Spectrum News NY1 interviewed two charismatic veteran entrepreneurs over the weekend who were recipients of the NYC Boss Up award program.  The entrepreneurs, two of nine who received awards of $20,000 from Boss Up, were Serghio Adams of Brothers Building Blocks and Ron Holloway from Woofbowl.

The program was administered by FJC through a Scholarship & Award Account with funding by the Ron and Kerry Moelis Foundation.  The program was a public-private partnership, organized with the NYC Department of Veterans Services (DVS) and the NYC Department of Small Business Services (SBS).  

Serghio Adams spoke of the impact of the program in his business, Brothers Building Blocks, which works with middle and high schools to prepare underrepresented students for careers in STEM fields.  “As a small business,” said Adams, “it’s very important to ensure we are creating a larger footprint in the community.  These are monies that we can inject into our companies to take our companies farther.”

Mr. Holloway agreed.  “To be able to have this access to capital is invaluable,” he said.  “When you’re an entrepreneur you make every dollar count, so this money will go a very long way.”  Holloway’s business, Woolfbowl sells healthy fresh food for “dog foodies” with a goal to “make pet food fun and exciting.”

View a clip of the interview here. 

The nine winners of the NYC Boss Up Veteran Entrepreneurship Program were announced at a ceremony at Gracie Mansion yesterday by James Hendon, Commissioner of the New York City Department of Veterans’ Services (DVS), who was joined on stage by NYC Mayor Eric Adams.

The program is administered through a Scholarship & Award Account at FJC – A Foundation of Philanthropic Funds, with funding by the Ron and Kerry Moelis Foundation, in partnership with DVS and the NYC Department of Small Business Services (SBS).  The application process yielded dozens of applicants, and finalists participated in a juried pitch competition. Each winning small business owner will receive a $20,000 grant, and enrollment in SBS’s small business mentorship program to help build and grow their businesses.

NYC Boss Up is a philanthropic program committed to encouraging excellence in entrepreneurship across New York City, and this program follows the successful NYC Boss Up Entrepreneurship Program partnership with the New York City Public Housing Authority (NYCHA) that provides $1 million in grants over five years to budding entrepreneurs living in NYCHA residences.

The winners of the veterans competition are:

• Analiza Quiroz Wolf – Women of Color Rise
  Women of Color Riseis a mission-based organization with the goal of elevating diverse leaders—especially women of color –to positions of power. CEO Analiza Quiroz Wolf served in the U.S. Air Force, attaining the rank of Captain. Analiza intends to use her grant as startup money to expand her organization’s reach.

• Ron Holloway – Woofbowl
  Woofbowl was started as a food truck for neighborhood dogs and has since expanded to work alongside other institutions ranging from the MLB to the Brooklyn Museum in a shared mission of building community. Owner Ron Holloway is an American disabled-Veteran who served in the U.S. Navy from December 2001 through June 2010. Ron plans to use his grant to take Woofbowl nationwide with a new subscription system.

• Nick & Joelle Lynch – Tree ARMY Co.
  Tree ARMY Co.is a Bronx-based tree removal, tree-pruning, planting, and tree-emergency response business that hires transitioning veterans and dependents. Owners Nick and Joelle Lynch both served in the U.S. Army. Nick and Joelle will be investing their grant money in new specialty machinery and equipment that will allow them to hire more Veterans with disabilities.

• Dan Rossi – AJM Business Service, Inc.
  AJM Business Service, Inc. is a food vending service once described by the New York Times as “the New York Hot Dog King.” Owner Dan Rossi is a service-disabled Veteran of two tours of duty in Vietnam with the U.S. Marine Corps. Dan will use his grant to build a new cart with all-new “Hot Dog King” branding.

• Marlin Yinet Santos – Mariachi Mexican Cantina
  Mariachi Mexican Cantina is California-style Mexican restaurant on Staten Island. Owner Marlin Yinet Santos served in the U.S. Army, including a yearlong tour of duty in Iraq. Marlin will use her grant money to purchase a conference bike that will allow her to bring customers directly to her business from the Staten Island Ferry while also giving historical tours of Staten Island’ North Shore.

• Sergio Rodriguera, Jr. – Straylight Systems
  Straylight Systemsis an artificial intelligence company that helps commercial and government entities operationalize data by analyzing thousands of disparate information streams across various file types. Co-Founder Sergio Rodriguera, Jr., served in the U.S Navy as a Naval Intelligence Officer. Sergio will use his grant as seed money to foster additional growth and service more customers.
• Vance Gorman, Jr. – Vanso Visual Imaging
  Vanso Visual Imagingis portrait photography studio and design service. Owner Vance Gorman, Jr., served in the U.S. Marine Corps. Vance is planning to use his grant to scale up his studio and expand.

