooklyn hits close to home. Kelman, who began her work in 2012 after earning her master’s degree, also works with the Claims Conference, which negotiates with the German government to get funding for services, which include accessing medical equipment and helping them with other daily needs.

NYN: HOW DID YOU BECOME INTERESTED IN YOUR FIELD? AK: While I was living in Israel, my internship as a student abroad was in a nursing home for Holocaust survivors who ended up moving to Israel after the war, as opposed to coming here to America. It was really something that was always personal to me, that always really spoke to my heart. When that position opened up, it was so exciting for me. But the needs are tremendous and the needs are growing day by day and we try to keep up with them and continue to advocate for funding for them and whatever we can do for them.

NYN: DESCRIBE AN ACCOMPLISHMENT YOU ARE MOST PROUD OF. AK: I think it’s really how quickly the department has grown. It started off with me managing 400 cases, and that was overwhelming to be managing that much. Right now I’m supervising five social workers. We’ve only jumped maybe to 500 clients right now but being able to do more for each of them, that’s so much more for each one. I started in November 2012, so it’s already three-and-a-half years, and it’s really just been a tremendous journey.

NYN: WHAT CHANGE WOULD MOST HELP THE INDIVIDUALS YOUR ORGANIZATION SERVES? AK: It’s very unique because a lot of the social services agencies out here are city-funded or state-funded. We’re working with the German government, so it’s a very different sort of funding source. For any elderly person, as they get older, they’re changing, but just to give you an example, dementia patients are thrown back to their youth. So for a Holocaust survivor, being thrown back to their youth, they think that they’re living right now in a concentration camp and they’re screaming and they’re trying to get out of their home. Their children are there and they don’t recognize their children. Any dementia case is terrible, but in a case like this where all they have is that long-term memory from when they were young, that’s just terrible for somebody to be living through that.

Understanding just how how these needs can continue to grow, for me, is something that I would want to get out there. This is a very needy population who’s still traumatized from that experience. Maybe it’s a small percentage of dementia patients, but even for anyone to go through something like that is horrible.

26

N Y Nmedia .c om

Linda Lee Executive Director Korean Community Services of Metropolitan New York

NYN 40 under 40 - Rising Stars

"WE’RE THE FASTEST GROWING POPULATION" Fast fact: Tweet her @linder737

Linda Lee leads the oldest and largest social services agency that serves New York City’s Korean American community. She is responsible for the daily operations of multiple KCS sites that provide after-school programs, adult center and ESL classes, programs for the aging through three senior centers, public health and research services. Lee serves on the board of NAMI NYC-Metro, and recently became the only female board member of Coffeed. Prior to her current position, Linda worked in operations for the New York State Health Foundation and as a social work intern in the North Shore/Long Island Jewish Health System. Linda is married and mom to a mischievous two-year old named Drew.

NYN: HOW DID YOU BECOME INTERESTED IN YOUR FIELD? LL: The summer before my senior year in college, I had a very interesting opportunity that I took to be a camp counselor for inner-city children from the Bronx. I realized, “you know what, I want to help people, I don’t know how yet, but I just know I want to help people.” I was the only second-generation Korean-American that was working (at KCS) when I started. I just really felt strongly like, “you know what, I think I want to be a voice for people in my own community that don’t have a voice and to really serve a community that is underserved.”

NYN: DESCRIBE AN ACCOMPLISHMENT YOU ARE MOST PROUD OF. LL: I think the thing that I’m most proud of at this point is the fact that we actually opened up a mental health clinic that is licensed by the state. We’re actually the first Korean nonprofit organization in New York State to receive this license. We have all bilingual social workers and psychiatrists and nurse practitioners – which I never thought would happen, but it did.

NYN: WHAT CHANGE WOULD MOST HELP THE INDIVIDUALS YOUR ORGANIZATION SERVES? LL: If you look at the city contract dollars, (the Korean community) only receives about 1 percent of all the city contract dollars towards our communities. So there’s a huge discrepancy. We’re actually the fasting-growing population, more so than the Latino population. There’s just so much need, but then on the flipside of it, the other problem is that there’s not enough data out there. Budget equity, and having more data out there, that would help.

NYN: WHAT IS THE ONE THING YOU’D LIKE TO ACCOMPLISH BEFORE YOU RETIRE? LL: I would love to do a triathlon at some point before I die. But on the more serious side, I think I would want to have some sort of influence on policy changes at the government level that reflect immigrants’ needs.

NYN: WHAT DO YOU WISH PEOPLE KNEW ABOUT YOUR JOB? LL: I feel like the minion in my job actually, even though I have the title of executive director. I say that in a good way. I’m constantly learning from my staff.

N Y Nmedia .c om

27

NYN 40 under 40 - Rising Stars

IMPROVING MENTAL HEALTH AMONG SCHOOL CHILDREN Fast fact: Lennon-Martucci grew up in Connecticut

Kelly Lennon-Martucci, LCSW Director, School Based Mental Health Services Henry Street Settlement Kelly Lennon-Martucci identifies how and when a school is in need of better mental health services and works hard with her staff to improve the programs. She previously worked in the foster care field, providing home-based crisis intervention and behavioral support to foster families and also worked at a New York City hospital as a psychiatric social worker. She understands the importance of everyone having an education, and works to help individuals with mental health problems get the education they deserve.

NYN: HOW DID YOU BECOME INTERESTED IN YOUR FIELD? KLM: I always knew that I wanted to work with children and families. Specifically children because they don't always have a voice to express themselves or get their needs met. One of my aunts is a social worker, and growing up I was always interested in hearing her stories about her work. I was ultimately drawn to social work because of how the profession always views situations from a social justice lens.

NYN: DESCRIBE AN ACCOMPLISHMENT YOU ARE MOST PROUD OF. KLM: I think I am most proud of turning around three failing school-based mental health clinics that Henry Street Settlement was asked to take over from another agency in 2012. My staff are what make the program and I am really proud of the team I have developed.

NYN: WHAT CHANGE WOULD MOST HELP THE INDIVIDUALS YOUR ORGANIZATION SERVES? KLM: I think what would be most helpful is having the city invest in a financial model that provides funding to support all of the unbillable work that school-based mental health clinics do. Most school-based mental health clinics rely on insurance reimbursement to stay fiscally sustainable; however there are many services clinicians do in the schools that are not always reimbursed by insurance. Also, there is a high need for more intensive in-home clinical services to help supplement school-based mental health services for children with school refusal or other challenges.

NYN: WHAT IS THE ONE THING YOU’D LIKE TO ACCOMPLISH BEFORE YOU RETIRE? KLM: I would like to leave a mark in the communities I serve on a macro level, whether that is continuing to create programs where children and families can easily access mental health care, or making an impact by being the gateway to the social work profession by teaching or doing research related to childhood mental health.

NYN: WHAT DO YOU WISH PEOPLE KNEW ABOUT YOUR JOB? KLM: The staff I supervise have to have a special level of energy and advocacy to manage the demands of this role, while also maintaining a set of boundaries and structure as a therapist. It can be a challenging balance, but also extremely rewarding when you see that your work is not just impacting on the micro level, but also making change on the school community level.

28

N Y Nmedia .c om

Katie Leonberger President and CEO Community Resource Exchange

NYN 40 under 40 - Rising Stars

INVESTING IN INFRASTRUCTURE Fast fact: Tweet her @katieleonberger

Katie Leonberger leads Community Resource Exchange (CRE), a nonprofit consulting firm that gives nonprofits the means to build sustainable organizations that lead to social change. She specializes in organizational development, planning and innovation, and leads client engagements in these areas. Before she joined CRE, Leonberger was a senior leader on the Government Innovation team at Bloomberg Philanthropies, where she led initiatives to promote public sector innovation, and a consultant at McKinsey and Company where she focused on strategy and organizational development.

NYN: HOW DID YOU BECOME INTERESTED IN YOUR FIELD? KL: I really enjoy partnering and working with others to help them succeed and make a real impact in the world.

By getting to work with a lot of different groups, we get to have and I get to feel like I’m supporting groups that have an impact across the city. I’ve always had a very strong personal interest in poverty reduction and social justicetype work. I spent a lot of time living abroad doing international development and poverty reduction work in Latin America, also in Africa, and always knew I wanted to get into this work full time. But when I was working in Africa in microfinance, I realized I didn’t know much about how to run organizations … so I decided to go to business school.

NYN: DESCRIBE AN ACCOMPLISHMENT YOU ARE MOST PROUD OF. KL: One thing I’m really proud of that we did very quickly in my first year at CRE was launch the CRE Rising Fund.

That is our pro-bono initiative to ensure we are getting our services out to organizations who otherwise wouldn’t have access to our support, either because they can’t afford it themselves or because they don’t have access to the foundation and government funders who many times will fund our work with organizations as kind of third-party support.

