Knowledge Center

The New York Foundation looks to connect its grantees and other nonprofit organizations in New York City with resources useful in achieving our common goals. With our Knowledge Center we collect reports, case studies, policy briefs, and other knowledge assets produced by New York Foundation grantees and affiliated organizations. While some of these works were funded by the Foundation, our goal in providing this collection is to put a spotlight on the contributions that Foundation grantees have made to social issue analysis and problem solving.
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Asian Pacific Americans for Educational Equity: Values and Policy Recommendations

April 22, 2021

Educational equity requires putting systems in place that acknowledge and address the specific challenges, histories, and needs impacting students from different backgrounds, to holistically support them as they learn. Despite the systemic inequities APA public school students and their families face, they are often excluded from or misrepresented in discussions on educational equity issues including school integration, opportunity gaps, systemic racism, and poverty. However, APA students continue to be impacted by overcrowding in schools, bullying, lack of quality language-accessible and culturally-responsive services, under referrals in special education, underfunding of programs for English Language learners, and more.It is true that the complex diversity of our community can make outreach difficult within the current system. However, the Department of Education and schools can take key steps to address inequities that involve building and funding strong partnerships with community-based organizations who often have the language proficiency and cultural responsiveness to help support families, collecting and providing disaggregated data, and increasing the representation of APA educators and staff.

Our Stories and Visions: Gender in Black Immigrant Communities

February 12, 2021

Because this report discusses topics that some may find triggering, we have broad content warnings for the whole report which include: racism, displacement, civil war, misogynoir, xenophobia, sexual assault, police brutality, immigration enforcement (ICE), deportation as well as mental and physical health. At the beginning of each chapter, section-specific content warnings are also provided. Below each graph and image, we include descriptive captions for accessibility.Our report is story-driven, which means that we center the voices and experiences of the individuals that we interviewed. We include quotes from them throughout the report. While we may not necessarily agree with all of the content or the language used in each quote, we include them because we believe they help paint a holistic picture of the stories and visions of Black immigrants.For confidentiality reasons, we have removed most personal identifiers and only refer to participants by their location and age. Towards the end of the report, we have a works cited page where you can see some of the articles, projects, and stories that inspired our research. 

Licensing A Legacy

December 8, 2020

Hair braiding is a profession largely by and for Black women.  It represents an integral part of many African cultures and is a part of cultural heritage for African women.  For many African immigrant women, hair braiding is also the most marketable skill and accessible employment to support their families here and back home. However, working as a hair braider is not as simple as one might think.  African immigrant hair braiders are a marginalized workforce facing numerous challenges, including regulatory and structural barriers to practicing their craft.  Most have not been able to obtain the Natural Hair Styling license, which is required by the State to do their work. Our report sheds light on these issues and lays out recommendations to make the license more accessible.The report is the culmination of a Participatory Action Research project that centered on the leadership of African hair braiders.  ACT conducted nearly 350 surveys, three focus groups, and interviews with braiders.  Our research found that surveyed hair braiders want licenses and feel the pressure and fear of being unlicensed: they are concerned about the fact that they are unlicensed, which leaves them vulnerable to theft of services and penalties from authorities for license violations. Our data also show that the State licensing process imposes significant barriers on braiders who want to obtain a Natural Hair Styling license. Most braiders lack information about the requirements to apply for the license. Barriers like language access, literacy, and the time and cost of training programs put the license out of reach for most braiders. The report details policy recommendations to improve African hair braiders' access to licensure, including improving access to information about the license, revising the course and examination requirements, streamlining the process by which braiders can document prior experience, and more.