• Tsikata Apenyo – indeHealth provides a comprehensive healthcare management platform that functions as an intermediary between students and university campuses. Owner Tsiktata Apenyo served as a Fulbright Fellow in China, and as a Medical Corps officer in the U.S. Army. Tsikata will use his grant to scale up his business operations after recently securing a contract with Yale.

• Serghio Adams – Brothers Building Blocks
  Brothers Building Blocksis a cohort-based educational enrichment program designed to empower youth and promote interest in STEM career paths. Founder Serghio Adams served in the U.S. Army and was stationed in Seoul, South Korea. Serghio plans to use his grant to expand his business’ after school curriculum and reach more mostly BIPOC students in LMI communities.

“FJC is thrilled to be helping expand the groundbreaking NYC Boss Up program to provide philanthropic awards to these dynamic veteran entrepreneurs,” said Sam Marks, Chief Executive Officer of FJC. “Programs like NYC Boss Up epitomize the best of philanthropy in bridging the gap between imaginative donors and powerful community partnerships. By bringing together government agencies, nonprofits, and private philanthropy around a common goal we are delivering vital new support to New York City’s veterans.”

Earlier in November, FJC’s CEO Sam Marks was a guest on Get Connected with Nina Del Rio, New York City’s 106.7 Lite FM’s weekly talk show featuring NYC’s influencers, experts, and vibrant non-profits.

Del Rio interviewed Marks about his background and the world of Donor Advised Funds, as well as the creative ways that FJC puts philanthropic resources to work. 

He spoke about FJC’s Agency Loan Fund, an impact investment vehicle that allows donors to invest some or all of their accounts in a pool of loans to nonprofits, so that funds are actively supporting nonprofits even before they are disbursed as grants. He cited capital grants and contract receivables as payments FJC’s loans typically bridge. “We do a lot financial intermediation, during these timing gaps for nonprofits,” said Marks.

He also spoke about innovative transactions with nonprofits like The Fortune Society and the Tenement Museum. 

From the interview:

People typically think, my philanthropy is to make grants to help an organization hit their goals to operate in the black for the year. But you could also use philanthropic dollars to help organizations be more entrepreneurial and take on more exciting projects that will help them grow and expand their services.

The nonprofits we work with understand the challenges that their businesses face, whether it’s cash flow issues because of late payments or a dearth of capital to take on new, exciting projects.  The nonprofits really know where their gaps are.  The challenge for us is finding donors with the imagination to put their philanthropic dollars to work to fill those gaps. If we could get more of our donors to think about, while the dollars are with us, how they could be invested for the benefit of nonprofits, we could really help nonprofits worry less about where their next dollars are coming from. We could go to the heart of what makes these nonprofit businesses challenging.

You can listen to the whole interview at this link.

We invite you to read this op-ed by FJC CEO Sam Marks in City Limits, an investigative journalism nonprofit that identifies urban problems, examines their causes, explores solutions, and equips communities to take action.

Read the entire op-ed, which is excerpted here:

We often hear that solving New York City’s myriad challenges—from an affordable housing crisis to growing a more equitable economy that works for all New Yorkers—will require an all-hands-on-deck approach. Usually, leaders use the “all hands” phrase to signal the need for cooperation between the public, nonprofit, and private sectors.

It can be challenging at times to bring these parties together, but the charitable sector, when it’s working at its best, can act as a catalyst to invent new solutions. With its creativity, flexibility, and mission-driven focus, philanthropy can be a linchpin, capable of bringing together the public sector’s authority and agenda-setting power and the private sector’s financial resources and dynamism.

The piece continues with a description of the Boss Up program, administered by FJC through a Scholarship & Award Account, and funded by the Ron and Kerry Moelis Family Foundation.

The initiative was inspired by research from Center for an Urban Future, and partners included the New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA), NYC Department of Small Business Services, the BOC Network, and the Brooklyn Public Library.

The program supports entrepreneurs living in NYCHA housing expand their businesses, providing $20,000 grants and business development courses to the  winners of a “Shark Tank”-style competition.

As Marks wrote in the piece, “The Boss Up program is an example of philanthropy at its best and it should prompt all of us to think differently about how we work. If we can form more connections between imaginative donors, entrepreneurial nonprofits, and the public sector there is no limit to the new, creative solutions we can develop to improve people’s lives.”

