On the heels of the first NYC Boss Up program, FJC has partnered with the Ron and Kerry Moelis Family Foundation for a new version of the program, this time focused on veteran entrepreneurs.  The program will provide 7-10 selected winners with a grant of $20,000 and enrollment in SBS’s small business mentorship program to help veteran entrepreneurs build and grow their businesses.

The NYC Boss Up Veteran Entrepreneurship Program was announced on September 12, 2023 alongside public sector partners at the NYC Department of Small Business Services (SBS), and the NYC Department of Veterans’ Services (DVS). The program focuses on veteran entrepreneurs living in New York City. SBS will provide the program’s technical training components and all applicants will be provided with information about SBS’s free business support services. SBS will provide the education, training, support, and mentorship through a program that helps veterans apply skills they developed in the military to grow a successful and profitable business.

Funded by the Moelis Foundation, FJC will administer the program through a Scholarship & Award Account (SAA), a variation on a Donor Advised Fund (DAF) account that enables awards to individuals that are consistent with U.S. Internal Revenue Service charitability regulations.  When setting up an SAA, donors like the Moelis Foundation must undergo an application process that is approved by FJC’s Board of Directors, including designing fair selection criteria and assembling a committee of unbiased jurors, which recommend winners. 

“Following the success of the NYC Boss Up program, we wanted to support another cohort of entrepreneurs and give them the financial support and skills to take their businesses to the next level,” said Ron Moelis, co-founder of the Ron and Kerry Moelis Family Foundation. “I’m thrilled to watch our military veteran winners pursue their business plans and encourage many more veterans to apply to the program for its next round.”

“The New York City Boss Up initiative is the kind of imaginative philanthropy that can significantly improve people’s lives,” said Sam Marks, Chief Executive Officer of FJC – A Foundation of Philanthropic Funds. “FJC is excited to execute the vision of the Ron and Kerry Moelis Family Foundation, bringing together partners from government, nonprofits, and the private sector to deliver a dynamic program that invests in New York City’s veterans.”

Applications will be made available to veteran entrepreneurs with existing businesses located across the five boroughs and will be reviewed in three rounds, culminating in a pitch and panel interview featuring SBS Commissioner Kim, DVS Commissioner Hendon, veterans, and stakeholders in the philanthropic and veteran communities. Interested applicants can apply until 11 PM on October 6, 2023 using an online application portal. A virtual information session will be held on Friday, September 22, 11 am – 12 pm.  Interested applicants can register on Eventbrite.

Read the press release.

An anonymous donor at FJC is converting minefields back to productive agricultural land in Ukraine, the most mined country in the world, thanks to a $25,000 grant to APOPO. This innovative nonprofit has developed a training and breeding program for animals who can sniff out and mark the ground where unexploded landmines exist, including dogs and African Giant Pouched Rats.

FJC’s grant represents only the most recent support in a decades-long relationship between the donor and APOPO, which dates to 2007. “The social entrepreneurs at APOPO focus on prevention, rather than prosthetics,” notes the donor, who wishes to remain anonymous.  “I also found their focus on animal welfare to be compelling. The majority of APOPO’s animals live to the end of their expected lifespan, and none of their animals has ever died because of their detection work.”

APOPO (a Dutch abbreviation of Anti- Personnel Landmines Detection Product Development) was founded by rat pet-owner Bart Weetjens and his former schoolmate Christophe Cox. APOPO’s mine action teams have set foot in eight countries that suffered from the legacy of past conflicts and are currently operational in Angola, Cambodia, South Sudan, Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Zimbabwe.

It is estimated that Ukraine contains over 96,000 square miles of minefields covering 40 percent of the country’s area. Many of these minefields are filled with small antipersonnel landmines, which have been internationally prohibited since the 1997 international Mine Ban Treaty and are triggered by the weight of a human body. These types of mines cannot discriminate between civilians and soldiers, and an April 2023 report showed that 1 in 8 civilians killed or injured by landmines was a child. Despite calls from the UN Development Program for all developed countries to aid in Ukrainian demining, and the presence of over five hundred different demining teams in Ukraine, with current annual demining productivity it will take 757 years to complete the process of humanitarian de-mining.

By relying on animal detection, de-mining efforts can cut costs and avoid the drawn-out and environmentally costly process of relying on slow metal detectors and vegetation cutting machines. APOPO animals have been described as having a positive work-life balance, with the rats only surveying for 1-2 hours a day and being rewarded with peanuts on their day off. APOPO championed a 100-page animal welfare standard operating procedure for both its dogs and rats, which goes above and beyond traditional SOPs.

