Photo: Brooklyn Community Foundation
Brooklyn Community Foundation has announced the inaugural cohort of its Incubator Project-- one of several new programs within the Foundation's Brooklyn Accelerator, which launched earlier this year as a capacity-building hub for local, emerging non profits.
Through the Incubator Project, three nonprofit organizations were selected to take advantage of one year of free co-working space in BCF's new headquarters at 1000 Dean Street, as well as a $5,000 stipend for start-up costs, plus tailored ongoing technical assistance and training to support their development.
The local non-profits selected are:
Be More, an organization committed to disrupting racial inequities through innovation and technology. Be More aims to raise awareness about race-based disparities, train change agents with tools to reduce unconscious bias to eliminate racial inequities, and foster leadership to enable multiracial social change movements. In the coming year, Be More will launch its second #Vision2040 social media video campaign, organize community gatherings to heal from racism, and prototype a training to reduce unconscious bias using evidence-based techniques.
Domestic Workers United (DWU), an organization of Caribbean, Latina and African caregivers and housekeepers—concentrated in Crown Heights and Flatbush—that organizes to end exploitation and oppression for all workers whose labor is based primarily in homes and is not protected by most labor laws in New York City. DWU has adopted a model that centers on the development of strong, low-income immigrant women of color leaders who have the drive, training, and sensitivity to lead a movement for social change.
The Precedential Group, founded by Marlon Peterson in 2014, is an organization working to establish "Child Safe Zones" to reduce gun violence in Brooklyn neighborhoods by engaging young people, local police, schools, and residents. Marlon Peterson has led, advised, and supported several criminal justice reform organizations including Fortune Society, Crown Heights Mediation Center, and New Yorkers Against Gun Violence. Marlon recently received the Soros Fellowship Award from Open Society Foundation.
The three organizations were selected for their strong leadership, unique approaches and connection to the Foundation's strategic priorities.
"We couldn't be more thrilled to open our doors to Brooklyn's innovative nonprofit community in this unique way," said Brooklyn Community Foundation President & CEO Cecilia Clarke. "As Brooklyn's community foundation, we want to think outside traditional models of support for nonprofits and fuel new ideas spurring social change across the borough. This is an outstanding group of leaders whom we hope to lift up as they build and develop their projects."
