April 2010 

The Foundation is pleased to announce the approval of 39 grants totaling $2,020,000 at the spring 2010 meeting of the Board of Directors. Grants were approved in the following active program areas: New York City (NYC) Communities, NYC Dance, and Climate Change Solutions.  

Highlights 

In the NYC Communities program, the Foundation approved four grants totaling $340,000 for community-based organizations working on a range of economic and social justice issues throughout all five boroughs. A special capacity-building grant to Make the Road New York (MRNY) of $50,000 will support a new partnership with the Brooklyn Cooperative Federal Credit Union to administer MRNY membership loans while providing other affordable financial services. 

In the NYC Dance program, the Foundation approved 16 grants totaling $530,000. Ten grants went to presenting organizations – both dance specific institutions and multidisciplinary institutions with strong dance programs. Two are first-time grant recipients: LaGuardia Performing Arts Center, at LaGuardia Community College/CUNY in Queens, presents culturally and ethnically diverse programming; Works & Process at the Guggenheim Museum combines performances of a new work, along with discussions about the creative choices and technical decisions that shape the work.  

In the Climate Change Solutions program, the Foundation approved a set of six grants totaling $350,000 to promote energy efficiency and clean energy policies, including a Low Carbon Fuel Standard for the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic states that would reduce greenhouse gas emissions from the transportation sector. 

To see the complete list of grants in each of these areas, please refer to the relevant Program Areas link at the top of this page. Links to grant lists for past years are also provided.

February 2010

In early February, the NYC Green Codes Task Force, a panel of experts including representatives of the building industry and environmental groups, issued more than 100 recommendations on how to make NYC’s building codes more environmentally sound and energy-efficient. The panel was convened in 2008 by Mayor Bloomberg and City Council Speaker Quinn, and its work was funded by the Foundation. The recommendations, part of the city’s efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from buildings, would largely affect construction and renovation work. Some energy-saving measures proposed include insulating all-glass high rises, imposing higher efficiency standards for heating systems, and phasing in individual apartment temperature controls. More news about the release of the recommendations can be found here, and the executive summary and full report are available online by following this link.

January 2010

In January, Foundation grantee Community Voices Heard (CVH) released a report finding that the New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA) is violating federal regulations that ensure affordable housing residents’ participation in policymaking. Two of the most egregious violations reported are the mismanagement of over $20 million in funds earmarked for resident participation activities and making the decision to demolish a Brooklyn development without holding a public hearing. Making matters worse, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development is failing to provide the appropriate oversight to ensure NYCHA’s compliance with these regulations. The report found that although there is an official resident participation system, a majority of residents are neither participating in the system nor receiving critical information on NYCHA policies from it, leaving residents with no formal decision-making power. The report calls for a strengthening of current policy, implementation, and enforcement, including resident control of adequate resources to build their capacity to develop meaningful and democratic participation. The executive summary, full report, and other related documents are available here .

January 2010  

December 2009

In December, the New York City Council passed an initiative that requires owners of the city’s largest buildings to take significant steps to reduce energy consumption. The new program will require these buildings to: conduct energy audits; periodically inspect energy systems to identify and correct waste; install energy-efficient lighting; publicly disclose the building’s energy and water efficiency; and implement electricity submetering to measure individual residents’ energy consumption and incentivize its reduction. The initiative will create an estimated 17,800 jobs and a 4.75 percent reduction in the City’s carbon dioxide emissions. This makes it the largest initiative in PlaNYC, Mayor Bloomberg’s long-term sustainability plan, which has pledged to cut New York City’s carbon footprint by 30% by 2030. The Foundation has made several grants in support of the City’s energy efficiency goals, including support to the Natural Resources Defense Council, the Urban Green Council, and PlaNYC’s implementation.

December 2009 

The Foundation is pleased to announce the approval of 32 grants totaling $1,565,000 at the fall 2009 meeting of the Board of Directors. Grants were approved in the following active program areas: New York City (NYC) Communities, NYC Dance, and Climate Change Solutions.  