Streets to Statehouse: Building Grassroots Power in New York

January 1, 2020

This report shares the lessons learned from two 2019 statewide campaigns that were led by grassroots organizations working in coalition with broader policy and advocacy networks. Housing Justice for All and Green Light NY won significant changes for low-income renters and driver's licenses for undocumented immigrants, respectively. The campaigns challenged the model of traditional top-down advocacy by centering directly-impacted people from low-income communities of color in leadership and decisionmaking. Both campaigns also demonstrated that community power can be leveraged between grassroots electoral organizing and issue-based legislative campaigns. Finally, by centering member-led organizations from rural, suburban and urban communities, the campaigns demonstrated how progressive policy changes require long-term investment in groups that build people power across regional difference through shared mass mobilization strategies. 

Moments That Define Our Work

August 1, 2019

This timeline provides a summary of key moments and grants of the New York Foundation related to racial equity from the 1910s to 2010s.

Nonprofit Executives and the Racial Leadership Gap: A Race to Lead Brief

May 28, 2019

This brief shifts focus to those who have already reached positions as nonprofit EDs and CEOs to explore how nonprofit executives grapple with the real-world demands of leadership when they attain it. The survey data and insights shared through interviews and focus groups highlight key areas where the pressures of executive leadership seem to be increased for people of color. Despite these challenges, nonprofit EDs and CEOs demonstrate remarkable determination and resilience.

Black Women and Sexual Assault

October 1, 2018

This factsheet published by the National Center on Violence Against Women in the Black Community gives data on black women and sexual assault in the United States.

Black Lives at the Border

January 1, 2018

Black immigrants are one of the fastest growing demographics in the United States. Nonetheless, this group remains a novelty in the broader immigration discourse. This report aims to elevate the conditions facing Black immigrants in the United States, drawing particular attention to their experience in the criminal law and immigration systems. This report argues that like African-Americans, Black immigrants experience disparate, often negative, outcomes within various social and economic structures in the United States, including the country's mass criminalization and immigration enforcement regimes.

The State of Black Immigrants Part I: A Statistical Portrait of Black Immigrants in the United States

September 28, 2016

The last four decades have represented a period of significant demographic change in the United States. Now more than ever, Black immigrants compose a significant percentage of both immigrant and Black populations in the U.S. overall. This report presents a statistical snapshot of the Black immigrant population, drawing upon recent studies and original analysis

The State of Black Immigrants Part II: Black Immigrants in the Mass Criminalization System

September 28, 2016

Black immigrants are one of the fastest growing demographics in the United States. Nonetheless, this group remains a novelty in the broader immigration discourse. This report aims to elevate the conditions facing Black immigrants in the United States, drawing particular attention to their experience in the criminal law and immigration systems. This report argues that like African-Americans, Black immigrants experience disparate, often negative, outcomes within various social and economic structures in the U.S., including the country's mass criminalization and immigration enforcement regimes.

Young Men of Color and the Other Side of Harm: Addressing Disparities in our Responses to Violence

December 16, 2014

Attention is increasingly being paid to the disparities young men of color face in our society, including their disproportionate involvement in the criminal justice system as those responsible for crime. Little recognition, however, is given to the fact that young men of color are also disproportionately victims of crime and violence. This issue brief aims to raise awareness of this large but often overlooked group of victims, and help foster efforts -- both local and nationwide -- to provide them with the compassionate support and services they need and deserve.

Rise of the Renter Nation: Solutions to the Housing Affordability Crisis

June 1, 2014

Private homeownership cannot serve as our only model for decent, stable housing. While the most recent speculative bubble raised the proportion of homeowners nationwide to 70 percent of all households, this gain was an illusion that vanished as the market collapsed. A longer view reveals that for three decades before the bubble began in the mid-1990s, homeownership rates hovered around 64 percent, despite massive federal and market support. Further, the historic average obscures important and severe racial disparities in homeownership rates, which have never exceeded 50 percent for black and Latino populations. Yet, policy and even much of the progressive analysis of the housing crisis seem incapable of acknowledging -- much less acting on -- these realities. The result is a national dialogue about the housing crisis that all but ignores the growing renter class, where the crisis is concentrated, and retains a myopic focus on private ownership. The following report is a reality check. It attempts to redirect the conversation and provide an agenda for genuine housing security for all.

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