NYN: WHAT IS THE ONE THING YOU’D LIKE TO ACCOMPLISH BEFORE YOU RETIRE? KL: I would love to make it standard that every single nonprofit and social change organization has the support from their funders and boards to invest in strengthening their infrastructure and management to the same degree that we do in the private sector. I would love to make that a standard part of doing business, not because it’s going to feed CRE but because that’s going to make stronger organizations. I think that we really underinvest in the organizations that are driving the most important changes in communities and therefore our country.

NYN: WHAT DO YOU WISH PEOPLE KNEW ABOUT YOUR JOB? KL: There’s a whole sector of capacity builders that do this work and that there’s resources available to social change organizations to help them do their work even better and more impactfully. So, number one is that there’s resources there that can take many different shapes and forms.

N Y Nmedia .c om

29

Congratulations!

NYN 40 under 40 - Rising Stars

NYN Media Top 40 Under 40 Rising Star and

Director of Human Resources

Steven D’Ambrosio We honor your commitment, innovation, and advocacy on behalf of our staa and the families we serve. Your work makes a diierence in the

JULIE HAAR PATTON.final_16.qxp_Layout 1 6/24/16 12:37 PM Page 1

lives of New Yorkers every day.

Congratulations Julie Haar-Patton

Director • Care Coordination Services, PSCH-PK

Your passion is evident in all you do in helping the most vulnerable in our society gain greater independence in the community.

You live our mission every day.

We are so proud of you.

The Board, Executive and Leadership Staff – PSCH-PK

30

PEDERSON-KRAG N Y Nmedia .c om

Executive Offices: 142-02 20th Avenue, Flushing, NY 11351 T 718.559.0516 www.psch.org

Jess Lopez Director of Technology New York Cares

NYN 40 under 40 - Rising Stars

I’D LOVE TO BUILD AN APP FOR THAT Fast fact: Tweet her @jjjlo

Jess Lopez, an alumna of Brown University, joined New York Cares in 2005 and has been the go-to technology person at the organization ever since, rising from online marketing manager to director of technology at the largest volunteer management organization in the city. Last year, New York Cares mobilized over 62,000 volunteers, including hundreds of corporate, civic and youth groups, to help improve the lives of over 400,000 struggling New Yorkers. As director, she is responsible for communications with over 1,400 participating agencies. Before joining New York Cares, she worked at her alma mater, providing tech support to students and faculty. In her spare time, Lopez, who attended a ski racing high school in Vermont, is an avid runner. She looks forward to competing in the 2017 New York marathon.

NYN: HOW DID YOU BECOME INTERESTED IN YOUR FIELD? JL: While studying art in college, I worked part-time on the computer help desk. I loved supporting the community and went full-time at the help desk after graduation. At that point web design and development became my passion and I left artwork behind. I’m completely self taught in web design. I love the nonprofit space because it’s important to me that what we do supports the community.

NYN: DESCRIBE AN ACCOMPLISHMENT YOU ARE MOST PROUD OF. JL: I spent the last year working on a major two-part infrastructure project, which improved our Salesforce interface with our donors and allows us a 360-degree view. After upgrading the old donor system, the second step entailed revamping our credit card collection process. We switched vendors and created an interface that talks to Salesforce and reduced costs.

This new system has realized significant savings for the organization. It was a long process but well worth the effort.

NYN: WHAT CHANGE WOULD MOST HELP THE INDIVIDUALS YOUR ORGANIZATION SERVES? JL: Currently New York Cares is focusing on a major education initiative with our partners. The programs range from reading aloud to preschoolers up to SAT prep for teenagers. Creating more programs like these to support education among the clients of our partners would yield the greatest benefit to the city.

NYN: WHAT IS THE ONE THING YOU’D LIKE TO ACCOMPLISH BEFORE YOU RETIRE? JL: In the long term, I’d love to build an app like an iPhone app. It would be great to create a tool for everyday use.

Technology has the power to change the world. I recently designed a mobile responsive app for New York Cares that makes it easy for anyone to volunteer via phone if the spirit moves them. We want to make volunteering as accessible as possible.

NYN: WHAT DO YOU WISH PEOPLE KNEW ABOUT YOUR JOB? JL: I wear 50 different hats! No two days are the same at a nonprofit, which keeps me from getting bored. I learn something new every day, and although the budget is restrictive, the limitation challenges my creativity to work within its parameters.

N Y Nmedia .c om

31

NYN 40 under 40 - Rising Stars

FOR A YOUNG JONATHAN Fast fact: McCrory grew up in Washington, D.C.

Jonathan McCrory Director of Theatre Arts National Black Theatre Jonathan McCrory has served as the director of Theatre Arts Program at Dr. Barbara Ann Teer's National Black Theatre since 2012. He is an Obie-Award winning Harlem-based artist who attended Duke Ellington School of the Arts, then New York University TISCH School of the Arts. In 2013 he was awarded the Emerging Producer Award by the National Black Theatre Festival in Winston Salem, North Carolina, and the Torch Bearer Award by Woodie King Jr. He is a founding member of Harlem9 and The Movement Theatre Company and sits on the national advisory committee for Howlround.com.

NYN: DESCRIBE AN ACCOMPLISHMENT YOU ARE MOST PROUD OF? JM: It’s very simple, it’s just waking up and saying I’m going to do this every day. It’s so easy to run away from this.

It’s so easy to be distracted by something else, something more flashy. And every morning I wake up and I say how am I going to help make this institution, this community, this family that I love, expand, gain, grow in capacity, how am I going to do that? And I think that’s one of my proudest achievements.

NYN: WHAT CHANGE WOULD MOST HELP THE INDIVIDUALS YOUR ORGANIZATION SERVES? JM: If we were able to showcase and highlight our narratives more holistically and complete and be able to really have that bullhorn, I think that everything else would fall into place because what we are able to do on 125th Street and 5th Avenue at the National Black Theater is really revolutionary, very transformative, it’s healing, it’s sacred, it’s commercial, it’s viable and it also hits at the heartbeat of what people are actually wanting and needing in order to be able to reckon with this very chaotic society.

NYN: WHAT IS THE ONE THING YOU’D LIKE TO ACCOMPLISH BEFORE YOU RETIRE? JM: I want to make sure that the National Black Theater is a formative voice that has nothing but a trajectory that is viable, that is competitive, that is artistically driven by its core and founding mission, that is a legacy for a young Jonathan to step into. That’s what I was missing when I graduated, I didn’t have a space that was called home. The doors to that space weren’t accessible to me, or I wasn’t made aware of it. And if I can reckon with that notion and challenge myself to help build a space and to grow a space … to be a welcoming space for a young Jonathan – who is just graduating out of college, who wanted a space to pour all of his energy into – I’ve done my job.

NYN: WHAT DO YOU WISH PEOPLE KNEW ABOUT YOUR JOB? JM: It is deeply connected to a village, it is deeply connected to a community, it is deeply connected to me and to everyone answering the mission and vision of what they want their world to be.

32

N Y Nmedia .c om

William Miller Chief Development Officer The Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of New York

NYN 40 under 40 - Rising Stars

I’D LIKE TO SEE US GO OUT OF BUSINESS Fast fact: Favorite cartoon growing up? ThunderCats.

Bill Miller knows the value of a good mentor. He was recruited by the late CEO of CCS Fundraising right out of college, and “12 years later, here I am.” He leads advancement activities for the archdiocese with an emphasis on individual, major and planned gifts as well as board support for a $100 million Centennial Campaign. He also oversees special events, corporate and foundation grants, e-philanthropy and direct response. He is a Certified Fund Raising Executive and has received industry awards for his work on prospect research and case statement development. Miller is a proud husband and father to Becky and Paige.

NYN: DESCRIBE AN ACCOMPLISHMENT YOU ARE MOST PROUD OF. WM: I’d say the hallmark of my career so far – I served as the executive director for the Diocese of Pittsburgh’s $125 million capital and endowment campaign, and fortunately for me that was successful. We raised about $230 million.

A lot of luck was involved in that, but to my knowledge that’s the most any diocese in the country has ever raised.

Archdiocese have raised more because they’re larger, but no other diocese has raised more money.

NYN: WHAT CHANGE WOULD MOST HELP THE INDIVIDUALS YOUR ORGANIZATION SERVES? WM: When we’re at meetings with donors and prospective donors we’re always saying that we are both happy and sad. We’re happy because of the impact we’re having helping New Yorkers in need, but we’re sad because we have to help so many people. If there’s one thing that I would like to see change, would simply be – and I mean we already have a tremendous impact on hundreds of thousands of New Yorkers – but if we do our job correctly, I’d like to see us go out of business.

