|
Dear Colleagues:
As some of you know, for the past five years, funders across New York State have been strategizing and moving resources to support census and redistricting efforts in the name of fair representation.
As part of the Fund's work, we commissioned three independent reports to document our work and to understand how we could be more effective in 2030. In our first report, New York State Census Equity Fund: Document and Evaluation Report, the recommendations focused on the Fund starting its work earlier, working closely with other stakeholders on strategies that would produce better results, and continuing to use the infrastructure the Fund created for other priority issue areas. In that spirit, in 2022, Engage New York secured a national grant and established a multi-stakeholder table to continue to promote the value of census and to help the State prepare for a complete count in 2030. The partners at the table include:
- Health and Welfare Council of Long Island
- The New York Civic Engagement Table
- The New York Immigration Coalition
- CUNY Mapping Service
- NYU Law School's Census and Redistricting Institute
- Funders from Long Island, New York City, Buffalo, and the Hudson Valley
Each of these organizations and leaders played a critical role in the 2020 census and is uniquely positioned to help lead an even better effort in 2030. The "Census Lite" table has two initial goals:
- Increase the number of institutions using census data
- Communicate the value of census in "off years" to help prepare for April 1, 2030 (census day)
Today, we are thrilled to announce the launch of NewYorkCounts.org! As we look towards Census 2030, we want to ensure that leaders have the resources they need to make the next census a success in every New York community. The population shifts in our state revealed by the recent releases from the U.S. Census Bureau underscores the ongoing necessity to guarantee an accurate count and we need your help in doing so.
NewYorkCounts.org is your go-to hub for all things related to Census 2030 in our State. Please share this resource with your grantees. On the website, you can sign up to receive updates to stay informed about resources, data reports, actions, and more. If you have resources that you would like to share with the community, you can submit them through the website.
In the upcoming months, more information will be available about the work of this collaboration, and you will have access to new resources to help guide your regional and local work. The work for a more accurate census count starts today, and it will take all of us to ensure every New Yorker is counted!
Please contact me if you would like to connect or learn more.
Sincerely,
Lisa Fasolo Frishman
Engage New York
| 