In 2018, APOPO also began training and deploying an innovative mine detection dog system that enhances productivity over typical mine detection dogs, by training dogs to run in 30 meters lanes (three times longer than the typical 10 meters), and to run through vegetation, greatly reducing the need for machine or handheld vegetation removal. This helps increase cost efficiency and leaves environments intact.

This fall, APOPO is launching a program in Sumy, Ukraine, which will initially include the deployment of 16 of APOPO special mine detection dogs along with 8 local female handlers. Between October, 2023 – March, 2024 APOPO will work to train, and accredit dogs and Ukrainian handlers, as well as conduct in-person community baselines surveys, so that its animal teams can be deployed in Q2 2024, as the weather becomes warm enough to begin mine clearance work. APOPO also hopes to expand the first ever Development Impact Bond linking Mine Action and Agriculture, a model they are piloting in Cambodia, to help restore agriculture in Sumy in 2025 or 2026. Given the reports that Russia was targeting farmland to prevent future agricultural recovery in the area, this joint program is essential in supporting Ukraine’s recovery.

To expedite the program, the survey animals and handlers will be trained within the already existing center in Cambodia before being deployed to Ukraine, as it is too cold to train handlers and dogs in Ukraine during late fall and winter months.  For Charlie Richter, the head of APOPO US, this international training model is tough for the traditional mine action government and UN funders whose procurement processes are usually too rigid to support a training program for Ukraine taking place in Cambodia. He noted that “this concept is too out of the box for most governments,” but that private donors can appreciate that by primarily training in Cambodia, APOPO can avoid an idol period during the Ukrainian winter and launch much needed and cost effective mine detection dog operations in Ukraine earlier.

Richter and his team welcome additional contributions. To donate, submit a grant recommendation to APOPO US (EIN# 47-1389723), or email trombold@fjc.org for more information regarding the development of the program.

Special thanks to FJC Grants Administrator Sophia Trombold for writing this story.

For its Fourth of July broadcast, BronxNet’s OPEN program featured Fortune Society Deputy CEO Stanley Richards in dialogue with FJC CEO Sam Marks on our recently-announced revolving loan fund.

“I would encourage donors who are thinking about impacting nonprofit organizations to look at this model,” Mr. Richards said.  “It’s an innovative model that allows the recycling of an investment to bring about transformative opportunities for people.”

See the interview here.

The Fortune Society is a leading provider of services and housing for people coming out of incarceration.  FJC recently worked with Fortune to arrange a revolving fund, which will help Fortune scale its work developing supportive housing, providing a dedicated source of capital that can be used to initiate these time-intensive, critical projects.  The revolving fund was capitalized with funds from a handful of Donor Advised Fund (DAF) accounts, matched by Fortune’s own resources.

“Where FJC comes in is helping Fortune Society with a particular bottleneck they face in the housing development process,” explains Marks. “Fortune staff are experts in assembling all the complex financing to build supportive housing.  It’s in those early stages – predevelopment – where they might need a few hundred thousand dollars” to access the tens of millions of public and private financing needed to build these projects.

In the interview, Richards notes that Fortune is attempting to have a lasting, generational change.  He cited his own experience as a formerly incarcerated individual, who received the resources and support to turn his life around, start a family, and break the cycle of incarceration.  “That’s what Fortune does every single day when we serve the men and women who walk through our doors. We provide supportive housing, education, and employment.  It’s about generational change.”

Richards also noted the importance of partnership in accomplishing Fortune’s mission, and that by working together, Fortune, FJC and its donors can be more impactful than by working alone. 

“This is a model that nonprofits in the housing sector should take a look at,” Mr. Richards said.  “And it’s also a model for someone who has resources asking, How do I leverage my resources to make a difference?  This is an opportunity for people to lean in, in a way that is aligned with your values and the impact you want to have.”

Crain’s New York Business has published an op-ed by FJC CEO Sam Marks and JoAnne Page, the president and CEO of The Fortune Society.  The piece, titled “How Creative Funding Can Help Kickstart Complex Capital Projects,” describes a unique partnership between a leading nonprofit serving people coming out of incarceration and a foundation sponsor of donor advised funds (DAFs).

Through the initiative, FJC has arranged a fund that will empower The Fortune Society to scale its housing development work.  See our FAQ document for more information.

From the op-ed:

The Fortune Society, a leading supportive housing provider, and FJC – A Foundation of Philanthropic Funds, recently launched a revolving loan fund that will provide desperately needed working capital to kickstart supportive housing projects.

The fund’s low-interest loans are capitalized by contributions from FJC’s donor-advised fund holders and matched by additional resources from the Fortune Society. The loans will allow the nonprofit Fortune to significantly expand its supportive housing portfolio over the next five years.

