Investing in Policy Development at the Roots: The Grassroots Policy Incubator Kicks Off!
By Evan Goldstein, Senior Policy Associate and Patrick Hart, Program Director
There’s a shortage of funding and capacity-building opportunities available to small grassroots organizations in NYC, which is why the Grassroots Policy Incubator has been designed specifically to support their needs. Three organizations have been selected for the pilot of this initiative that officially kicked off in early April.
Grassroots organizations have a unique, ground-level perspective of the challenges facing their communities. With this perspective comes great potential to effect meaningful change, especially with their established connections with the people they serve who can and should lead the charge to find solutions to these challenges.
But these community-based organizations (CBOs) face many barriers to actually getting to the table to make a difference through policy and practice. Much of this has to do with complex funding requirements and, relatedly, the ability to build out capacity and programming. Many funding applications, both public and private, require time and fundraising expertise that grassroots CBOs often lack; even before recent political changes at the federal level have further imperiled the financial health and existence of nonprofits of all sizes, funding has presented obstacles to the sector. This climate makes it difficult for CBOs, particularly grassroots CBOs, to take a step back and plan policy and programmatic initiatives that can address the specific needs of the communities they serve.
With these barriers in mind, the Grassroots Policy Incubator (GPI) aims to give organizations the support to do that critical community-based planning and position themselves for growth. Prompted by funding and other barriers facing CBOs, CUNY ISLG, with funding from the NYC Mayor’s Office for Economic Opportunity, conducted a systematic consultation and surveyed grassroots nonprofits across New York City seeking to identify their needs, leading to the creation of the GPI. Tailored specifically for grassroots organizations to address the reality of limited resources, the Incubator aims to give organizations the funding and capacity-building support to do critical planning that meets the needs in their communities.
Last August, CUNY ISLG launched an RFP process to solicit grassroots leaders and organizations seeking to participate in a six-month incubation process to develop policy and programmatic ideas that address a policy gap in the community by incubating it through the Policymaking Process (see Figure 1 for a breakdown of these steps). This spring, CUNY ISLG will work closely with the inaugural cohort of three organizations to provide individualized capacity-building support to address broader needs related to their chosen policy gap and connect them with a network of stakeholders to support their programs.
“Grounded, community led solutions are central to our mission,” said Carson Hicks, Executive Director of the Mayor’s Office for Economic Opportunity. “By investing in grassroots organizations, we’re working to address policy gaps and equip communities with the tools to shape a more equitable future for New York City.”
“By investing in grassroots organizations, we’re working to address policy gaps and equip communities with the tools to shape a more equitable future for New York City.”
Figure 1. Steps in the Policymaking process
The three GPI organizations are:
The Flossy Organization is based in Canarsie and helps build civic engagement and advocacy skills among neighborhood residents. Through intergenerational civics training, grassroots mobilization, and building awareness and mobilization around social justice, the Flossy Organization has activated 600 volunteers and helped secure $1.6 million in funding for community-based anti-violence programming in Canarsie. Through GPI, the Flossy Organization will build out its data collection and organizational growth goals, putting it in a strong position to continue boosting civic engagement in Canarsie.
Immigrant Children Advocates’ Relief Effort (ICARE) is a coalition of legal advocates dedicated to expanding access to legal representation for immigrant children facing deportation in New York City, while advocating for universal access to counsel. Since 2014, ICARE has obtained relief (including preventing deportation and helping obtain additional humanitarian supports) for over 1,500 children in immigration court, and their work is more essential than ever today as migrants face unrelenting hostility and cruelty from the federal government. Through GPI, ICARE will develop a plan for a Friend of the Court program that will help enhance services and supports for unaccompanied minors in immigration court in New York City.
The Survivors Justice Project (SJP) is a collective of activists, lawyers, social workers, students, and researchers fighting for decarceration through the New York Domestic Violence Survivors Justice Act (DVSJA). The DVSJA, a 2019 New York State law, recognizes that criminalization disproportionately affects survivors of domestic violence and allows judges to sentence survivors to shorter prison terms and, in some cases, community-based alternative-to-incarceration programs, and provides survivors currently in prison the opportunity to apply for resentencing. SJP works to identify survivors eligible for sentencing relief under DVSJA, works with legal system stakeholders to support SJP implementation, and gathers information and data about DVSJA for advocates working to pass similar policies outside New York. Through GPI, SJP will develop a plan to formalize and codify their learnings so that those working to implement New York’s DVSJA or similar policies elsewhere have the information needed to build out justice-centered programs, policies, and practice.
Bringing Everyone to the Table
On April 7th, the three organizations gathered at CUNY ISLG’s midtown office to connect and learn about each other’s goals and plans for the GPI. Over the next few months, all three groups will work with CUNY ISLG and external capacity builders to incubate their policy ideas to address their community needs. Despite covering vastly different policy areas, the three organizations were quick to identify common ground and aligned around the belief that solutions are rooted in their communities.
Judith Clark, Director at the Survivors Justice Project noted that “as a small grassroots project, having both the technical assistance and the know-how to take what we've learned and translate it into policy and into presentation can really further the work and makes a difference.”
“As a small grassroots project, having both the technical assistance and the know-how to take what we've learned and translate it into policy and into presentation can really further the work and makes a difference.”
“We’re honored to be in the inaugural cohort of the Grassroots Policy Incubator because as a small nonprofit working on the ground, we don’t necessarily have as much time and capacity to think about and implement cutting edge data analysis and data collection. Having the space, time, and funding support to do that is incredible” shared Jibreel Jalloh, Founder and Executive Director of the Flossy Organization.
“We’re honored to be in the inaugural cohort of the Grassroots Policy Incubator because as a small nonprofit working on the ground, we don’t necessarily have as much time and capacity to think about and implement cutting edge data analysis and data collection.”
The selection process for the GPI included specific guidelines around organizational size to ensure small organizations were prioritized. Many qualified organizations applied, which confirmed the need for this type of investment.
Evan Goldstein, Senior Policy Associate at ISLG added that “we were thrilled to see a lot of interest in the Grassroots Policy Incubator from a diverse range of NYC community-based organizations and it confirmed what we already knew: grassroots leaders have powerful ideas, but they need more support to develop them. This pilot is working to fill a gap, and we’re excited to see their ideas come to life in the coming months."
“This pilot is working to fill a gap, and we’re excited to see their ideas come to life in the coming months."
As a pilot initiative, the lessons learned from this initiative will help inform other funders looking to fund grassroots policy development in the future. In the coming months, the initiatives of the three organizations will help build equity and justice in New York City and beyond.
“As we fight to protect and expand access to legal services for immigrant youth, this initiative creates a powerful space to turn community-rooted ideas into actionable policy. We’re excited to work alongside policy experts and peer organizations to make our solutions a reality" shared Sierra Kraft, Executive Director of the ICARE Coalition.
“As we fight to protect and expand access to legal services for immigrant youth, this initiative creates a powerful space to turn community-rooted ideas into actionable policy.”