Community Food Funders (CFF)
Partners: CFF is funded through the support of several Philanthropy New York members, including the David Rockefeller Fund, the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation, the Jessie Smith Noyes Foundation, the Laurie M. Tisch Illumination Fund, the North Star Fund and the Surdna Foundation.
Background: CFF is a philanthropic organizing project formed in 2011 to provide information, resources and networking opportunities for funders in the New York, New Jersey and southern Connecticut region to invest in the transition to an equitable and ecologically sound regional food system that emphasizes local growing, processing and distribution.
Update: Community Food Funders invites funders to become more involved in their ongoing work by joining one of their four working groups:
- Food Chain Workers – spearheaded by Hugh Hogan at North Star Fund and Kolu Zigbi at Jessie Smith Noyes Foundation
- Food Hubs, Financing, and Investment – spearheaded by Michelle Knapik at Surdna Foundation and Bob Dandrew at Local Economies Project/New World Foundation
- Public Health and Healthy Food Access – spearheaded by Rick Luftglass at Laurie M. Tisch Illumination Fund
- Urban Agriculture – spearheaded by Liz Miller at Doris Duke Charitable Foundation and Ruth Goldman at Merck Family Fund
If you're interested in joining a CFF working group, please contact Mafruza Khan, Interim Food and Environmental Program Officer at North Star Fund, at mafruza@northstarfund.org.
The next CFF Steering Committee meeting is on October 30, from 9:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., at the North Star Fund office, 520 Eighth Avenue, Suite 2203 (between 36th and 37th Streets).
New York Juvenile Justice Initiative at Philanthropy New York
Partners: Philanthropy New York members; NYS Office of Children and Family Services, NYS Department of Criminal Justice Services, Juvenile Justice Advisory Group, NYC Administration for Children’s Services, and Department of Probation.
Background: In late winter 2010, PNY convened a steering committee of representatives from seven member foundations, including four officers. This project started as our At‐Risk Youth Working Group in mid‐2009. Thanks to the work of the several commissioners and a coalescing group of funders committed to juvenile justice issues, the initiative forged important early partnerships to substantially reform New York’s rightly criticized juvenile justice system. A mid‐June 2010 meeting at Philanthropy New York featured remarks and presentations from leaders within both sectors as well as from the service sector and a youth presenter. Closing remarks by former Chief Judge Judith Kaye inspired all participants and gave us a road map for our next steps.
Stemming from this meeting, a group of Philanthropy New York members, led by the Prospect Hill Foundation, the New York Foundation and The New York Community Trust, coalesced with the intent of holding regular briefings with advocates and other grantees, developing a youth advisory group and exploring ways to support a reform agenda. This group now forms the steering committee of the re-named New York Juvenile Justice Initiative at Philanthropy New York, and has gone on to plan and hold sessions on a roughly monthly basis. Its core strategy involves knowledge exchange between funders and between nonprofits and foundations.
Update: NYJJI issued a brief providing an overview of New York State’s age of criminal responsibility and the Raise the Age movement. An NYJJI briefing on Raise the Age may also happen in the upcoming year.