Most donors are not thinking about using their philanthropic dollars this way. But imagine the possibilities if philanthropic leaders who think and act in business terms were to partner closely with nonprofits. They could help identify and fill common gaps that nonprofits face. Donors would see a bigger impact from their giving, and entrepreneurial nonprofits could take on more ambitious projects to solve our most challenging problems.

Read the full article here.

“My name is Legacy, so I decided why not start one,” says 11-year old Legacy Clemens.  Along with her mother Loria Clemmons Stairs, Ms. Clemens is a co-founder of Legacy’s Flavors, a Bed-Stuy business that is one of the winners of the NYC Boss Up award program, funded by donor Ron Moelis and administered by FJC. 

View the Spectrum NY1 News story here.

A healthy alternative, Legacy’s Flavors offers ices and ice creams without artificial flavors, colors, and dyes.  “There isn’t a lot of exposure to healthy options, so I decided to try and make a change.”

Spectrum NY1 News featured a story about Ms. Clemens, who was one of ten winners of the Boss Up competition, which provides $20,000 grants to help entrepreneurs living in New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA) residences to build and grow their businesses. The program has received a commitment of $1 million over five years from donor Ron Moelis.  FJC is administering the program through a Scholarship & Award Account.

The NYC Boss Up initiative was inspired by a report from the Center for an Urban Future, “New York’s Untapped Entrepreneurship Opportunity,” which identified a significant increase in the number of NYHCA residents reporting business income in recent years.

“It’s empowering people who don’t have access to the same friends and family that some of us do,” says donor Ron Moelis.  He expects to fund up to 10 companies each year for the next five years.

As Legacy states at the end of news story, “My biggest hope would be to inspire other kids to start a business, and maybe the world will be full of kid entrepreneurs.” 

PRESS RELEASE – Organization teams up with FJC to create a Donor Advised Fund to support new supportive housing developments in New York City

Finding housing options to support the successful reentry of formerly incarcerated people back into society is no easy task. Homelessness remains a significant challenge for those coming out of prison and jail – especially here in New York City.

That’s why The Fortune Society, a nonprofit organization that empowers homeless, formerly incarcerated individuals and their families to build better futures through supportive and affordable housing, is working together with FJC – A Foundation of Philanthropic Funds (FJC) – to create a fund that will enable The Fortune Society to initiate these complex housing development projects.

The initiative bridges people across a vast array of inequality – some of the most vulnerable New Yorkers and New Yorkers whose wealth allows them to set aside funds specifically for philanthropic purposes – in Donor Advised Fund accounts.

Nonprofit organizations face a significant gap in available financing relative to for-profit companies. While they want to be entrepreneurial, they can’t raise equity in the same way as private companies. The Fortune Society, which wants to develop more supportive housing options for its target population, often faces challenges moving quickly to initiate these kinds of projects. To have a competitive chance, the organization must pull cash from its operating budget to cover pre-development expenses. At the same time, wealthy individuals have significant resources invested in stocks and bonds, hedge funds, and philanthropic assets.  

“This opportunity creates a solution to meet an urgent social need,” said JoAnne Page, CEO of The Fortune Society. “We currently do not have a source of ready money that can be put down up front for housing development. This collaboration would be a lasting solution to this problem.”

FJC, a sponsor of Donor Advised Funds, is providing a structure where multiple individuals who support The Fortune Society’s mission can pool their philanthropic dollars together to help the organization cover the pre-development costs to initiate these capital-intensive housing projects.

“The Fortune Society and FJC are collaborating to demonstrate how these individuals can provide the kind of catalytic “equity-like” capital that nonprofits can use to move major real estate development projects forward,” said Sam Marks, CEO of FJC. “This effort will harness large capital commitments from public and private sources to help the organization fulfill its mission.” The revolving nature of the fund is intended to give The Fortune Society the resources it needs throughout the life of the fund to act aggressively in pursuit of mission-critical real estate development opportunities and finance up-front costs. The goal is to recycle these philanthropic dollars multiple times for multiple initiatives, and to leverage the money along with other resources to create a long-term impact.

The DAF sector has grown rapidly in recent years, but also come under criticism for aggregating philanthropic capital without quickly deploying it. This initiative showcases the flexibility of DAFs and the creative ways they can be used to advance an organization’s mission.

“FJC has creatively enabled individual DAF account holders to be meaningful partners in mobilizing resources to create desperately needed affordable housing,” said Gary Hattem, the former Head of Global Social Finance at Deutsche Bank. He joins Theodore Huber and A to Z Impact as some of the first donors of this initiative.

At the end of a five-year term, all the funds will remain charitable by the conversion to flexible DAF accounts, which can be deployed as grants to nonprofits as the donors see fit or remain with The Fortune Society for use as the organization deems necessary for its critical work.