NYN: WHAT IS THE ONE THING YOU’D LIKE TO ACCOMPLISH BEFORE YOU RETIRE? WM: In the near term, I would like to have Catholic Charities have a successful Centennial campaign. And over the long term I would like to have a positive impact on any and all organizations I work with, hopefully leave them better than I found them and hopefully have a positive experience in mentoring and coaching those that work for me.

NYN: WHAT DO YOU WISH PEOPLE KNEW ABOUT YOUR JOB? WM: My parents always say, “Well, if you’re in development aren’t you just going to a bunch of fundraising dinners?” And while there is some of that, it’s really a lot of behind-the-scenes work. It’s not a 9-to-5 job. I really applaud everybody in the industry because you’re working a lot of hours. It’s a lot of hard work and it’s well worth it and it’s rewarding. But sometimes I don’t know that everybody knows exactly how much goes into development.

You’re only as good as your colleagues. I really appreciate and respect everybody I work with because I wouldn’t be successful if it wasn’t for them.

N Y Nmedia .c om

33

NYN 40 under 40 - Rising Stars

BE A LIFELONG LEARNER Fast fact: Tweet her @danika_mills and @DanikaCBC

Danika Mills Executive Director Coordinated Behavioral Care As executive director of Coordinated Behavioral Care Inc., Danika Mills leads a health home serving over 25,000 New Yorkers, an Office of Mental Health-funded care transitions program and a health coaching program. Before CBC she directed a New York State Chronic Illness Demonstration Project that piloted care coordination for Medicaid recipients with complex disorders and led a Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration project in two shelters. She is also a proud mom of three.

NYN: HOW DID YOU BECOME INTERESTED IN YOUR FIELD? DM: I became interested after experiencing the Oklahoma City bombing in 1995. I was all set to be a chemical engineer and I was going to minor in art. After living in Oklahoma City during that time I saw how important community service and community work was in rebuilding communities, and that was a very harsh reality.

NYN: DESCRIBE AN ACCOMPLISHMENT YOU ARE MOST PROUD OF. DM: I couldn’t have done my life’s work without my family, my partner and my three kids. Of all of the work that I have done, I am most proud of the programs that I have been able to start from scratch and the children that are in my family.

NYN: WHAT CHANGE WOULD MOST HELP THE INDIVIDUALS YOUR ORGANIZATION SERVES? DM: Both community work and the health care sector treat either behavioral needs or medical needs, and I really believe that an integrated approach in which understanding a person’s natural support system, their social determinants of health, and also the impact that poverty, racism, and oppression have on a person’s health care, will affect the field that I’m in.

NYN: WHAT IS THE ONE THING YOU’D LIKE TO ACCOMPLISH BEFORE YOU RETIRE? DM: I consider myself a lifelong learner. I do think that I will continue to attend conferences and seminars on both areas that I am in, but think that all human service and social service professionals need to explore areas that we don’t typically get additional training in, like business and health information technologies. What I would like to do before I retire is ensure that I kept up with the philosophy of being a lifelong learner, and remained open to opportunities to both advance my own career and make sure I continue on a path of social change.

NYN: WHAT DO YOU WISH PEOPLE KNEW ABOUT YOUR JOB? DM: The job that I had three years ago is not the job I have now, and I don’t expect it to be the job that I will have three years from now. In our field, we need to be able to be nimble, and serve and lead programs based on the needs of the community. We need to refine our business and understanding of the way health care is delivered to be able to positively impact it.

34

N Y Nmedia .c om

NYN 40 under 40 - Rising Stars

Reach New York’s decision makers and influence policy.

Feature your message in this must-read daily morning round-up of New York government and political news.

Get your message in front of: • New York elected officials • Agency commissioners and staffers • New York industry leaders

• Nonprofit advocates • Media pundits

Contact Tom Allon at tallon@CityandStateNY.com for more information.

35

N Y Nmedia .c om

Untitled-13 1

7/18/16 4:57 PM

NYN 40 under 40 - Rising Stars

"I NEED TO TRY AND CHANGE THIS KIND OF THING" Fast fact: Tweet her @Sarahnannery

Sarah Nannery Director of Development Goodwill Industries NYNJ Sarah Nannery spearheads all fundraising activities for Goodwill’s social enterprise model. She also serves on the board of Community Mediation Services in Jamaica, Queens and on the board of the New York City Chapter of the Association of Fundraising Professionals, where she co-chairs the Young Professionals Committee. Previously, Nannery created and led a development department at a homeless services agency in Manhattan. She’s also most proud to be mom to a seven-month-old son.

NYN: HOW DID YOU BECOME INTERESTED IN YOUR FIELD? SN: When you’re young you don’t know necessarily what a nonprofit is, but you want to make a difference and you want to help people. I think it hit home for me when – I grew up in a really small town and the concept of homelessness was just something completely foreign to me. I went on a trip to London for a few weeks, I was 13 years old, and just saw people just living in the streets – and it blew my mind. I think that was when I decided, whatever I do with my life, I need to try and change this kind of thing.

NYN: WHAT CHANGE WOULD MOST HELP THE INDIVIDUALS YOUR ORGANIZATION SERVES? SN: We work with folks who are experiencing barriers – to employment, to getting a decent life, whatever it is. So often, the barriers are other people’s perceptions of them – what they think they can do, what they think they might do. We started off working with disabilities and that’s a very visible thing. But even intangible things – like people who are veterans coming back from serving our country are discriminated against because people might think, “Oh, they might have a PTSD episode.” Or someone who’s a single parent, they’re discriminated against because they might have to take their kid to the doctor. It’s just society’s perception of them that puts this block up. So I guess if we could change that – discrimination – that would be a big help.

NYN: WHAT IS THE ONE THING YOU’D LIKE TO ACCOMPLISH BEFORE YOU RETIRE? SN: I think that it’s not really tangible for me, it’s more, by the time I retire I want to really feel like I’ve made a difference in people’s lives. Not just peripherally – but really – if I hadn’t been there it wouldn’t have happened, making sure that I’m taking advantage of that opportunity to make a difference.

NYN:WHAT DO YOU WISH PEOPLE KNEW ABOUT YOUR JOB? SN: Fundraising in general I think is very misunderstood. It’s not that hard, but it also takes a lot of work. I think people just don’t realize it’s not just holding a bake sale and making a few cold calls. It really takes a lot of planning, it takes a lot of strategic thinking to get what you really need done.

36

N Y Nmedia .c om

Gabriel Nieto Clinical Application Trainer ICL

NYN 40 under 40 - Rising Stars

"IT HAS TO START WITH ATTITUDE" Fast fact: Nieto’s favorite cartoon growing up? Tom and Jerry.

As a trainer, Gabriel Nieto must always be focused and up to date with the newest techniques and systems in electronic health records software. Gabriel knows the importance of a positive attitude, a worldly perspective and motivation in order to serve a community. Prior to becoming a clinical application trainer, Nieto thought that he would remain a member of the military for most of his life, but he is now studying for his master’s degree and is looking forward to the travel opportunities his future holds.

NYN: HOW DID YOU BECOME INTERESTED IN YOUR FIELD? GN: I myself am a veteran, so that is somewhat how I got into the agency. Throughout that time we didn’t have a director, so a lot of the responsibilities as far as data entry and system setups were referred to me. Throughout that I set up a good relationship with the person in charge of the department, and I gained more interests towards that.

She then asked me if I was interested in a training opportunity, so that’s pretty much what shot it all off, and now it’s just an interest that keeps growing.

NYN: DESCRIBE AN ACCOMPLISHMENT YOU ARE MOST PROUD OF. GN: Completing my bachelor's degree was a huge accomplishment for me. At one point I only saw myself doing 20 years in the military, and I just decided to switch the plan around. That’s something I am very proud of.

NYN:WHAT CHANGE WOULD MOST HELP THE INDIVIDUALS YOUR ORGANIZATION SERVES? GN: A lot of it has to start with attitude. If we are able to provide, get motivation and not focus too much on the pressures, we can be more focused on spreading a good work environment. Work is always going to be a part of life, so if we can do it with a good attitude and focus more on resolving issues, that will make the world a better place.

NYN: WHAT IS THE ONE THING YOU’D LIKE TO ACCOMPLISH BEFORE YOU RETIRE? GN: I would like to visit every continent, for just personal reasons. Things that come along with my time in service, I really enjoyed being able to travel. I was stationed in an aircraft carrier, so being able to see the world just gives a better perspective. I have been to three continents so far.

NYN: WHAT DO YOU WISH PEOPLE KNEW ABOUT YOUR JOB? GN: It’s fast paced, it’s constantly changing and it is challenging. For people like us, sitting behind a desk, it is easy to disconnect from the overall goal, or the mission that we are serving as part of the agency. It really is fast paced and it can be really fun.