In the NYC Communities program, the Foundation approved a grant of $25,000 to A Better Balance, a legal advocacy group, to support a policy campaign to mandate paid sick leave for all New York City workers. The grant will help the campaign to educate stakeholders and the broader public about the broad benefits of paid sick leave. 

In the NYC Dance program, the Foundation approved a grant of $30,000 over two years to Chez Bushwick, an organization dedicated to developing and presenting choreographers at early stages in their careers. Located in a former industrial knitting factory in North Brooklyn, the venue promotes discourse between dance and other visual and performance arts. 

In the Climate Change Solutions program, the Foundation approved a grant of $50,000 to In Our Backyards (ioby), a start-up organization that aims to foster climate action at the neighborhood level in New York City. The website, www.ioby.org, raises online, individual donations of money and volunteer time to support a wide array of community environmental projects.   

To see the list of grants in each of these areas, please refer to the relevant Program Areas link at the top of this page. Links to complete grant lists for past years are also provided. 

November 2009

For the past two years, the Foundation has supported efforts to build broad public support for a Pennsylvania state plan to reduce global warming pollution while putting in place the necessary energy and efficiency policies to make reductions economically feasible. The state’s Climate Change Advisory Committee, which includes a range of public and private stakeholders, including grantees PennFuture and PennEnvironment, released a draft action plan on October 9. Over 23,000 public comments about the plan were recently submitted during a 30-day public comment period – the largest number of comments submitted on any issue in state history.  About 99 percent of the comments were supportive of the plan, which contains a robust set of policy recommendations that map out how the state can achieve significant global warming pollution reductions by 2020. 

The plan will be presented to Governor Rendell and state legislators on December 18th.  PennEnvironment coordinated a media and public outreach campaign during the public comment period to explain the plan and document support.  The public comments send a powerful message to state leaders to take swift action on climate change by implementing the plan’s recommendations. Pennsylvania alone accounts for one percent of the world’s man-made global warming emissions.

October 2009

Low-income New Yorkers who are also leaders of Community Voices Heard (CVH) have released a short video, "Faces of Poverty," documenting what it means to be poor in New York. It was released to coincide with the release of U.S. poverty statistics. The video puts a "face on poverty," drawing attention to the way in which statistics translate into daily lived experiences amongst NYC's poorest residents and long-term unemployed.

In "Faces of Poverty," CVH leaders highlight the solutions they deem best to address poverty in NYC as well as encourage policy makers to remember the long-term unemployed in national and state recovery efforts. On a day on which people are bombarded by numbers and data, CVH leaders humanize and analyze poverty statistics by describing: the difficulties of finding work after being incarcerated; trying to move out of poverty while being a single mother on public assistance; getting on your feet while living in the shelter system; and navigating an inadequate welfare system that does more to keep people in poverty rather than equip them with the skills and opportunities to move out of poverty permanently. The CVH press release on the video can be downloaded here.

September 2009

The Restaurant Opportunities Center of New York (ROC-NY) improves conditions for restaurant workers through workplace justice campaigns, research and policy efforts, and worker training programs. ROC-NY has just released a study showing that the city’s restaurant workers experience significant occupational health and safety hazards, and at the same time, have few or no benefits (such as health insurance and paid sick leave) when ill or injured.  As a result of these conditions, workers are often forced to engage in practices that place the health of the dining public at risk.  ROC-NY has outlined specific policy recommendations to improve the restaurant practices that are dangerous both for workers and consumers. 

ROC-NY also organized the New York City Restaurant Industry Roundtable to promote restaurants that take the “high road” to profitability by creating fair working environments. In July, ROC-NY and the Restaurant Industry Roundtable released the Diner’s Guide to High Road Restaurants, which features restaurants that display exemplary workplace practices. The guide is intended to encourage diners to patronize these restaurants both to enjoy the higher quality of service resulting from fair workplace practices and to promote these practices as a successful model for the entire restaurant industry.  The Diner’s Guide can be found at http://www.nychighroadrestaurants.com.    

August 2009 

South Carolina’s state-owned electric utility, Santee Cooper, has canceled its plan to build a massive coal-fired power plant, citing the economic downturn, proposed federal carbon regulations, and reduced need for future power generation. The utility faced strong, coordinated opposition since it announced plans in 2006 to build the $2.2 billion, 1320 megawatt plant, which would have emitted over 10 million tons of carbon dioxide each year (or the equivalent of more than 1.5 million cars).  