“This kind of revolving fund will allow The Fortune Society to finance up-front costs related to mission-driven affordable housing projects, giving the organization a chance to act quickly and nimbly when opportunities arise,” said Page. The Fortune Society is currently in the pre-development stage as a first venture of this fund through the proposed Just Home initiative, a project to house New Yorkers with complex medical needs after they leave jail on the campus of NYC Health + Hospitals/Jacobi in the Bronx. Donors are excited about the prospect of seeing the fruition of the work live on for generations to come.

For more information on this initiative, please visit our FAQ page.

About The Fortune Society

Founded in 1967, The Fortune Society has advocated on criminal justice issues for over five decades and is nationally recognized for developing model programs that help people with criminal justice histories to be assets to their communities. The Fortune Society offers a holistic and integrated “one-stop-shopping” model of service provision. Among the services offered are discharge planning, licensed outpatient substance abuse and mental health treatment, alternatives to incarceration, HIV/AIDS services, career development and job retention, education, family services, drop-in services, and supportive housing as well as lifetime access to aftercare.  For more information, visit www.fortunesociety.org.

About FJC

FJC is a boutique public charity that offers a diverse menu of philanthropic services to a range of stakeholders. With over $380 million under management, its over 1,000 accounts include Donor Advised Funds (DAFs), fiscal sponsorships, collective giving accounts, revolving funds, and many other philanthropic vehicles. FJC acts as an intermediary between the financial services sector and the nonprofit sector, enabling nonprofit organizations and their supporters to focus on their missions, rather than be burdened with the details of operations and compliance.

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Reflecting on best practices by FJC and its imaginative donors, FJC Chief Executive Officer Sam Marks wrote “Donor Advised Funds and Impact Investing: A Practitioner’s View”, which was accepted for publication by The Foundation Review in their December, 2022 issue focusing on impact investing.  The journal is the first peer-reviewed journal of philanthropy, written by and for foundation staff and boards. 

The article provides a brief overview of FJC’s origin story and the establishment of its Agency Loan Fund as a bespoke impact investing vehicle, which allows participating donors to invest in a pool of loans to nonprofit borrowers that help them bridge cash flow and achieve their missions.

Marks also highlights some of the innovative transactions FJC has executed with its donors, including a 0% interest revolving line of credit for Brighter Tomorrows, the refinancing of the Tenement Museum’s mortgage, accounts that allow foundations to participate in crowd-sourced small business loans, and the recently closed revolving fund for the Fortune Society.    

“In the end,” Marks writes, “the potential for DAF sponsors to accelerate impact investments may also come from their ability to aggregate not just dollars but inspiration.”

Read the full article here.

Safe, Affordable Housing with Services is Focus of FJC’s First-Ever Multi-Donor Revolving Fund

What are the goals of FJC’s Revolving Fund for The Fortune Society?

FJC, a boutique sponsor of Donor Advised Funds, has arranged a fund that will empower The Fortune Society, a nonprofit serving vulnerable New Yorkers coming out of incarceration, to scale its housing development work. People re-entering society from prison are overrepresented in the homeless population, and supportive housing (affordable housing with services) has proven to be an effective strategy to keep vulnerable New Yorkers stable and out of crisis systems (like homeless shelters, hospitals, and jails). The initiative will help The Fortune Society double its housing portfolio over the next five years.

Specifically, the fund will:

• Support people coming out of prison with stable, permanent supportive housing and services;
• Provide The Fortune Society with the capital necessary to invests in its future and organizational growth by doubling its real estate portfolio over the next five years; and
• Allow FJC to demonstrate how Donor Advised Fund (DAF) accounts can be put to work for maximum impact, thereby helping them be more creative with their resources and support a greater number of people in need.

How are funds in the Fortune Society Revolving Fund different from other Donor Advised Fund accounts at FJC?

The Revolving Fund has been funded with philanthropic capital with a specific intention to help The Fortune Society act entrepreneurially to expand and scale its mission.  The goal is to use the same dollars multiple times to initiate multiple projects, preserving the capital for donors to recycle again for philanthropic purposes.

A typical Donor Advised Fund (DAF) account at FJC provides recommender privileges to donors regarding how the philanthropic dollars in their accounts are invested for growth or deployed as grants. With the Revolving Fund, donors have agreed to “lock up” their funds for five years, to allow The Fortune Society to use them to advance their mission to expand their portfolio of permanent supportive housing for people coming out of incarceration.  This agreement is documented in a simple Memorandum of Understanding between the donors and FJC. 