N Y Nmedia .c om

37

NYN 40 under 40 - Rising Stars

WHAT WAS YOUR FAVORITE CARTOON? Reading Rainbow Alvin and the Chipmunks Animaniacs Calvin and Hobbes Chip 'n Dale Rescue Rangers Jem Darkwing Duck Superman MightyFraggle Mouse Rock The Care Bears Peanuts He-Man The Jetsons Snoopy Rainbow Brite & Friends The New Yorker cat cartoons Recess Spider-Man The Simpsons Jem Roadrunner The Triplets of Belleville

Reading Rainbow Alvin and the Chipmunks Animaniacs Calvin and Hobbes Chip 'n Dale Rescue Rangers Darkwing Duck Fraggle Rock He-Man Snoopy & Friends Spider-Man

Rugrats Scooby Doo Sesame Street She-Ra Smurfs

Thundercats Tom and Jerry Ugly Americans.

Voltron X-Men

38

Seedfolks

The Goldfinch

Sex Wars

The Hard Thing About Hard Things

Pedagogy of the Oppressed

Sula

Killing the Black Body

Daughter: A Novel

Dale Carnegie, How to Win Friends and Influence People

Behind the Beautiful Forevers

Pride and Prejudice

Room by Emma Donoghue

Trauma and Recovery by Judith Herman

The First Bad Man by Miranda July

The Color Purple by Alice Walker

Eleanor Roosevelt : Volume 2 , The Defining Years, 1933-1938

Animal Farm

Lean In

The Giving Tree

Mycelium Running: How Mushrooms Can Help Save the World

Ther Eyes were Watching God

FOR YOUR SUMMER READING LIST: SELECTIONS FROM OUR 40 UNDER 40 WINNERS' FAVORITE BOOKS

N Y Nmedia .c om

NYN 40 under 40 - Rising Stars

TOP 10 PLACES TO UNWIND IN NEW YORK

Ithaca

The Highline, Manhattan Bear Mountain, Tomkins Cove

Midland Beach, Staten Island

Brooklyn Bridge Park, Brooklyn

N Y Nmedia .c om

Newcomb

Industry City, Sunset Park, Brooklyn Breezy Point, Far Rockaway, Queens

Caumsett State Park, Long Island

Long Island City, Queens

39

NYN 40 under 40 - Rising Stars

INVEST IN EDUCATION Fast fact: Favorite cartoon? The New Yorker cat cartoons.

Jill Poklemba Associate Vice President of Development and Communications The Fortune Society Since assuming leadership of The Fortune Society’s development team in 2013, Jill Poklemba has brought about consistent increases in funding. Between 2010 and 2016 the organization’s annual budget grew from $18 million to nearly $28 million. Prior to joining The Fortune Society, Poklemba worked as director of development and communications at STRIVE International, and as a policy analyst with the New York State Assembly Office of Program and Counsel and the Federation of Protestant Welfare Agencies. Poklemba is also treasurer of the board of directors at the New York City Community Garden Coalition.

NYN: HOW DID YOU BECOME INTERESTED IN YOUR FIELD? JP: I’ve always been very passionate about fighting against poverty. Initially my career started working in Albany, in the New York state Legislature. I remember we were able to go on some site visits in New York City. I was just so deeply inspired, especially by just the charismatic leaders of those organizations – constantly seeking new ways of expanding their services, expanding their programming, taking risks. I just knew that someday I really wanted to work in an organization like that. I had I guess the luxury of being able to grow up in a nice neighborhood, in a nice community in upstate New York right outside of Albany. But then when we would travel into the city, just seeing the disparity between what I was fortunate enough to have and what other people weren’t, it bothered me on a deep level. I didn’t know how I could make a difference. I think that was the journey that I had to take, figuring out how I could use my skills and my abilities to make a difference.

NYN: WHAT CHANGE WOULD MOST HELP THE INDIVIDUALS YOUR ORGANIZATION SERVES? JP: I think there needs to be an investment in education in the communities that are most directly affected by incarceration. Helping people gain reading skills, literacy skills, math skills – that’s really the key to breaking out of poverty and to gaining the self-confidence you need to put yourself on a positive pathway.

NY: WHAT IS THE ONE THING YOU’D LIKE TO ACCOMPLISH BEFORE YOU RETIRE? JP: I’ve always had this passion about green jobs and climate justice but I’ve never really done much of the work directly. I think being more directly involved in the food justice movement and actually learning how to grow food, how to distribute it to low-income communities – how to do a little bit more of that on the ground work.

NYN: WHAT DO YOU WISH PEOPLE KNEW ABOUT YOUR JOB? JP: The amount of effort and attention to detail that goes into the process of raising money. There’s so many different components to it. The level of effort and the attention to detail and the relationship building process is enormous. It’s almost a 24/7 job, and it really depends on a team of committed people; it’s never just one person.

40

N Y Nmedia .c om

Steven Portericker Director of Youth Services Union Settlement

NYN 40 under 40 - Rising Stars

MENTORS FOR ALL YOUTH Fast fact: Tweet him @sdotporterl53

Steven Portericker has been the Director of Youth Services at Union Settlement Association since 2007. Under his leadership, the number of children, adolescents and young adults served has grown fourfold from 600 to 2,400 and the youth services’ budget has more than tripled from $1.2 million to $4.1 million. He also chairs the Harlem-Bronx LGBT Task Force. In 2009, he was recognized by the Partnership for Afterschool Education as one of “the best and brightest of New York City’s youth development professionals.”

NYN: HOW DID YOU BECOME INTERESTED IN YOUR FIELD? SP: Even as a young person, from middle school, I knew I wanted to work with children. I just love the opportunity of exploring with young people, whether it’s recreational activities or academic enrichment activities – and also just kind of having fun.

NYN: DESCRIBE AN ACCOMPLISHMENT YOU ARE MOST PROUD OF. SP: We had a young man who came through our doors who was a young father and also a high school dropout, and he was pretty much a disconnected youth. He was lost and his grandmother brought him into the center to seek services because she knew the breadth of services that we have as an organization – but most importantly she wanted her grandson to get back on the path to earning his high school diploma. Within two years he earned his GED, he became very active in his son’s life, but more importantly he then took the steps to enroll into college. This May, he graduated with his four-year degree.

NYN: WHAT CHANGE WOULD MOST HELP THE INDIVIDUALS YOUR ORGANIZATION SERVES? SP: There’s always been higher levels of funding for the younger children’s programs – so elementary kids, head start, pre-K. As you get into middle school and high school levels the funding is pretty scarce, therefore programming is limited. It would be really important on a policy level to ensure that adolescents, teenagers and young adults have more funding opportunities. I think they often are forgotten about and that’s why I think for many of our kids, they fall through the cracks and they begin to get into those areas that are not so healthy for themselves.

NYN: WHAT IS THE ONE THING YOU’D LIKE TO ACCOMPLISH BEFORE YOU RETIRE? SP: The one thing that I would love to accomplish is to build out a comprehensive mentoring program that’s open to all types of youth. We currently have a very small mentoring program for youth on probation. They are already in trouble. How can we create a mentoring program that we can offer all young people and not just the ones who are most at risk?

N Y Nmedia .c om

41

NYN 40 under 40 - Rising Stars

The Board of Directors and Staff of New York Cares extend their heartfelt congratulations to Jess Lopez for this honor.

The long hours, dedication and talent she has applied to her work have allowed New York Cares to make great advancements in technology as we strive to be at the forefront of our industry.

Congratulations, Jess!

ICL_40under40_ad2-2.pdf

42

1

7/7/16

2:33 PM

Jess Lopez, Director, Techology

N Y Nmedia .c om

ez, gy

Alexis Posey Senior Policy Analyst Federation of Protestant Welfare Agencies

NYN 40 under 40 - Rising Stars

"POVERTY IS MAN-MADE" Fast fact: Tweet her @Lexii_renee

As a senior analyst at the Federation of Protestant Welfare Agencies, which she joined in October 2014, Alexis Posey has worked on programs to help individuals sign up for health care under the Affordable Care Act, especially those suffering with HIV/AIDS. The Westchester County native also managed campaigns to connect day laborers to jobs and aid small businesses. As an analyst for the Drug Policy Alliance, she helped shepherd a bill to reform medical marijuana laws become state law in 2014.

NYN: HOW DID YOU BECOME INTERESTED IN YOUR FIELD? AP: I come from a black family, I’m a black woman growing up in a really low income community, so I was always very aware all of the issues and deeply affected by all of the issues that we raise today. How I got into drug policy, basically, was seeing how the drug pattern shifted my community and also seeing how criminalization functioned in my community. I had family members in my life who had HIV or AIDS and then passed away. So I was always aware and always wanted to do something, even at an early age, trying to figure out ways to connect, whether it was being 12 and going to City Hall and being like, “I want to help out with something!”

