Since a small group of foundation leaders reimagined the purpose and value the Engage New York network could provide the field in 2017, a lot has changed and not just because of COVID. First and foremost, Engage New York has shifted our approach from supporting specific issue areas to focusing on strengthening movements and movement leaders. In 2020, besides investing $1 million in COVID response grants in 100 organizations across New York, we created the Racial Equity Pooled Fund and awarded grants to statewide coalitions and infrastructure projects that are creating bridges between regions and leaders to address some of the most pressing issues facing New Yorkers. Some of the movements and leaders our grants are supporting are addressing climate change, lead poisoning in children, housing security, safety and wage theft for agriculture workers, and criminal justice.

We have also started to convene funders around the need to increase resources to rural communities, especially rural organizers championing causes impacting communities impacted by injustice. We are convening a funder roundtable to address the rise of white nationalism in communities across New York. While both of these bodies are important to New York communities, they are national issues. To help bridge our work to national conversations addressing these challenges, we are working with our colleagues at Neighborhood Funders Group (NFG). The rural landscape scan we released in 2021, Resourcing Rural Organizing Infrastructure: A New York Case Study is inspiring a funder assessment and toolkit that is expected to be released in 2022 by NFG.

What hasn't changed is our commitment to promoting racial equity and building and strengthening the community organizing infrastructure across the State. We also remain steadfast in ensuring New Yorkers are represented by leaders who champion their causes and listen to their voices so census and redistricting work remain a cornerstone of our work. And because so much has changed in our approach, we have updated our website to highlight our new approach, our values, and our guiding principles. We encourage you to contact our staff to learn about how you can engage in our network. In the upcoming weeks, we will be adding even more information to our website to ensure we are keeping our members and colleagues up to date on our work. We invite you to learn more about our work and to join us.

In 2019, four community foundations from Buffalo, Syracuse, Utica, and New York City joined together to create an aligned funding strategy to support a burgeoning coalition of environmental advocates, lawyers, researchers, public health, and housing advocates called Lead Free Kids New York. The coalition has been working diligently since 2020 to prevent lead poisoning in children through a series of policies and regulatory demands.

In 2021, the Coalition had several wins including helping to successfully advocate for the passage of a landmark lead in school drinking water bill. This law was unanimously passed lowers the New York State action level for lead in school drinking water to 5 parts per billion (ppb), from the 15-ppb standard set in the law that was passed in 2016. The bill also provides 100% reimbursement of remediation expenses through water infrastructure programs. Another win for the Coalition was advocating for a legislative hearing on the status of lead poisoning in children. This is the first hearing to be held in over 20 years.

Just last week, the Senate introduced Bill S8453, The Childhood Lead Poisoning Prevention and Safe Housing Act of 2022 sponsored by Senator Brian Kavanagh (Brooklyn-Manhattan, 26th SD). The companion bill is expected to be introduced in the Assembly with the bill sponsor, Majority Leader Crystal Peoples-Stokes (Buffalo, 148th AD).  

Engage New York has been supporting the Coalition to ensure that communities across New York State are engaged in the work of the campaign to end lead poisoning in children. If your foundation is interested in engaging or learning more about this work, contact John Monaghan.