Brooklyn Org

Brooklyn Org gave $1.8 million to 18 different Brooklyn organizations focused on the critical race theory-influenced concept of racial justice in 2024. ⁵

Founding and History

Brooklyn Org’s roots can be traced back to the Independence Community Foundation, which was created as the Independence Community Foundation in 1998. ⁶ In 2006, the Independence Community Foundation acquired Independence Bank, which increased its presence in Brooklyn. In 2009, the Independence Community Foundation became the Brooklyn Community Foundation. ⁷ In 2021, the Brooklyn Community Foundation became Brooklyn Org. ⁸

Jocelynne Rainey has been the CEO of the Brooklyn Community Foundation since 2021. She has worked to expand Brooklyn Org’s focus to include the far-left concept of racial justice. ⁹ Prior to joining Brooklyn Org, she was the CEO and President of Getting Out and Staying Out (GOSO), an anti-recidivism program in New York City, ¹⁰ and an adjunct professor at Columbia University. ¹¹

Activities

Brooklyn Org is a left-of-center grantmaking and advocacy organization focused on Brooklyn, New York. Since its founding, Brooklyn Org has given more than $100 million in grants to organizations, with a focus on the left-of-center concepts of racial justice and community engagement. ⁸ The ffoundation boasts that 75% of its grantee organizations are “BIPOC-led.” ^{3 4} Each year, the organization supports more than 100 organizations across Brooklyn, New York. ²

The far-left concept of racial justice is central to Brooklyn Org’s grantmaking and community engagement. Grantmaking is focused on 12 main topics, including racial justice and indigenous rights, public health and access, mental health, environmental justice, childhood and arts education, work and opportunity, housing, urban development, criminal justice, immigrant and refugee issues, civic engagement and democracy, climate change and clean energy, and confronting America’s alleged “history of inequality.” ^{12 12 12}

Grantmaking

Since its founding, Brooklyn Org has made more than $100 million in grants. The organization’s $60 million endowment mainly operates through a community fund and donor-advised funds it helps administer. ¹² Brooklyn Org gave $1.8 million to 18 different Brooklyn organizations focused on the critical race theory-influenced concept of racial justice in 2024. ⁵ Brooklyn Org’s grants focus on the far-left concept of racial justice, immigrant services, and “advocacy” on what the group considers to be “police accountability.” ¹³

The Brooklyn Community Foundation has five major grantmaking programs: ¹⁴ The Brooklyn Elders Fund, which is focused on Brooklynites aged 55 and above; the Immigrant Rights Fund, which offers support to both legal and illegal immigrants; ¹⁵ Invest in Youth, which funds nonprofits supporting New Yorkers aged 16 through 24 with a particular focus on issues like gun control ¹⁶ and LGBTQ causes; ¹⁷ the Spark Prize, which the Brooklyn Community Foundation says provides over $600,000 a year to organizations committed to “equity and racial justice”; and the Special Initiatives project, which responds to ad-hoc issues like the COVID-19 pandemic. ¹⁸

Previously, The Brooklyn Community Foundation ran the Brooklyn Restorative Justice Project, a program aiming to alter the traditional school disciplinary system for its perceived “racial disparities.” ¹⁹ The Brooklyn Community Foundation was also active in the 2020 Census, including opposing proposals to only count American citizens in the census. ²⁰

In 2023, Brooklyn Org made grants of $1,500,000 to Grameen America, $562,500 to Global Entrepreneurship Network, and $535,760 to Nest. ²¹ Brooklyn Org made $18,412,951 in grants in 2022 ²² and $12,040,313 in grants in 2021. ²³

In 2022, Brooklyn Org’s grants included $1,500,000 to Grameen America, $562,000 to Global Entrepreneurship, $535,760 to Nest, $500,000 to Community Capital Fund, $255,000 to Center for Disaster Philanthropy, $250,000 to Graham Windham, $200,000 to Ocean Conservancy, $200,000 to NYC Kids Rise, $200,000 to Salesianum School, $145,000 to the Auburn University Foundation, $125,000 to NAACP Legal Defense and Education Fund, $125,000 to Asian Americans Advancing Justice, $125,000 to Native American Rights Fund, $125,000 to UnidosUS (formerly National Council of La Raza), $115,000 to Arab-American Family Support Center, $110,000 to Operation HOPE, $100,000 to the Jewish Federation of Palm Beach County, $100,000 to Cypress Hills Child Care Corporation, $80,000 to the Fund for the City of New York, $85,000 to Inspiring Futures, $85,000 to South Asian Youth Action, $85,000 to Center for Community Alternatives, $72,500 to After Hours Project, $72,500 to Community Counseling and Meditation, $72,500 to Housing Plus, $72,500 to Voices of Community Activists and leaders, $45,000 to Youth Justice Network, $20,000 to the National Network of Abortion Funds, $10,000 to Doctors Without Borders, and $10,000 to Planned Parenthood. ²⁴

Brooklyn Org also made grants of $100,000 to the Center for Law and Social Justice in 2018, ²⁵ $100,000 to Common Justice in 2017, ²⁵ $72,500 to the Ali Forney Center in 2022; ²⁵ $77,000 to Girls for Gender Equity in 2021, $70,000 to the Muslim Community Network in 2021, ²⁵ and $70,000 to The Black Institute in 2021. ²⁵

The organization gave Black Women’s Blueprint, an advocacy group that support left-leaning racial and economic policies, nearly $400,000 to fund the 2017 Black Women’s March on Washington. It has also given $350,000 to The Black Institute, $135,000 to the Carroll Gardens Association, $150,000 to DriveChange, $135,000 to Families and Friends of the Wrongly Convicted, $135,0000 to First Tech Fund, and $135,000 to New York Communities Organizing Fund. Other organizations Brooklyn Org has supported include Refugee Translation Project, Sure We Can, Teens Take Charge, Voices Ciudadanas, Women’s Empowerment Coalition of NYC, Worker’s Justice Project, and Youth Design Center, Asian American Federation, Brooklyn Movement Center, Center for Law and Social Justice, Churches United For Fair Housing, Council of Peoples Organization, Fifth Avenue Committee, IntegrateNYC, Jews for Racial and Economic Justice, LiveOn NY, May Day Space, Muslim Community Network, Parent-Child Relationship Association, Release Aging People in Prison, and VOCAL-NY. ²⁶

Financials

Brooklyn Org receives its funding from individual contributions and grants. ² In 2022, the organization reported revenue of $18,508,501 and expenses of $8,708,861. In 2022, Brooklyn Community Foundation reported revenue of $36,110,800 and expenses of $15,582,657. ²⁷

In 2023, Brooklyn Org received $2,665,100 from Vanguard Charitable Endowment Program. In 2020, received $5,100,000 from CABS Community Foundation. In 2021, received $15,000,000 from the New York Congregational Nursing Center. ²⁸ Brooklyn Community Foundation received $100,000 from the Ford Foundation in 2020. ²⁹

Brooklyn Org has also received support from the Joe and Clara Tsai Foundation Social Justice Fund, LeBlanc Family Fund, Kitchings Family Foundation, Warbug Pincus Foundation, The Commonwealth Fund, Elma Philanthropies, The Hagedorn Fund, the PayPal Giving Fund, Amalgamated Charitable Foundation, and others. ^{30 31}

Brooklyn Org has received corporate support from American International Group (AIG), Etsy, Google, LinkedIn, McKinsey and Company, Pfizer, S&P Global, Silicon Valley Bank, and Spotify. ³²