New York Communities Organizing Fund (NYCOFI)

NYCOFI is closely connected to the Ford Foundation, which has made a number of grants to it including $600,000 in 2025, ⁹ two grants totaling $750,000 in 2023, ^{10 11} and $925,000 in 2020. ¹² In total, the Ford Foundation reports having made 12 grants to NYCOFI since 2006. ¹³ Ford Foundation “worker power and capital strategies portfolio” program officer Maritza Silva-Farrell sits on NYCOFI’s Board of Directors. ¹⁴

In March 2025, NYCOFI’s project Climate Defenders was allegedly part of organizing and participated in #TeslaTakedown, a series of national protests against electric vehicle company Tesla over its CEO Elon Musk’s ties to the second Trump administration. ¹⁵

Controversies

New York Communities Organizing Fund and New York Communities for Change have been accused of potentially violating federal tax and election laws by using charitable donations in lobbying efforts, failing to properly track and report donations, and concealing their connection to ACORN, which was stripped of federal funding after a series of controversies. ¹⁶

In 2011, U.S. Representative Darrell Issa (R-CA), the chair of the House Oversight Committee, wrote a letter to the U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of New York requesting that the Justice Department investigate whether NYCC was simply a rebranded ACORN. ¹⁷

In 2012, the right-leaning watchdog group Cause of Action filed a complaint with the Internal Revenue Service alleging that New York Communities Organizing Fund and New York Communities for Change had violated federal nonprofit tax law by taking charitable donations and using them to support Occupy Wall Street protestors and undertake prohibited electoral advocacy, including then-NYCOFI executive director Jonathan Westin’s creation of a campaign opposing then-Republican Presidential candidate Mitt Romney. ¹⁸

In 2020 it was reported that NYCOFI had contributed $92,000 to the Mutual Housing Association of New York, which had previously evicted tenants for unpaid rents as low as $1,220.  ¹⁹

Activities

Labor

The New York Communities Organizing Fund is closely connected to labor unions and advocates for labor union-aligned policies. ¹ It supported the “Fight for $15” minimum wage campaign after its parent New York Communities for Change received millions from the Service Employees International Union (SEIU), ²⁰ and NYCOFI has previously accepted funding from SEIU affiliates including SEIU 32BJ. ²¹

NYCOFI supports the union-backed Hedge Clippers campaign against hedge funds and other private equity firms. ¹

Environmentalism

The New York Communities Organizing Fund (NYCOFI) has advocated for left-of-center environmental policies while claiming both climate change and “climate inequality” are alleged “moral crises” for minority communities. ¹

It has an unclear connection to the radical-left environmental activism group Planet Over Profit. On the left-leaning fundraising site ActBlue, potential donors to Planet over Profit are told “Your contribution will benefit New York Communities Organizing Fund, Inc.” ²²

Planet Over Profit is one of the organizations identified by former Wall Street Journal journalist Asra Nomani as allegedly involved with planning and taking part in #TeslaTakedown, a series of nationwide protests targeting car company Tesla over its CEO Elon Musk‘s work with the second Trump administration. ²³

Nomani also alleged that Climate Defenders, another NYCOFI project, was involved in the Tesla protests. ²⁴ Climate Defenders claims to be a registered 501(c)(4) organization on its website. However, the group also states that it has a fiscal sponsor; ²⁵ a link leads to the page for Climate Organizing Hub, which is in turn fiscally sponsored by NYCOFI. ²⁶

Housing

The New York Communities Organizing Fund (NYCOFI) had advocated housing regulations designed to limit property owners’ discretion. ¹⁹ It is a member of several New York-based left-of-center housing coalitions including the Alliance for Tenant Power and the Upstate/Downstate Alliance. These groups support eviction prohibitions and rent controls, aligning against property owners. ²⁰

Immigration

The New York Communities Organizing Fund (NYCOFI) previously established a fund meant for undocumented migrants during the COVID-19 pandemic in place of government-sponsored payments. ¹

Funding

As of 2018, New York Communities Organizing Fund is financially supported by left-of-center organizations including Americans for Financial Reform Education Fund ²⁷ and Center for Popular Democracy; ²⁸ left-wing foundations including the Ford Foundation, ¹³ North Star Fund, ²⁹ Rockefeller Brothers Fund, ³⁰ Brooklyn Org, ³¹ Cultures of Resistance Network Foundation, ³² and the Douglas H. Phelps Foundation; ³³ and labor unions including SEIU 32BJ, the RWDSU division of the United Food and Commercial Workers, and the American Federation of Teachers. ³⁴

Leadership

As of 2025, New York Communities Organizing Fund was led by co-executive directors Olivia Leirer and Lucas Sanchez. ³⁵ Leirer was previously a fundraising specialist at the now-defunct ACORN. ³⁶ Sanchez began at NYCOFI as a labor and community organizer, where he later founded its Workers’ Committee Chapter. He then became the organization’s Long Island director, and later its deputy director. ³⁷

As of 2025, NYCOFI’s board chair was listed as Dorothy Amadi. ³⁵