NYN: DESCRIBE AN ACCOMPLISHMENT YOU ARE MOST PROUD OF. AP: Marijuana is very controversial, but obviously medical marijuana has relief for a lot of people, particularly people living with HIV and AIDS because they experience wasting. I’m very proud of that bill; that was two years of my life working on that campaign while I was in grad school. I’m really proud of what went into building this campaign and locating patients across the state and teaching them how to advocate for themselves.

NYN: WHAT CHANGE WOULD MOST HELP THE INDIVIDUALS YOUR ORGANIZATION SERVES? AP: Maybe just a general understanding of how racism and structural institutional racism impacts all of the work in all of the ways we serve, I think that would be really helpful. A lot of time you’re sitting trying to explain to a lot of people why me, as a woman of color, will have a completely different experience in the health care system than a white woman or a while male. If there was this universal lens, I think that might be helpful.

NYN: WHAT IS THE ONE THING YOU’D LIKE TO ACCOMPLISH BEFORE YOU RETIRE? AP: Poverty is man-made, and I would love to see an end to poverty and see a world where you don’t have to have the haves and have-nots. There’s no reason for one person to be hungry when other people have an abundance of food and wealth.

N Y Nmedia .c om

43

NYN 40 under 40 - Rising Stars

STREET HOMELESSNESS IS A SOLVABLE ISSUE Fast fact: Pospisil grew up in Minnesota

Amie Pospisil Deputy Vice President, Programs Breaking Ground Amie Pospisil leads programs for the largest provider of street outreach in New York City. Breaking Ground’s Street to Home (S2H) program is responsible for engaging and housing the street homeless in all of Brooklyn and Queens and a third of Manhattan. It also operates the largest New York City-funded safe haven, providing low-threshold transitional housing to 138 chronically street-homeless men. Pospisil reengineered Breaking Ground’s S2H program to meet the requirements of the city’s new Home-STAT initiative to serve a large geographical service area with quick response times. Pospisil tackled the opportunity “like a military strategist,” said Claire Sheedy, Breaking Ground’s vice president of housing operations.

NYN: HOW DID YOU BECOME INTERESTED IN YOUR FIELD? AP: I think homelessness is where I see all of these large social issues manifesting – in street homelessness. It’s a population that’s completely marginalized. I really just fell in love with it. I felt like I could do some real work there and sink my teeth in and help to create some change.

NYN: DESCRIBE AN ACCOMPLISHMENT YOU ARE MOST PROUD OF. AP: I do think a big part of it is being on the forefront of this Housing First movement in New York City. It’s just being able to be a part of this movement of helping society realize that these folks who are so marginalized that we walk by every day – that it’s a really solvable issue. If we place people into permanent supportive housing, regardless of how long they’ve been on the street, regardless of their untreated mental health or substance abuse problems – they succeed when we place them into permanent supportive housing.

NYN: WHAT CHANGE WOULD MOST HELP THE INDIVIDUALS YOUR ORGANIZATION SERVES? AP: I think it’s about more opportunities for affordable housing, more expansion, more opportunity to build.

Without that, the homeless crisis is not going to get any better.

NYN: WHAT IS THE ONE THING YOU’D LIKE TO ACCOMPLISH BEFORE YOU RETIRE? AP: It’s never been about climbing the ladder, it’s really just been about the people we serve on the front lines.

Those are always the most important people and if we stay focused on them, then it just falls into place.

NYN: WHAT DO YOU WISH PEOPLE KNEW ABOUT YOUR JOB? AP: In order to be able to do this job well, I believe that you just have to know what the frontlines are all about – and all the way through; having had the experience of really doing probably every job that any of my staff are doing now – or have done. I get what their jobs are, I get how hard they are and I get the people that we serve. I would be remiss if I got too far away from that.

44

N Y Nmedia .c om

Peter has made a noticeable impact on our organizations as our Director of New Business Development.

Thank you for all that you do to help us grow and innovate, every single day.

NYN 40 under 40 - Rising Stars

Congratulations to Peter Gee, a 40 under 40 Rising Star!

List your opportunity on CityandState.Careers today!

Find your next stand-out hire with New York Careers!

List your job opening for just $99/month!

Learn more by contacting Careers@CityandStateNY.com45

N Y Nmedia .c om

NYN 40 under 40 - Rising Stars

MORE THAN A HOBBY Fast fact: Profeta’s favorite cartoon growing up?

Rainbow Brite.

Lauren Profeta Director of Development New York Police and Fire Widows' and Children's Benefit Fund Since 2013, Profeta has managed day-to-day functions and overseen all fundraising and programming initiatives at the New York Police and Fire Widows’ and Children’s Benefit Fund. Previously, she served as the development director of Only Make Believe, which brings interactive theater to hospitalized children. Prior to that she was a litigation associate at Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton LLP, and worked on pro-bono cases and charitable causes.

Profeta graduated summa cum laude from St. John’s University with a B.A. in English literature and cum laude from Harvard Law School. She is the proud sister of three New York City first responders.

NYN: HOW DID YOU BECOME INTERESTED IN YOUR FIELD? LP: I had attended law school and my favorite part of law school was a child advocacy clinic that I did. Out of everything, all the programs and things I participated in in law school, I found that to be the most intellectually rewarding, personally rewarding. I kind of knew that I wanted to switch from law to nonprofit. I come from a family of first responders. I grew up in a neighborhood full of first responders, so I know these families very well. And I couldn’t think of a population that I would rather dedicate my profession serving, then the families of fallen first responders.

NYN: DESCRIBE AN ACCOMPLISHMENT YOU ARE MOST PROUD OF. LP: I think making the transition – from law to nonprofit – is something that I’m most proud of. I think that there’s a certain safety in remaining a lawyer, but making the jump and following where my passions were is definitely something that I feel most proud of and certainly has been the most rewarding outcome as well.

NYN: WHAT CHANGE WOULD MOST HELP THE FIRST RESPONDERS YOUR ORGANIZATION SERVES? LP: I think just people not forgetting about them. I think that when we lose a first responder our first reaction is to say we’ll never forget, but sadly we do forget. These families can be forgotten unless we all as a city, as a community, make that pledge that we will not forget about them – their sacrifice.

NYN: WHAT IS THE ONE THING YOU’D LIKE TO ACCOMPLISH BEFORE YOU RETIRE? LP: I hope that I leave the workforce and the community I live in better than the state in which I found it when I first started working.

NYN: WHAT DO YOU WISH PEOPLE KNEW ABOUT YOUR JOB? LP: I think that a lot of times people think of nonprofit careers as hobbies and not necessarily as professions. I think a lot of times people don’t realize all of the hard work that goes behind it. Just for people to be aware that this truly is a calling. This is a full-time career and an important one. If you want nonprofits to run efficiently as for-profits do, you need to have people similarly skilled to run these groups.

46

N Y Nmedia .c om

Kristina Reintamm Director of Community Education and Engagement Brooklyn Community Services

NYN 40 under 40 - Rising Stars

DEEPER COMMITMENTS YIELD BIGGER IMPACT Fast fact: Tweet her @tina_reintamm

Social justice work at nonprofits in the summers between her college years inspired a full-time career in community engagement for Kristina Reintamm. Since 2012, she has helped to quadruple Brooklyn Community Services’ volunteer base. She runs BCS 360° sessions to attract new volunteers each month and developed their signature annual volunteer initiative: Spring into Action. She developed the Brooklyn Stand Up! panel series and organized a BCS Community Engagement Summit, which featured several Brooklyn community leaders who encouraged attendees to give back.

Kristina is a first-generation immigrant to Brooklyn from Russia.

NYN: DESCRIBE AN ACCOMPLISHMENT YOU ARE MOST PROUD OF KR: I am actually particularly proud of our Spring into Action volunteer initiative, which I built up when I took over running our volunteer program. We have a really popular volunteer program. We were named one of the best places to volunteer in Brooklyn by Brooklyn Magazine. We have 900 people volunteer with us every year. So that’s definitely what I see as something I’m really, really proud of and I’m proud that every year that we have Spring into Action we try something new. We try a project that we’ve never tried before. We put that trust in the community that people will work with us and they’ll be open to a project that’s a little less traditional. So I’m also really proud that every year we’ve been able to try a new thing and it’s worked.

NYN: WHAT CHANGE WOULD MOST HELP THE INDIVIDUALS YOUR ORGANIZATION SERVES? KR: I think what would be really great is if a lot of our volunteers who we love and we appreciate would, in addition to volunteering with us for a one-time project and task-oriented projects, would essentially magnify their impact by having a vision of volunteerism that also includes board service and philanthropy and activism. I think what we’re really trying to accomplish in the volunteer department is to push people to commit a little bit deeper.

