Description

Mariko,
I am pleased to recommend the special grants below. As you know, we invited our democracy grantees to nominate partners for consideration of support. We asked grantees to identify organizations that they collaborate with to advance shared goals or rely upon to carry out their own work. We believed that this approach to grantmaking in an exploratory initiative would be educational for us, helping us to understand better the networks and alliances that shape and define the democracy field. We also wanted to experiment with participatory approaches to grantmaking.
We received more than two dozen nominations. You and I reviewed the endorsements prepared by the democracy grantees and agreed to invite full proposals from six organizations. I have reviewed those proposals and supporting materials and am recommending general operating grants of $100,000 for each of the following:
Racial Impact Study Coalition (RISC), New York, NY. RISC, a partnership among 13 New York not-for-profits, led the effort to pass legislation in the New York City Council to require a racial impact study prior to any re-zoning. Concerned about the tendency of re-zoning to result in the displacement of long-time residents of a neighborhood, especially people of color, the Coalition shaped and supported a proposal to require such studies advanced by Public Advocate Jumaane Williams. Now that the legislation has passed, the Coalition is seeking to educate community advocates and neighborhood leaders about the law and also the data tools mandated by the law that help the city and communities to analyze the impact of rezoning on a particular area. RISC is working with the Center for Urban Pedagogy, a Luce democracy grantee, that uses design strategies to make government policies and procedures more accessible to and understandable by citizens. Making the racial impact study requirement accessible is critical if communities are to advocate on their own behalf with  government. Coalition member The Municipal Arts Society will serve as fiscal sponsor for the grant.