A coalition of groups, including the South Carolina Coastal Conservation League and the Southern Environmental Law Center, challenged the plant with the support of the Mertz Gilmore Foundation and partner funders, through legal action, regulatory intervention, technical analysis on impacts of the plant and clean energy alternatives, outreach to policymakers, and community organizing. This is the first time a new coal plant has been defeated in South Carolina.

August 2009 

On August 6^th, Governor David Paterson signed an Executive Order establishing a goal to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 80 percent below 1990 levels by 2050. With support from the Mertz Gilmore Foundation, Environmental Advocates of New York had been educating state policymakers about the importance of adopting this science-based reduction target and building public support.

The Executive Order also established a state council of officials to complete a comprehensive climate action plan that will expand the state’s clean energy economy. With Foundation support, the Center for Climate Strategies is working with the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA) to determine the likely economic impacts of the full range of technologies and practices that would reduce global warming pollution. This technical analysis will assist the new Climate Action Council as it develops the climate action plan, which is due in September 2010.

May 2009 

The Foundation Center recently recognized the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI) as an “innovative solution” to global warming supported by philanthropy, citing Mertz Gilmore as one of RGGI’s key funders. This case study is included in the Global Philanthropy Forum’s 2009 coverage of the philanthropic sector’s response to major global challenges, including climate change. It identifies RGGI as a model effort to help develop a national regulatory framework for reducing carbon emissions. Since 2007, Mertz Gilmore has awarded over $1 million in support of strong implementation of RGGI through state and regional activities across the Northeast. The Foundation Center’s coverage is available at http://foundationcenter.org/focus/gpf/climatechange/01.html.  

April 2009 

The Foundation is pleased to announce the approval of 34 grants totaling $1,360,000 at the spring 2009 meeting of the Board of Directors. Grants were approved in the following active program areas: New York City (NYC) Communities, NYC Dance, Human Rights in the U.S., and Climate Change Solutions. To see the list of grants in each of these areas, please refer to the relevant Program Areas link at the top of this page. Links to complete grant lists for past years are also provided.

April 2009

The owners and operators of the world-famous Empire State Building expect to reduce the skyscraper’s energy use 38 percent annually by 2013 under a $20 million retrofit plan that will yield savings of $4.4 million per year. The plan was developed with the expert assistance of the Rocky Mountain Institute, which received $150,000 in grant support from the Mertz Gilmore Foundation, in partnership with the Clinton Foundation’s Climate Initiative.

In the New York metropolitan area, the Mertz Gilmore Foundation supports initiatives that help achieve significant, long-term reductions in global warming pollution; serve as a model for metropolitan initiatives elsewhere; and inspire the public imagination.

The Empire State Building initiative will include a comprehensive series of retrofits such as window renovations, electrical and ventilation system upgrades, and insulation improvements. The initiative is seen as a potential model of how retrofits in even the largest, older buildings can save energy, cut carbon emissions, lower operating costs, and thereby “payback” the up-front investments quickly. More information is available at http://esbsustainability.com. 

November 2008

At the fall meeting of the Foundation's Board of Directors, the Board approved a 2009 grants budget that maintains the current levels of funding for the NYC Dance, NYC Communities, and Climate Change Solutions programs. Jay Beckner, president of the Foundation, echoed the Board's general sentiments in stating that:

"Regardless of current or future investment returns, we believe it is very important to recognize the difficulty that non-profits in New York will have in the face of declining individual, corporate and governmental support. Mertz Gilmore will do everything it can in 2009 to sustain the work it supports while looking for creative responses to this sector-wide crisis.”

With respect to climate change, Foundation vice president Lukas Haynes added that: "The country is on the verge of major new initiatives to address the climate crisis while transforming the nation's economic and energy future. Therefore, the Climate Change Solutions program will maintain its current level of investment to reinforce positive change and seize timely new opportunities.”