NYN: WHAT IS THE ONE THING YOU’D LIKE TO ACCOMPLISH BEFORE YOU RETIRE? KR: At BCS we have an annual walk in Prospect Park. It’s our annual fundraising walk which uses the model where friends support their friends or sponsor their friends. It’s called One BK Unite, and something I would love to see is for the walk to become a real movement. My dream is that one day in the future the walk raises $100,000 and brings out 500 people. I’d love to see it turn into a real movement for Brooklyn that unites our community around the issues of poverty.

NYN: WHAT DO YOU WISH PEOPLE KNEW ABOUT YOUR JOB? KR: I tell people this all the time, but I really wish people knew just how passionate and dedicated our staff is here at Brooklyn Community Services.

N Y Nmedia .c om

47

NYN 40 under 40 - Rising Stars

FRIENDS OF HUDSON RIVER PARK CONGRATULATES 2016 Rising Star of the New York Nonprofit Community

MARK CHEEVER

FOR CONTINUING TO MAKE NEW YORK’S PARK FOR PLAY PROUD

48

N Y Nmedia .c om

Alex Rodriguez Director of Communications United Way of New York City

NYN 40 under 40 - Rising Stars

BETTER THAN SELLING YACHTS Fast fact: Tweet him @Alexrodrik

Alex Rodriguez leads communications strategy and implementation across all sectors for United Way of New York City, which works to help all New Yorkers access quality education and lead self-sufficient, healthy and financially stable lives. Previously he was manager of stakeholder communications for United Way Worldwide, supporting nearly 1,800 United Ways across the globe and managing major partnerships like Red Nose Day with Comic Relief and NBC. Rodriguez lives in New Jersey with his wife and son. “Alex digs deep into our data to truly ‘know’ and understand the motivations of our key stakeholders, so that how we share our story is tailored just for them – both in content and vehicle,” his colleagues said.

NYN: HOW DID YOU BECOME INTERESTED IN YOUR FIELD? AR: I remember sitting in a (sales) meeting one day and we were literally talking about audience profiles for a yacht – a half-a-million dollar yacht. And I was like, “I can guess this off the top of my head right now: They’re rich white affluent men who have really young spouses, really like fishing but don’t actually fish themselves and have a proclivity for NASCAR.” At that moment when I realized what I was targeting ... these people can drop half a million dollars on a boat! I need to find something that when my son looks at me and says, “Dad what do you do?” I’m not like, “Well I sell really expensive boats to really affluent people.” So when I saw United Way, I was like, “OK, I wanna do this. Let’s see how this goes.”

NYN: WHAT CHANGE WOULD MOST HELP THE INDIVIDUALS YOUR ORGANIZATION SERVES? AR: I think part of what drew me to the nonprofit space was that love of literacy, and reading and writing and really inspiring people to remember that there is power in knowledge. And in a time where if it’s not 140 characters I’m not going to read it – it becomes sort of scary. If we can get people empowered to take back reading ... whether it’s in English, Spanish, Portuguese – whatever you speak – Creole, it doesn’t matter, if you can at least get that going and start that thirst, I think we’ll all be in a much better place.

NYN: WHAT DO YOU WISH PEOPLE KNEW ABOUT YOUR JOB? AR: The vocation of writing has sort of disappeared. People think because they can, that they can. We are charged with a certain level of trust that the stories and the narratives that we’re sharing are not only honest and exposed, but that the people which we’re talking about are also respected. Understanding, within the profession, the delicateness that is needed to do it effectively, to do it correctly, to do it honestly and to do it with integrity. I think people need to be reminded of that every once in awhile. The Kardashians don’t help.

N Y Nmedia .c om

49

NYN 40 under 40 - Rising Stars

THE JOY OF THE LIGHTBULB MOMENT Fast fact: Saake grew up in New Jersey

Amanda Saake Senior Program Associate, Center for Rehabilitation and Recovery The Coalition of Behavioral Health Agencies Amanda Saake teaches behavioral health care providers the best ways to help people who are struggling. She uses her personal experiences as well as her knowledge as a social worker to provide trainings and advocacy. She frequently presents at regional and national conferences and her areas of expertise include fostering recovery-oriented practice, person-centered planning, facilitating recovery-focused groups, setting meaningful recovery goals, cognitive behavioral techniques in-group work and integrating health and wellness in outpatient mental health programs.

NYN: HOW DID YOU BECOME INTERESTED IN YOUR FIELD? AS: When I was younger I was really fortunate. I had a lot of friends who would confide their stories in me, things that were personal, or struggles with mental health issues. I found that I appreciated and enjoyed being able to provide support and to also validate some of the challenges and experiences that I was facing. That coupled with the fact that my father is a social worker. I really liked it and I never looked back.

NYN: DESCRIBE AN ACCOMPLISHMENT YOU ARE MOST PROUD OF. AS: My greatest accomplishment is that I get to provide trainings and programmatic technical support to New York City-based community behavioral health providers. Being able to provide the best practices, tools and resources to this audience, who is completely overworked and sometimes even under-trained. I work directly with trainings to the workforce, and just seeing these people with a lightbulb going off is incredibly rewarding.

NYN: WHAT CHANGE WOULD MOST HELP THE INDIVIDUALS YOUR ORGANIZATION SERVES? AS: The organization where I work is a trade organization where our members are the community behavioral nonprofit agencies. Thinking about the agencies as the folks we serve, it would help to have more sustainable funding and access to fair salaries for advocacy to government and non-government entities. Obviously money is a big one because this field is very underpaying and under-resourced. A big change would be both more resources and a better distribution of resources to adequately support the behavioral health workforce.

NYN: WHAT IS THE ONE THING YOU’D LIKE TO ACCOMPLISH BEFORE YOU RETIRE? AS: What I would love to do is go back and get my doctorate in social work. I’d love to eventually teach in graduate school for social work.

NYN: WHAT DO YOU WISH PEOPLE KNEW ABOUT YOUR JOB? AS: I think myself and my organization are resources that they can use to help better support their staff in order to support and foster change in their organizations. We’re not just training, we also provide advocacy, we bring groups together, and our job essentially is to serve them. We are a resource to the community-based nonprofit behavioral health provider.

50

N Y Nmedia .c om

Dawn Saffayeh Executive Director HeartShare St. Vincent’s Services

NYN 40 under 40 - Rising Stars

LIFTING PEOPLE OUT OF POVERTY Fast fact: Saffayeh grew up in Massachusetts

Years of volunteering in preschool centers and homeless shelters in Bridgeport helped prepare Dawn Saffayeh to lead HeartShare St. Vincent’s and its wide-ranging services. Years with New York City’s Administration for Children’s Services helped prepare her to get the nonprofit through a financial crisis. HSVS has 400 staff members and serves more than 7,000 people each year with foster care, youth development, supportive housing and more. Saffayeh said she “couldn’t really imagine having a career that didn’t focus on helping people who were struggling.”

NYN: DESCRIBE AN ACCOMPLISHMENT YOU ARE MOST PROUD OF. DS: Working for the city. I was lucky enough to have the opportunity to work in the prior (mayoral) administration and partner with lots of different people in the nonprofit and government sector to design various reinvestment initiatives to be able to invest in different kinds of child welfare and juvenile justice programming that really improved outcomes for kids and families across the city.

NYN: WHAT CHANGE WOULD MOST HELP THE INDIVIDUALS YOUR ORGANIZATION SERVES? DS: I sometimes think that the system is really backwards. There’s so much money that government puts into providing services to the people whom we serve in poor communities. Spending money on staff, case planners, staff at city agencies who oversee the families and children. I think having more funding available to directly address poverty for children and families and get families out of poverty and into better jobs and better education would really improve the lives of the families we serve. And at the same time, improve all of the outcomes around wellbeing that the current funding is supposed to do.

NYN: WHAT IS THE ONE THING YOU’D LIKE TO ACCOMPLISH BEFORE YOU RETIRE? DS: I guess contribute to what I just spoke about. Finding very specific ways to lift large numbers of people out of poverty in New York City.

NYN: WHAT DO YOU WISH PEOPLE KNEW ABOUT YOUR JOB? DS: It’s a struggle every day to be able to focus on the things that we actually want to focus on. As a leader of a nonprofit, first and foremost we need to make sure that the finances are in order. I spend a tremendous amount of my time reviewing all of our spending and our budgets and our revenue and our forecasting because that is what I feel like I need to do to be responsible to my staff and the people we serve. There’s so much red tape and there’s so many things that just don’t make sense in terms of getting reimbursement – that’s a big struggle, and it takes away from really being able to dive in on the praxis issues, and being able to spend as much time as I want to spend with clients in communities. I wish I could spend more time with people whom we serve, with elected officials, but it’s a struggle trying to stay afloat financially.