The participating donors have agreed to allow The Fortune Society to draw on these funds as needed, as loans at 1% interest, instead of the typical ways funds in DAF accounts are used (i.e. granting funds out, or investing them for tax-free growth to make grants at a future date). At the end of the five-year term, The Fortune Society will repay the loans, and funds will return to the donors’ individual DAF accounts.  These loans are documented in a loan agreement between FJC as lender and The Fortune Society as borrower.

Who is The Fortune Society?

Founded in 1967, The Fortune Society has advocated on criminal justice issues for over five decades and is nationally recognized for developing model programs that help people with criminal justice histories to be assets to their communities. The Fortune Society offers a holistic and integrated “one-stop-shopping” model of service provision. Among the services offered are discharge planning, licensed outpatient substance abuse and mental health treatment, alternatives to incarceration, HIV/AIDS services, career development and job retention, education, family services, drop-in services, and supportive housing as well as lifetime access to aftercare. 

Developing, owning and operating housing is core to Fortune Society’s work.  Low-threshold access to supportive emergency, transitional, and permanent housing is provided at their congregate facilities, The Fortune Academy (“the Castle”) and Castle Gardens, along with their Scatter-Site Housing program.

What is supportive housing?    

Supportive housing is affordable housing with onsite services that help formerly homeless, disabled tenants live in dignity in the community. Supportive housing came into being in response to the homelessness crisis in New York City in the 1970s and is the most humane and cost-effective solution to ending homelessness for vulnerable people: individuals and families dealing with mental illness, trauma/abuse, addiction, and chronic illness including HIV/AIDS.

Supportive housing is permanent and affordable: All tenants hold leases and pay about a third of their income in rent. The residences are owned and operated by nonprofit organizations and are accountable to their city, state, and federal funders. Because supportive housing either replaces a blighted building or lot, it jump-starts neighborhood renewal. Because it provides 24-7 front desk coverage and other      security features, supportive housing frequently contributes to increased community safety. As a result, studies have shown that supportive housing increases property values. For more about the cost effectiveness and impact of supportive housing, see these great resources at The Supportive Housing Network.

Depending on the site and service contracts, supportive housing is made available to vulnerable populations who are disproportionately represented in the homeless shelter system: such as people who face substance abuse, HIV/AIDS, serious persistent mental illness, veterans, and—in the case of The Fortune Society—people re-entering society after incarceration.

Why does The Fortune Society need resources from a Revolving Fund?

Nonprofits face particular business challenges when launching entrepreneurial activity. The ownership and governance structures of nonprofit organizations don’t allow them to raise equity.  As a result, when nonprofits need to fund the earliest and most risky pre-development stage of a real estate venture, they must fund pre-development expenses from rainy day funds, if they exist, or else pull cash from their operating budget.

To scale its work in developing supportive housing, the Revolving Fund will provide The Fortune Society a dedicated source of capital that can be used to initiate these time-intensive, critical projects.

The total development costs of a typical supportive housing development may run into the tens of millions of dollars, depending on size, which is financed through a combination of private financing and federal, state, and city subsidies.  To secure these resources, The Fortune Society incurs significant soft costs during the pre-development phase, which can run in the tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars. These costs include deposits to secure sites for acquisition, feasibility studies, environmental reviews and architectural design work.

How will The Fortune Society repay loans and replenish the Revolving Fund?

Fortune Society will replenish the revolving fund when their affordable housing projects secure construction or permanent financing, or bridge loans from more traditional financing partners.

The federal Low Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC) is the principal subsidy for affordable housing development, and the New York City region receives an allocation of LIHTC through its housing finance agencies NYS Housing & Community Renewal (HCR) and the NYC Department of Housing Preservation & Development (HPD).  These resources are supplemented by tax-exempt bond financing, grants from other public and private sources, and traditional bank financing. In addition to these capital sources, nonprofits must secure service contracts from other city and state agencies.

The Fortune Society has a long track record of securing these sources, as well as the necessary public approvals from community boards and other elected officials.

Is there a risk that loans won’t be repaid? 

No investment is risk-free.  FJC mitigates this risk by working with The Fortune Society to fund activities that have a high likelihood of repayment, on real estate projects that have already secured significant public approvals and/or soft commitments of public resources.  The primary motivation of this fund is philanthropic (and at 1% interest, the loans are being made available at below-market interest rates).  Nevertheless, this project will be deemed successful if the loans are repaid and the donors have the opportunity to recycle them for other philanthropic purposes. 

The loans made from The Revolving Fund are general recourse obligations to The Fortune Society, meaning that if the real estate projects in the early planning stages don’t go forward (the primary source of repayment), The Fortune Society is still “on the hook” to repay them (the secondary source of repayment).  The Fortune Society is in a strong financial position, and has never failed to repay any debt obligation on time.