November 2008

The Foundation is pleased to announce the approval of 49 grants totaling $2,600,000 at the fall 2008 meeting of the Board of Directors. Grants were approved in four active program areas: New York City (NYC) Communities, NYC Dance, Human Rights in the U.S., and Climate Change Solutions. To see the list of grants in each of these areas, please refer to the relevant Program Areas link at the top of this page. Links to complete grant lists for past years are also provided.

September 2008

Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative

As ten Northeast and Mid-Atlantic states move into the full implementation phase of the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI) this fall and winter, the Foundation has made seven grants totaling $430,000 to help ensure the strongest possible implementation of RGGI, including continued work on state rulemakings, patching holes in the program, and ensuring a successful auction and secondary market for emissions allowances. Grantees will also focus on bringing lessons learned to the federal debate about a cap-and-trade program, including the necessity of working with states to ensure the strongest possible national climate policy.  The following are the RGGI-related grants approved in 2008:

In July, the Foundation made a timely discretionary grant to the U.S. Green Building Council, New York Chapter ($50,000) to support the NYC Green Codes Task Force. The Task Force effort was requested by Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg and City Council Speaker Christine C. Quinn to provide nonpartisan expert input on the regulations that govern construction in the city.

The Task Force is comprised of top professional practitioners and stakeholders in the New York City building industry. It is led by a Steering Committee and an Industry Advisory Committee and includes eight technical committees, which will review the City’s construction codes, identify impediments to green building, and propose additions that will encourage green practices in the marketplace. We hope that the work of the Green Codes Task Force will set a standard for other major municipalities to follow.

April 2008

The Foundation is pleased to announce the approval of 40 grants totaling $4,105,000 at the spring 2008 meeting of the Board of Directors. Grants were approved in four active program areas: New York City (NYC) Communities, NYC Dance, Human Rights in the U.S., and Climate Change Solutions. To see the list of grants in each of these areas, please refer to the relevant Program Areas link at the top of this page. Links to complete grants lists for past years are also provided. 

December 2007

The Foundation is pleased to announce the approval of 26 grants totaling $1,460,000 at the fall 2007 meeting of the Board of Directors. Grants were approved in four active program areas: New York City (NYC Communities), NYC Dance, Human Rights in the U.S., and Climate Change Solutions.

Highlights

Centro Hispano Cuzcatlán is one of two community groups receiving a Mertz Gilmore Foundation grant for the first time. Centro is a Queens-based group that will use funding to strengthen its efforts to educate and organize residents of low-income communities on issues related to housing, employment, the environment, immigration, and health. Picture the Homeless, headquartered in the Bronx and representing homeless members throughout New York City, seeks to strengthen its capacity for advocacy in several areas, most notably a campaign aided by the Manhattan Borough President to convert abandoned properties into affordable housing.

New York City Dance

The Chocolate Factory in Long Island City, Queens is a unique venue used to create and present a diverse mix of dance, theater, music, multimedia and visual arts. The organization will use grant support to offer visiting artists a flexible space in which to work, as well as significant marketing assistance and administrative support. New Dance Alliance's Performance Mix Festival will expand from one to two weeks in 2008. The Festival presents experimental performing artists from the United States and abroad. All artists receive free rehearsal space, video documentation and a stipend.

Human Rights in the U.S.

The Coalition of Immokalee Workers will use renewed foundation support to continue its fight to protect the rights of migrant workers in the “fast food” industry supply chain by implementing existing human rights agreements with Taco Bell and McDonald’s and conducting a new campaign to gain Burger King’s agreement. Renewed support of the U.S. Human Rights Network reflects the Foundation’s commitment to strengthening the growing field of organizations defending basic human rights in the United States.

Climate Change Solutions

A non-profit communications firm, Resource Media, will use foundation support to conduct a pilot initiative to provide television meteorologists with information and products needed to explain climate change and help viewers reduce global warming pollution. Urban Agenda, a New York City affiliate of the Apollo Alliance, will use grant support to engage the staff and trustees of New York City’s pension funds to steer major investments into the growing clean energy sector. The project is based on a successful collaboration between the national Apollo Alliance and the two largest pension funds in California, which have already committed $1.5 billion to such investments.

