The Philanthropy New York Justice Reform Working Group (JRWG) is open to PNY Members interested in learning more or funding at the intersections of justice reform and other issue areas. If you would like to join the group, please email Ariane Cruz, Manager of Public Policy & Collaboration.
JRWG members also have access to the JRWG email listserv and online discussion group.
All Justice Reform Working Group members have the following responsibilities:
- Attend one annual Working Group meeting
- Support Working Group-sponsored programs by attending
- Use the JRWG listserv to foster an exchange of useful information and nurture the growth of a vibrant learning community
Background and History
In late 2015 and early 2016, Philanthropy New York hosted several members briefings focusing on various aspects of justice reform, including on efforts to end mass incarceration and fundamentally changing police-community relationships. As a result of those briefings, it became apparent that there was a strong and growing interest in justice reform topics among a large variety of funders, and that these issues seemed to be at a pivotal moment in history in which strategically deployed philanthropic resources might make a significant difference.
In response to members' interests in fostering collaboration, PNY organized our 2016 Annual Meeting "Rethinking American Justice" around these issues. The half-day conference was roundly applauded by a large number of our members, many of whom expressed strong interest in working with other funders and continuing to learn about these issues.
In the months that followed, we worked with several other local issue-based working groups to produce justice themed programs:
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Health Working Group: Intersections of Health and Justice: A Conversation on LEAD and New York’s Opioid Epidemic (September 13, 2016)
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Funders of Women and Girls: End the Sexual-Abuse-to-Prison Pipeline (November 2, 2016)
- Education Working Group: School Discipline is Changing. For the Better? (November 15, 2016)
As we worked with those groups to develop programs and had conversations with a core group of justice-focused funders, we realized there were several interrelated topics on justice reform that we had not yet explored in PNY programming. We developed a three-part program series "Ending the Criminialization of Poverty":
- Ending the Criminalization of Poverty: Prison is the Most Unaffordable Housing
- Ending the Criminalization of Poverty: Is Immigrant Detention the New Incarceration Boom?
- Ending the Criminalization of Poverty: The Price of Justice: America’s Unfair Bail and Prosecution System
PNY also held two events that focused on the efforts to close Rikers:
- Discuss Closing Rikers with Judge Jonathan Lippmann, Glenn Martin and Justice Reform Funders
- Funders Summit on Justice Reform: The Nation’s Eyes on Rikers
In 2019, the JRWG created a smaller Steering Committee, by invite-only, to focus on the development of working strategies based on the larger JRWG annual discussions. Sub-groups of the committee meet separately on select projects.
We welcome input from any funders interested in these issues. If you would like to be included in future communications about our justice reform work, please contact Ariane Cruz, Manager of Public Policy & Collaboration.