N Y Nmedia .c om

51

NYN 40 under 40 - Rising Stars

THE POWER OF PARTNERSHIPS Fast fact: Sanchez holds a master of arts degree from Hult International Business School

Jose Luis Sanchez Programs and Aging Initiatives Manager Citymeals on Wheels Jose Luis Sanchez coordinates the delivery of over 2 million weekend, holiday and emergency meals to homebound elderly throughout New York City with Citymeals on Wheels, and coordinates special projects such as the oral health program with Columbia University Dental School. He is also part of the Aging Coalition, which works together on policy and budget priorities for the aging network in New York City.

NYN: HOW DID YOU BECOME INTERESTED IN YOUR FIELD? JS: I always, always wanted to help people. I felt that it was very important for me to live a life in service of others so I geared myself to gain the education and the expertise in order to be of value to the community however I could.

It’s just been great being able to be at City Meals on Wheels to work for such a vulnerable population. I mean for me, I can’t think of a more frail, isolated population that’s deserving of attention like the homebound elderly.

NYN: DESCRIBE AN ACCOMPLISHMENT YOU ARE MOST PROUD OF. JS: I think just being able to work in partnership has been my greatest achievement. It’s very important to me that if you can bring someone on to the bandwagon and they can add to the voice or add to the strength – that you make the effort, the commitment, to bring that individual, that organization on. I think my biggest achievement really is recognizing the power of partnerships and how one head isn’t necessarily the best. That more ideas, more opinions, more voices, more thoughts really empower programs. They really also do empower decision-making and really give legitimacy to what you’re doing, and I think that really speaks volumes if you’re working in the nonprofit field.

NYN: WHAT CHANGE WOULD MOST HELP THE INDIVIDUALS YOUR ORGANIZATION SERVES? JS: Oh! It’s so easy – so, so easy! Shockingly, it’s easy to cure hunger in America. We just need politicians with willpower.

NYN: WHAT IS THE ONE THING YOU’D LIKE TO ACCOMPLISH BEFORE YOU RETIRE? JS: At the end of the day, working for marginalized populations or isolated populations, for me that’s what I would love to continue doing and that would be my accomplishment: to continue to be able to work in the industry and continue to do my best in the teams and the partnerships and all that entails as being a part of the nonprofit world.

NYN: WHAT DO YOU WISH PEOPLE KNEW ABOUT YOUR JOB? JS: Everyone thinks that it’s getting a meal from point A to point B and it’s so much more than that. We think of our meal recipients as a part of our family … so we do so much more than just meals.

52

N Y Nmedia .c om

Lissa M. Southerland Regional Director, Manhattan Borough Centers Community Healthcare Network

NYN 40 under 40 - Rising Stars

IMPROVING HEALTH CARE OPERATIONS Fast fact: Lissa grew up in Georgia

In three years with Community Healthcare Network, Southerland revitalized Harlem’s Helen B. Atkinson center (HBA), meeting performance goals and earning high marks from her staff. She works in administration but is all about action, and has been known to load up her car with Thanksgiving meals to hand out around the neighborhood. She was chosen as a 2014 NYMAPPS Fellow through the Colin Powell School for Civil and Global Leadership at City College of New York and received the Non-Profit Leader in Action recognition for her work at CHN. Southerland has also launched two successful small businesses, Candy by Lissa Southerland, and Chief Mommy Officer, offering services for moms trying to balance it all.

NYN: HOW DID YOU BECOME INTERESTED IN YOUR FIELD? LS: Both of my parents are in the health care arena, so health care is sort of in my blood and has been since I was little. Originally when I first got into operations, I worked for a for-profit organization but felt like my time wasn’t really well-utilized, and I wanted to find a way to use my talent and my experience to give back, so I decided to move from for-profit into not-for-profit. That’s how I got into operations and I’ve been here since.

NYN: DESCRIBE AN ACCOMPLISHMENT YOU ARE MOST PROUD OF. LS: Most recently what I’m most proud of is my promotion. I started at HBA three years ago, and really have worked my way up the ranks here at CHN. I love what I do and I’m passionate about helping underserved populations, so I think to date that’s my biggest accomplishment. I would do this work even if I didn’t get paid for it, so being acknowledged for my hard work and dedication to not only the one site that I was working but being able to run multiple sites is a dream come true.

NYN: WHAT CHANGE WOULD MOST HELP THE INDIVIDUALS YOUR ORGANIZATION SERVES? LS: There’s many things, but if I could think of one it would be on the policy side of things. Just making sure that is pushing forward when we’re trying to do all of the work that we’re doing for our patients. Because without that, it’s much harder to push things through.

NYN: WHAT IS THE ONE THING YOU’D LIKE TO ACCOMPLISH BEFORE YOU RETIRE? LS: I definitely will stay in health care operations, that’s my niche and I want to continue to move up. My ultimate goal is to be senior leader within an organization such as Community Healthcare Network, so definitely before I retire, my plan is to be on the VP or SVP level of an organization such as CHN. NYN: WHAT DO YOU WISH PEOPLE KNEW ABOUT YOUR JOB? LS: I would just want people to know we do this work because we’re passionate about it. We probably could go many other places and make tons more money and have lots of other perks, but we do it because we want to help our patients.

N Y Nmedia .c om

53

NYN 40 under 40 - Rising Stars

TO LEAD A DIGNIFIED LIFE Fast fact: Torres-Castro’s favorite cartoon growing up?

Voltron.

Miguel Torres-Castro Director of Support Programs Mercy Home Miguel Torres-Castro spent the first three years of his life in his native Puerto Rico before moving to New York City, where he has spent the majority of his time. Torres-Castro studied music at the University at Buffalo before pivoting toward Caribbean studies, a decision that ultimately lead him to his work with people in the developmental disability community. He first became interested in working in a community-building capacity while studying abroad at the Universidad de La Habana in Cuba. In New York City he continued working in a service capacity, helping immigrants with the cleanup effort after the September 11 attacks and eventually finding his niche as the full-time director of support programs for Mercy Home, a nonprofit agency based in Brooklyn that serves adults, children and families with special needs.

NYN: HOW DID YOU BECOME INTERESTED IN YOUR FIELD? MTC: I first became interested in working with the community during my time in Cuba. Just seeing how that country operates and just the social and socio-economic strife, so to speak. They were a really tight-knit community, and just seeing that culture really just drove me to being in a sector that gives back to communities and builds communities and builds that strong socio-cultural fabric in a community.

NYN: DESCRIBE AN ACCOMPLISHMENT YOU ARE MOST PROUD OF? MTC: I’ve been able to incorporate some of my music skills into stage performances with some of the people we work with. It’s kind of cool that I can use all of my skills and weave it, not just into my career, but into the organization that I’m currently working for.

NYN: WHAT CHANGE WOULD MOST HELP THE INDIVIDUALS YOUR ORGANIZATION SERVES? MTC: The change that would most help the individuals my organization serves is to lead a dignified life that allows and continues to allow growth and the possibility for appropriate training, education, skill-building and meaningful relationships with members of their communities. All of this is possible if we allow the individuals the power to make informed choices with the right guidance and mentoring.

NYN: WHAT IS THE ONE THING YOU’D LIKE TO ACCOMPLISH BEFORE YOU RETIRE? MTC: The one thing I’d like to accomplish before retiring is to utilize my leadership skills at the executive level and lead this or another agency into the future of quality programming for children and adults with developmental disabilities.

NYN: WHAT DO YOU WISH PEOPLE KNEW ABOUT YOUR JOB? MTC: Working with the developmental disability community has been very rewarding. They’re just so genuine and honest and very friendly individuals. When I’m at work, it almost feels more like I’m hanging out with my friends.

54

N Y Nmedia .c om

Jill— NYN 40 under 40 - Rising Stars

We are so proud of you and don’t know where we would be without your steadfast leadership and extraordinary dedication to The Fortune Society’s work.