Working on behalf of its donors, FJC will make all efforts to recover the full loan principal in the event that things do not go as planned.  In the remote possibility that a loan recovery becomes impossible, FJC will convert to a grant any portion of the loan deemed to be uncollectible.  

We have worked closely with donors to understand the risks involved in this Revolving Fund.  Our expectation is that every dollar dedicated to this effort will be used multiple times to initiate multiple projects and then returned to donors’ DAF accounts so they can be redeployed as grants. 

What happens at the end of the 5-year term?

At the end of a 5-year term, funds will be returned to the initial donors’ DAF accounts.  The account holders will then have the flexibility to recommend their funds be granted to the nonprofits of their choice.

Where does the initiative stand now?

Four DAF account holders at FJC have joined this effort, including Gary Hattem, Theodore Huber, A to Z Impact, and an anonymous donor. As of this writing (5/15/23), The Fortune Society has drawn $400,000 to cover pre-development expenses on two projects:

• Just Home Project is an innovative housing initiative that will provide permanent, supportive housing with services for medically complex homeless New Yorkers returning after incarceration. Residents of this project suffer from medically complex issues that require constant medical attention. The project is a partnership with the NYC Health + Hospitals Corporation and will be built on City-owned land at the Jacobi Medical Center (Bronx, NY).
• Illegal Hotel Conversion. Redevelopment of “illegal hotel” to supportive and affordable Single Room Occupancy (SRO housing at 258 West 97th Street in the Upper West Side. The completed project will have 59 supportive housing units and 25 affordable units. The project was the subject of a New York Times article “From ‘Illegal’ Hotel to Housing for the Homeless on Upper West Side” (3/28/22).

Funds will be used to cover architectural services, environmental reviews, consultant fees, and staff management costs.  It is anticipated that over the next year, these projects will close on pre-development or construction financing that will enable The Fortune Society to repay the loans and draw on the fund again for other projects in their supportive housing pipeline.

New York, NY – NYC Boss Up announces the first nine businesses to win the NYC Boss Up Entrepreneurship Program, which provides $20,000 grants to help entrepreneurs living in New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA) residences to build and grow their businesses. NYC Boss Up is a new philanthropic program committed to creating permanent positive change in New York, administered through a Scholarship & Award Account at FJC.

The nine entrepreneurs were awarded an initial $5,000 grant and an additional $15,000 grant upon completing business development classes. The grants may be used to build and grow the winners’ businesses.

See New York Times coverage of the program launch: How These Budding Entrepreneurs Won $20,000 for Their Start-Ups (May 4, 2023)

The nine NYC Boss Up grantees are:

• Sarah Adams – West Indian Foods

Creates Caribbean-style, sugar-free, low-carb, vegan pastries and cakes.

• Michael Watson – Fable Jones Studios

Provides customers with incredible art, highly sought-after merchandise, professional art instructions, and engaging digital content.

• Michelle Covington – Liyah Michelle Collections

A luxury hair company that sells wigs and extensions for women that vary in cut and color and aim for diversity.

• Valeria Martinez – ConnectoDigital

Creates and prints fully customizable smart digital business cards.

• Katherine Perez – Kat D Productions

A New York City-based freelance videographer and video editor specializing in producing, filming, and editing promotional videos for non-profit organizations.

• Loria and Legacy Clemmons – Legacy’s Flavors LLC

Seeks to bring a health revelation to icy carts in NYC, providing families with healthy options and making lasting memories

• Tamika Walker – Blac Beuty No9

Creates unique skincare solutions utilizing fruit butter and cold-pressed oils from the Amazon rainforest.

• Jaquay Wilder – ATB Party Supplies

Provides clients with event décor rental items needed for events such as weddings, baby showers, birthday parties, and more.

• Herbert Wool – Digital Design Trusted Technologies

Offers software and hardware beta testing and quality assurance services.

The winners were selected from a pool of 279 applicants. Boss Up applicants submitted proposals about their businesses and plans for growth to a Boss Up Panel for evaluation. The panel selected the strongest submissions using a standardized rubric to guarantee fairness and consistency in the selection process. The seven-member selection committee, formed in consultation with FJC, includes:

• Ayanna Oliver-Taylor – Managing Director, L+M Development Partners
• Kitty Chan –  Chief of Staff, New York City Small Business Services
• Eli Dvorkin –  Editorial and Policy Director, Center for an Urban Future
• Maud Andrew – Former Director, Brooklyn Public Library Business and Career Center
• Diana Perez –  Vice President for Home Based Childcare Services, WHEDco
• Lourdes Zapata – President and CEO, SoBro
• Lisa Talma – Vice President for Philanthropic Initiatives, Deutsche Bank Community Development Finance Group

Focusing on New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA) entrepreneurs, the program seeks to foster positive and enduring change in the region and help individuals and families build generational wealth. The program is open to New Yorkers living in NYCHA residents and individuals who receive Section 8 vouchers through NYCHA.

