In February, we took a deep dive into child poverty, released our annual Poverty Tracker Report which takes a snapshot of poverty in NYC every year, awarded two new charter school grants through our High Quality Schools Fund, celebrated Black entrepreneurs fighting poverty, our CEO Rich Buery headlined at two Black History Month forums with corporate partners, and we welcomed our new Board Chair Dina Powell McCormick. That and more is all here in this month’s edition of Notes From The Field.
“Deep Dive: Child Poverty and the Path Forward” Launch Event
During our inaugural launch event of our new Deep Dive Series, we brought together experts, programmatic leaders, and donors to examine ways to reduce child poverty at the Deep Dive: Child Poverty and the Path Forward. The live-streamed event drew an in-person audience of nearly 100 people, and panelists from Columbia University and NYU explored data trends and highlighted findings on infant brain development when families receive monthly direct cash payments. The event culminated in a conversation moderated by The New York Times columnist Nicholas Kristof about opportunities for progress at the state and local level and the role of New York State’s Child Poverty Reduction Act, which mandates a statewide plan to cut child poverty in half within 10 years. Watch the Deep Dive event.
Annual Poverty Tracker Report Finds Government Initiatives Cut NYC’s Child Poverty Rate by 68 Percent: Many of These Policies are No Longer in Effect
Robin Hood, in collaboration with Columbia University, released its fifth Poverty Tracker Annual Report, which assesses rates of income poverty, material hardship, and economic disadvantage in New York City in 2021. This year’s Poverty Tracker includes a spotlight on temporary pandemic relief programs that dramatically — but only briefly — brought child poverty in New York City to historic lows. Download the Poverty Tracker Annual Report.
Robin Hood Appoints Dina Powell McCormick as New Board Chair
After previously serving as vice chair of the Robin Hood Board of Directors, Dina Powell McCormick was formally installed as the new Board chair of Robin Hood, during the winter meeting of the Board of Directors earlier this month. Dina is the Global Head of Sustainability and Inclusive Growth at Goldman Sachs and has a personal and professional track record of creating opportunities for people and communities that are often overlooked or undervalued. As the new chair of the Robin Hood Board of Directors, she will build upon her experience to ensure all New Yorkers get a fair shot. Read about Robin Hood’s dedicated board members.
Rich Buery Speaks at Black History Month Events with Macquarie and Wells Fargo
In honor and celebration of Black History Month, Robin Hood CEO Rich Buery was invited to a fireside chat hosted by Wells Fargo with Danielle Squires, Head of CIB Diverse Segments at the bank, in a conversation on race, equity and opportunity at the beautiful Jackie Robinson Museum in Lower Manhattan. Rich also helped kick off Macquarie Group’s Inclusion Speaker Series, where he spoke to attendees of the DEI team and BEAM (Black Employees at Macquarie) – alongside David Fass, Co-Executive Sponsor of BEAM, and Shawn Lytle, Global Head of Public Investments – on social justice and racial equity, pandemic recovery, and how we as a Robin Hood community can make a positive impact on these issues.
Robin Hood Awards Two New Charter School Grants through our High-Quality Schools Fund
To support college and career readiness, Robin Hood created two new grants through our High-Quality Schools Fund to charter high schools which opened during the 2022-23 school year — Brooklyn-based Beginning with Children and Bronx-based Family Life Academy Charter Schools. Both grants are supporting each network’s first high school — Beginning with Children Foundation’s Community High School supporting its first group of 90 ninth-graders and Family Life Academy Charter Schools which is supporting its first group of 100 ninth-graders — the expected outcome that 100 percent of high school graduates will be accepted to college. Robin Hood constituted the High-Quality Schools Fund in 2019 to facilitate the opening of 18 new charter schools and to expand and grow high-quality community district schools. Charters have played a pivotal role in Robin Hood’s funding of education initiatives and since our founding in 1988, Robin Hood has invested more than $184 million in charter schools across New York City.
Robin Hood Supports Grant to NYU Furman Center for Affordable Housing Policy Research
Robin Hood supported a grant to the Furman Center at NYU to develop and disseminate research and analysis briefs about key housing policy issues affecting the affordability crisis. These briefs are the first in a series that will explore state-level land use and housing issues in 2023. One brief on the Housing Access Voucher Program shows the impact a state-level rental assistance voucher could have on New York’s homelessness and affordability crisis — a policy priority at Robin Hood. Learn about Robin Hood’s support of the NYU Furman Center policy briefs series. Learn about our support of this policy brief series.
Blue Ridge Labs at Robin Hood Celebrates Black Founders Day Event with Black Entrepreneurs Fighting Poverty in New York City
Blue Ridge Labs at Robin Hood hosted a Black Founders Day event earlier this month to celebrate and acknowledge Black entrepreneurs in the tech space who are helping those fighting poverty in New York City. These founders are helping to create a brighter future for our communities, and we invite you to join us in celebrating their successes. Entrepreneurs featured at the event included Nkosi Cain, CEO & Co-Founder, Touchdown NYC, and Robin Hood 2021 Hero; Karen Peterson, Founder & Chief Patient Advocate, Karen’s Club; Ofo Ezeugwu, Founder & CEO, WYL (Whose Your Landlord); Anthony Edwards Jr., Founder & CEO, EatOkra; and Andre Peart, CEO at ConConnect. Learn more about Blue Ridge Labs.
Early-Stage Nonprofits Invited to Apply to Grants Readiness Cohort.
Robin Hood’s Grant Readiness and Insights Training program (GRIT) will be wrapping up applications for its 2023 spring cohort on March 15, 2023. GRIT — free for all participants — provides nonprofit leaders with the tools to elevate their results and secure more funding. GRIT is making New York’s nonprofit sector more resilient; over the last seven years, it has enabled more than 80 New York nonprofits to diversify their revenues, helping them to attract more than $12 million in new philanthropic funding. Apply for the GRIT program.
Robin Hood in the News
Gothamist/WNYC: Pandemic tax credit lifted thousands of NYC children out of poverty, report finds
Early Learning Nation: Not Just Another Museum Visit: A New Program Lets Incarcerated Parents Experience CMOM with Their Children
PBS/Chasing the Dream: Serving Others w/ Richard Buery | Attribution Ep. 22
Chalkbeat: Adams creates new City Hall office for child care, early childhood education