This fall FJC is working with the Moelis Foundation and the NYC Department of Veterans’ Services to replicate the program with veteran entrepreneurs. 

Dear FJC Community,

A number of you have reached out to FJC staff asking about how their grantmaking can best respond to the crisis in Israel.  We wish to emphasize that this crisis is only a few days old, and the situation will almost certainly evolve in ways we cannot imagine.

Nevertheless, we want to be responsive to donors that want to act immediately.  What follows is merely a partial list of nonprofit organizations that our staff have identified as having capacity and local presence.

Please note, FJC will make expedited grant disbursements to these organizations; they have been pre-vetted by our Board of Directors and are already set up for e-payment.  In most cases FJC will be able to disburse funds to these organizations within 24 hours of your recommendation.

Simply go to FJC’s donor portal, search by EIN number, and make the recommendations, and we will handle the rest.

Friends of United Hatzalah (EIN# 11-3533002).  Volunteer emergency medical services (EMS) organization committed to providing the fastest response to medical emergencies across Israel.  The organization is raising funds to treat the injured. 

American Friends of Magen David Adom (EIN# 13-1790719).  Israel’s National Emergency pre-hospital medical and blood services organization.  “As always, the men and women of Magen David Adom are risking their lives to save the lives of others.”

American Friends of Soroka Medical Center (EIN# 13-5866593). a nonprofit organization dedicated to supporting the outstanding medical care and breakthrough research at Soroka Medical Center, the leading medical center in Israel and the only major hospital in southern Israel, the country’s fastest-growing and most diverse region.

American Friends of Sheba Medical Center (EIN#13-3733541). Located on a 200-acre campus in Tel HaShomer, near Tel Aviv, and contains: 159 medical departments and clinics, almost 2,000 beds and 75 laboratories. As the situation intensifies with the launch of operation “Iron Swords,” Sheba Medical Center is fully mobilized, deploying their resources to provide urgent medical care for casualties.

Hadassah Medical Relief Association (EIN# 13-6110872).  Hadassah Medical Organization’s (HMO) facilities and expertise in emergency and trauma care are world-renowned. Hadassah trauma protocols for emergencies and terror attacks, the moments that can make the difference between life and death, are the standard for medical teams worldwide. When natural disasters strike around the world, Hadassah’s doctors volunteer for national and IDF missions abroad.

UJA Federation New York – Israel Emergency Fund (EIN# 51-0172429). “Our partners on the ground have mobilized to provide urgent support, but needs are mounting rapidly. By making a gift right now, you’re ensuring that we can strengthen these critical efforts in the days and weeks ahead. Please give as generously as possible.”

JDC (EIN#  13-1656634).  “As a leading global Jewish humanitarian organization, we rescue Jews in danger, provide aid to vulnerable Jews, and develop innovative solutions to Israel’s most complex social challenges.” As part of their emergency response, they will expand mental health interventions for children and youth at risk, strengthen the capacity of nursing homes welcoming elderly Israelis who have fled from the current conflict zone, support small businesses and entrepreneurs in southern Israel so they can remain open and financially stable during this uncertain time, and more.

UPDATED 10/23/2023

As of this writing, FJC donors have recommended 153 grants totaling $615,324 to organizations listed above, as well as Friends of the Israel Defense Forces, described below, which has been included here due to a high volume of grant recommendations from FJC donors. 

Special thanks to grants administrator Phyllis Kinard, supported by Sophia Trombold and the FJC staff, as well as the Grants Committee of our Board, for quick action to approve and disburse these grants. 

Friends of the Israel Defense Forces (EIN:13-3156445) Working with the Israel defense Forces (IDF), Friends of the Israel Defense Forces (FIDF) strives to provide crucial humanitarian support for the soldiers. With the high number of casualties and the increase expected as the war continues, the IDF has requested urgently needed medical equipment. FIDF’s Emergency Campaign funds are used to care exclusively for the needs of the soldiers and bereaved families.  FIDF is the sole organization authorized by the IDF to collect charitable donations on behalf of its soldiers across the United States of America.

Join FJC in congratulating CEO Sam Marks for his inclusion in City & State New York’s 2023 Nonprofit Power 100 list.   The list, a collaboration between City & State and NYN Media, recognizes the most notable nonprofit leaders who are strengthening the safety net and serving the most vulnerable individuals in New York.

Marks “has established himself as a leader in the world of donor-advised funds,” according to the article, which also singled out the Fortune Society fund and the Boss Up initiative as specific examples of innovative programming.

View the entire 2023 Nonprofit 100 Power List here.

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.

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.

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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