The technical training components of the program are provided by Brooklyn Public Library Business and Career Center, Centro, and Bocnet. These organizations offer various courses, including business resources through the library’s Business and Management program, financial modeling, building business credit, a business plan boot camp, and one-on-one coaching sessions. The training took place between March 23 and April 13, paving the way for the future success of NYCHA entrepreneurs.

The NYC Boss Up entrepreneurship competition was founded by the Ron and Kerry Moelis Family Foundation. The Foundation, which is providing $1 million toward the program, is heavily focused on supporting social entrepreneurship and impact investing, and this initiative falls squarely in line with that mission. FJC – A Foundation of Philanthropic Funds administered the program through a specialized Donor Advised Fund account that enables awards to individuals that are consistent with U.S. charitability regulations.

The NYC Boss Up initiative was inspired by a report from the Center for an Urban Future, “New York’s Untapped Entrepreneurship Opportunity,” which identified a remarkable 472 percent jump in the number of NYHCA residents reporting business income – 286 residents in 2012 to 1,636 in January 2021. Yet, despite that growth, the report showed that just 1 percent of NYCHA residents reported business income in 2021, suggesting enormous growth opportunities remain.

Ron Moelis, Ron and Kerry Moelis Family Foundation: “Even if you have a great idea, getting a successful business off the ground is incredibly challenging, and this program is designed to provide some of our city’s budding entrepreneurs with a boost by helping them financially and strategically. I was inspired to hear a range of great ideas from applicants — and not only our winners. I hope this public-private-nonprofit partnership can grow, but also serve as a model for similar programs in other cities. I am excited to watch our winners pursue their business plans and encourage many more residents to apply to the program for its next round. Thanks to the New York City Housing Authority, the Brooklyn Public Library, the New York City Small Business Administration and FJC for their collaboration and dedication to making this idea a reality.”

Sam Marks, Chief Executive Officer of FJC: “This is how philanthropy is supposed to work: a policy outfit like Center for an Urban Future identifies a need, an imaginative donor like Ron gets inspired, and then FJC helps execute on the vision. We love to bring together funders and partners from the private sector, nonprofits, and government to improve people’s lives in a meaningful way.”

NYCHA Interim CEO Lisa Bova-Hiatt: “NYCHA is thrilled to be a part of NYC Boss Up, a business proposal competition for public housing and Section 8 residents who are working hard to grow their small businesses,” said NYCHA Interim CEO Lisa Bova-Hiatt. “We are grateful to the Moelis Family Foundation, as this initiative represents our collective commitment to connecting residents to opportunities in financial empowerment, business development, career advancement, and educational programs.”

Brooklyn Public Library CEO Linda E. Johnson: “Connecting entrepreneurs living in NYCHA to training, networking opportunities, and funding not only strengthens small businesses — it strengthens Brooklyn’s communities. Programs like Boss Up and PowerUP! provide a national model for meaningful social and economic empowerment on the hyper-local level.”

Jonathan Bowles, Executive Director of the Center for an Urban Future: “There is an entrepreneurial streak running through every NYCHA building. The Boss Up competition is a fantastic way to unleash that entrepreneurial spirit and help a lot more NYCHA residents become business owners. Entrepreneurship isn’t for everyone living in NYCHA, for some starting a business is a great opportunity to boost incomes and build wealth.”

About the Ron and Kerry Moelis Family Foundation

Ron Moelis started the Ron and Kerry Moelis Family Foundation with the aim of helping to encourage social mobility. Ron is the Co-Founder and Chairman of L+M Development Partners, a unique firm that goes beyond just building by collaborating with community partners to create neighborhoods that take into account the unique needs and lifestyles of the people living in them and actively look to enrich residents’ lives through the use of private and public spaces. L+M Development Partners has successfully partnered with NYCHA on development projects. Ron Moelis also founded the New York State Association for Affordable Housing and serves as Co-Chair of the Board of Building Skills NY and as a trustee of Montefiore Hospital and the Tenement Museum. His passion for entrepreneurship led him to sponsor the Wharton School’s MBA Impact Investing Network Training (MIINT) Competition. As a judge on the competition’s panel, he seeks to support impact investing students to inspire future business students to embody socially responsible business practices. NYC Boss Up is a natural extension of Ron’s life’s work and allows the Foundation to support even more under-represented adults in realizing their entrepreneurial potential.