Jill Poklemba

–With much love from your entire Fortune family

The Fortune Society

BUILDING PEOPLE, NOT PRISONS

www.fortunesociety.org

CONGRATULATIONS TO

KRISTINA REINTAMM FOR THIS WONDERFUL RECOGNITION OF YOUR WORK. BCS IS GRATEFUL FOR YOUR CONTINUED DEDICATION AND COMMITMENT TO HELPING US BUILD ONE BROOKLYN COMMUNITY. WITH DEEP APPRECIATION, THE STAFF OF BROOKLYN COMMUNITY SERVICES

N Y Nmedia .c om

55

BROOKLYN COMMUNITY SERVICES | 285 SCHERMERHORN STREET, BROOKLYN, NY 11217 | 718.310.5600 | WEAREBCS.ORG

NYN 40 under 40 - Rising Stars

UNITING COMMUNITIES THROUGH THE ARTS Fast fact: Tweet her @hartandsolmomo

Monica Valenzuela Deputy Director Staten Island Arts Monica Valenzuela knew from an early age that she wanted to be involved in her Staten Island community, and that desire to serve has carried through to today. As deputy director of Staten Island Arts, Valenzuela works to mesh the arts with civics, melding the arts world with the work of developers and government officials while also providing opportunities for young people to get involved in artistic endeavors. “Something that’s at the forefront of a lot of our work is to bring artists and developers into conversation, to bring artists and city government into conversation,” Valenzuela said. She believes that by getting kids involved early, her organization can open doors for them, making them realize how important art is in all walks of life, perhaps setting them on a career path they might not have otherwise chosen. “People are constantly interacting with their world through art, and that creates an opportunity to create powerful connections and gives people a tool to create change,” she said. Valenzuela also currently serves as a member of the Times Square Alliance Curatorial Committee, Naturally Occurring Cultural Districts of New York, Department of Transportation Art Committee and the Staten Island Chamber of Commerce's Young Professionals Group Leadership Committee.​ NYN: HOW DID YOU BECOME INTERESTED IN YOUR FIELD? MV: I was always working in the community growing up, so I think it made me naturally inclined towards nonprofit work.

But, I didn’t really think of it as nonprofit or for-profit, and I think a lot of people don’t know the difference. I think when you care about your neighborhood and you care about your community there isn’t much of a difference. I was looking for a job that would allow me to do that and that matched me with the nonprofit sector.

NYN: DESCRIBE AN ACCOMPLISHMENT YOU ARE MOST PROUD OF? MV: I am most proud of my work on the LUMEN Festival, an annual performance and video art festival.

NYN: WHAT CHANGE WOULD MOST HELP THE INDIVIDUALS YOUR ORGANIZATION SERVES? MV: Increased funding for arts education and integration into multidisciplinary and intergenerational curricula, for youth to seniors, would help communities address non-arts issues.

NYN: WHAT IS THE ONE THING YOU’D LIKE TO ACCOMPLISH BEFORE YOU RETIRE? MV: Before I retire, I would like to start a collective for arts administrators from different organizations to address advocacy and professional development.

NYN: WHAT DO YOU WISH PEOPLE KNEW ABOUT YOUR JOB? MV: When you start to empower artists and work at the neighborhood level to make art happen, it really brings the community together because a lot of jobs and a lot of facets of life have a creative aspect. I think it’s something that allows people to express themselves, express ideas, express concerns. It’s multi-faceted and I think it’s an excellent way to do activism, an excellent way to bring communities together after a tragedy and celebrate culture and learn about each other.

56

N Y Nmedia .c om

Allison Weingarten Empire State Fellow, Nonprofit Coordination Unit New York State Division of the Budget

NYN 40 under 40 - Rising Stars

BRINGING A NONPROFIT PERSPECTIVE TO ALBANY Fast fact: Tweet her @alliewein

Allison Weingarten is serving her fellowship in the state budget division unit that works on contracting, poverty reduction and developing a Nonprofit Infrastructure Capital Investment program. After earning her master’s degree in social work at Hunter College’s Silberman School of Social Work, she became the program director of the Queens Community House’s after-school program, which she kept running despite severe financial challenges.

NYN: HOW DID YOU BECOME INTERESTED IN YOUR FIELD? AW: I had this really cool job working under then-Assemblyman Rory Lancman. It was really fun, but actually most of the people I was meeting that I was really inspired by on the job were social workers. They weren’t caseworkers, and they weren’t in schools doing that really tough work with kids, which is so important, but they were advocates.

That led me to want to go for my master’s in social work, which was not really something I had even known about before getting that job.

NYN: DESCRIBE AN ACCOMPLISHMENT YOU ARE MOST PROUD OF. AW: Working for this after-school program; before I came on board, they had lost funding and we were able to keep it open doing fee-based services. We happened to be in a closer-to-middle-class area, so there were some kids that really couldn’t afford it, but for the most part, these were working people who struggled to pay that tuition every month – that we also struggled to keep as low as possible. And we were able to keep it open through after-school, summer camp, always looking for scholarships and ways that we could get some free field trips, things like that, so that parents wouldn’t have to pay for it. Then the city put out a new RFP that I applied for with a team of coworkers and we got that funding. If it was up to me, every child would have a free, safe place to go if they needed it after school and in the summer.

But I would say that my favorite accomplishment was almost bringing the staff vs. parents basketball team to a victory in one of our tournaments, but the parents did win. I just loved the kids and the families so much. It was hard to to leave and come to government, but I’m sharing what I know and hopefully that makes a difference.

NYN: WHAT CHANGE WOULD MOST HELP THE INDIVIDUALS YOUR ORGANIZATION SERVES? AW: Especially right now with the whole Trump movement and the British exit, there’s just a lot of people that don’t understand what the other half goes through, or practically the other 80 percent goes through. If there were more of those stories, and if you knew how hard working parents work – single moms, single dads – there would be a lot more compassion and a lot more willingness to help your neighbor, even if your neighbor is on the other side of the tracks.

N Y Nmedia .c om

57

NYN 40 under 40 - Rising Stars

WE ARE A BUSINESS Fast fact: Tweet her @JerichoProject1

LaToya Williams-Belfort Chief Development & Communications Officer Jericho Project LaToya Williams-Belfort gave up a more lucrative career in corporate America to follow her passions. At Jericho Project, she is responsible for fundraising and communications; driving all funding, marketing, volunteer engagement and special event strategies to support programs that are designed to help end homelessness at its roots. Williams-Belfort previously served as vice president of fundraising and operations for Children of Promise New York City and as director of special events and fundraising at United Way of New York City. She is a wife and mother of two beautiful sons. Additionally, she holds a bachelors of arts degree in media and communications from the State University of New York at Old Westbury.

NYN: DESCRIBE AN ACCOMPLISHMENT YOU ARE MOST PROUD OF. LWB: Before I came to Jericho I worked for Children of Promise New York City for about three and a half years, and when I got there it was a very small organization with a budget that was under a million dollars, and it was about 90 percent restricted. I was able to go into Children of Promise, which was more of a social entrepreneurship … and I was able to double by almost 200 percent the operating budget. The more dollars you can bring in, the more people you can serve, the more impact you can create.

NYN: WHAT CHANGE WOULD MOST HELP THE INDIVIDUALS YOUR ORGANIZATION SERVES? LWB: What really excited me about this organization and this work is that society’s conversation is really on the pulse of the face of homelessness and what it looks like and what it really looks like in comparison with what people think it looks like. I’m right on the pulse of being part of a team and an organization that can really shape some of that perception and really shape some of that conversation and then drive support.

NYN: WHAT IS THE ONE THING YOU’D LIKE TO ACCOMPLISH BEFORE YOU RETIRE? LWB: I would just like to be privileged enough to continue to do work that’s important to me. I hope to be able to really drive policy and really continue to raise a lot of funds, more funds than previously raised, maybe create some venture partnerships and do some out-of-the-box things.

NYN: WHAT DO YOU WISH PEOPLE KNEW ABOUT YOUR JOB? LWB: I think there’s just this general perception that because we’re in the nonprofit space that we’re not a business, that we’re not selling a product, that we're not thinking about our fiscal management and how we grow and develop in a very sustainable way. We are a business. How do we bring in funders, how do we create value-add, how do we position partnerships so that there’s a return on investment? People don’t look at nonprofits from that business model as much as they look at for-profits. It’s the same thing, it’s just that a lot of nonprofits have less resources and again we’re really dealing with people’s lives.

58

N Y Nmedia .c om

NYN 40 under 40 - Rising Stars

The Boards of Directors and Staffs of HeartShare’s Family of Services proudly extend their warmest and sincerest congratulations to

Dawn V. Saffayeh Executive Director of HeartShare St. Vincent’s Services upon receiving her honor as a

2016 New York Nonprofit “40 Under 40 Rising Star” and

congratulate all those being recognized as 2016 New York Nonprofit “40 Under 40 Rising Stars” Paul J. Torre

William R. Guarinello

Chair, Board of Directors President and Chief Executive Officer HeartShare Human Services of New York

Kenneth P. Nolan, Esq.

Cody K. McCone, Esq.

Chair, Board of Directors Vice Chair, Board of Directors N Y Nmedia .c om 59 HeartShare St. Vincent’s Services

NYN 40 under 40 - Rising Stars

Congratulations to all the Rising Stars!

Your Trusted Partner Supporting nonprofits with accounting and finance expertise.

Advisory | Part-Time | Interim | Consulting | Search

60

amsolutions.net N Y Nmedia .c om