About FJC

About the Brooklyn Public Library

Brooklyn Public Library is among the borough’s most democratic civic institutions, serving patrons in every neighborhood and from every walk of life. Established in 1896, BPL is one of the nation’s largest public library systems and has more than 850,000 active cardholders. With a branch library within a half-mile of the majority of Brooklyn’s 2.7 million residents, BPL is a recognized leader in cultural offerings, literacy, out-of-school-time services, workforce development programs, and digital literacy. In a borough of wide economic disparity, where the costs of basic necessities often take priority over spending on cultural enrichment opportunities, BPL provides a democratic space where patrons of all economic standings can avail themselves and their children of cultural and educational programs in a broad range of disciplines.

As we look to the decade ahead, my husband and I have been thinking a lot about how our current and future philanthropy can continue to build on our life’s work, mine in local and global social justice, his in education and both of us in moving toward a more just and equitable city/nation/world.  We are now at the life stage when we are planning for the legacy we can leave to our adult children and grandchildren and to the causes we care about.  We are truly fortunate that we can consider philanthropy as a part of that legacy.

We’ve had a donor advised fund account at FJC for over twenty years, and during this time we have used it to make dozens of grants each year to organizations we know well and whose work we admire.  This has included, for me, regular annual gifts to  American Jewish World Service which I was privileged to lead for 18 years and where I still do some work; Surprise Lake Camp, the nation’s longest-running Jewish sleepaway camp, with which my family has had a relationship for over one hundred years; and SAJ, our synagogue for the last 52 years. 

It has also included gifts to such significant organizations, inside and outside the Jewish community, as the Equal Justice Initiative, the Nation Fund for Independent Journalist, the American Civil Liberties Union, Hazon, Avodah and others. In addition, we have given substantial amounts of money to progressive tax-exempt 501(c)(3) voter mobilization organizations like Movement Voter Fund or Focus For Democracy.

As we think about issues of succession and inheritance, we are taking the time to think bigger and more ambitiously about what our philanthropic resources can do, and we are working with the team at FJC to take some of our ideas and put them into practice, acknowledging both our individual and our joint interests

I am in the process of drafting a will that will provide bequests to my three children and eight grandchildren and to my current and future great grandchildren, and then fund a family DAF account with my three children as authorized signatories.  In an accompanying memo to the will, I am doing two things.  I am letting them know what some of my causes are in case they want to keep some of those on their list and—more importantly—I am telling them how I hope the fund will operate.

I have tried, with my husband, to prioritize social justice and anti-racist organizations like the Southern Poverty Law Center and the Equal Justice Initiative, to protect the human rights of all marginalized populations, and to address the immense challenges to voting rights, to immigrant rights and to climate change.  I hope that the Fund will consider making small closeout grants to some of the international organizations I have come to know and support through AJWS like Minga Peru, Beyond Borders, Aegis Trust, Fonkoze and UDEFEGUA.

I am urging my children to decide how long they want to keep the fund alive.  I am counting on their involving the next generation in their funding considerations, create opportunities to discuss different options for these charitable dollars, and work to come to consensus about their decisions, but I’m also realistic. My kids have been warm and loving siblings, but their priorities may evolve in different directions.  So, if they feel that the process is causing conflict and they  want to divide the DAF account into three separate funds, that’s fine with me too.

My husband Andrew Lachman is taking a different planning approach with FJC. A longtime advocate and practitioner in public education, Andrew is passionate about supporting innovations in local school districts around the country that lead to demonstrated learning improvement.  He is bringing together a half-dozen experts with whom he has worked or whose work he admires who will help guide this national strategy.  This initiative is a work in progress.  Andrew is anticipating a family inheritance soon, and depending on a few factors, it’s possible he may be able to fund this effort with enough resources for it to have meaningful impact over a long period of time, starting while he is still alive.  How long should the work continue? Who should drive its activities?  Will it have paid staff? These are questions that are still to be determined, and we are working them out with the staff at FJC, including whether there may be a role for FJC in the initiative’s future stewardship.

My husband and I have led incredibly meaningful lives of public service, which have continued even as we have left our CEO jobs.  For all of our accomplishments, we know the work of making a better world is never truly done.  So our conversations about estate planning also mean talking about philanthropy.  We believe that inheritance is about more than just money and real estate; it’s an opportunity to impart values and influence what carries on to future generations.  That is what we hope we are doing with these decisions.

FJC’s blog series, “Why I Give…And How,” gives voice to some of our most committed and imaginative donors.

The author Ruth Messinger served on the New York City Council from 1978 to 1989, representing the Upper West Side, and served as Manhattan Borough President from 1990 to 1998.  She was the President of American Jewish World Service from 1998 to 2016.