A full list of 2007 grants in each program can be found by clicking on the relevant “Program Area” links above. A new Climate Change Solutions link will be added in January 2008.

The Foundation has joined the Pew Charitable Trusts and the Energy Foundation as a major funder of activities to implement the Northeast Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI). In 2007, Mertz Gilmore will disburse more than $400,000 in RGGI-related grants directly from the Foundation while maintaining a multi-year grant commitment to the Energy Foundation. Mertz Gilmore has approved $820,000 in climate-related grants since January 2007.

The Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative, under which Northeastern states have agreed to reduce emissions from power plants and establish an emissions trading program, is one of the most important policy precedents in the U.S. to mitigate global warming. When it comes into force in 2009, it will be the nation’s first carbon cap-and-trade program. It is already noted around the world for expanding the policy dialogue on allocating carbon credits by moving toward auctioning—rather than giving away—carbon permits. All three foundations believe that it is critical for RGGI implementation to occur on schedule and with key provisions intact.

According to Marcus Schneider, Senior Program Officer for Climate at the Energy Foundation, “Mertz Gilmore’s additional funding is a great vote of encouragement to state and regional global warming work in general and to RGGI in particular. The additional funds will help sustain RGGI implementation efforts while allowing the Energy Foundation and Pew Charitable Trusts to support global warming advocacy in additional states, helping to grow the momentum which is building all over the country.”

A full list of 2007 climate-related grants will be published on a new Climate Program web page in early fall. For information in the meantime, please contact This email address is being protected from spam bots, you need Javascript enabled to view it . The Foundation continues to explore climate-related grantmaking opportunities in the Northeast region and New York City while developing funding criteria. We now expect to publish funding guidelines later in the year.

April 2007

First Climate-Related Grants Approved, Including Support for PLANYC

The Foundation has approved four initial grants as part of a new program to bring about greenhouse gas emissions reductions in the Northeast. These grants support efforts and initiatives that also contribute to the national debate over carbon emissions. One year grants to the Union of Concerned Scientists ($25,000), PennFuture ($50,000), and Environmental Defense ($50,000) will support research, policy advice, and targeted outreach to policymakers on climate-related policy in New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and other Northeast state parties to the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI). The policy advice these advocates are offering in New York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania goes well beyond the goals of RGGI and adds to the growing momentum for federal regulation of greenhouse gas emissions.

At its spring meeting, the Foundation’s Board also approved up to $150,000 to support public education about the New York City PLANYC initiative to address the long-term challenges of population growth, aging infrastructure, and an increasingly precarious environment. Among the plan’s major goals is reducing the city’s global warming emissions 30% below 2005 levels by 2030 through new incentives in the energy, building, and transportation sectors.

The Foundation continues to explore climate-related grantmaking opportunities in the Northeast region while developing funding criteria. We expect to publish proposal criteria in late summer 2007.

April 2007

The Foundation is pleased to announce 20 new grants totaling $1,110,000 in the areas of human rights, New York City community development, and dance.

The Foundation’s Human Rights in the U.S. program supports use of the international human rights framework in social change and justice movements in the United States. For example, a new project grant to Stop Prisoner Rape ($200,000 over two years) will use human rights training and advocacy in one of California's most crowded prisons to reduce the levels of sexual violence in that facility. A coalition grant through the International Rescue Committee ($50,000 for one year) will strengthen human rights advocacy by a national network of service providers and advocates supporting victims of human trafficking.

The Foundation’s New York City Communities program supports organizing and advocacy in low income neighborhoods that addresses widening inequalities and comes together in city-wide campaigns. A grant to the National Mobilization Against SweatShops ($40,000 for one year) will help Spanish- and Polish-speaking service workers to organize for their workplace rights while strengthening the permanent outreach capacity of the organization. A grant to the Supportive Housing Network of New York ($45,000 for one year) will engage and educate communities about the benefits of approving local supportive housing developments for low-income and formerly homeless individuals with special needs.

The Foundation’s New York City Dance program sustains a high level of dance performances and support services throughout the five boroughs of New York City in order to both support artists and increase the audience for dance. A grant to Dance Theater Workshop ($70,000 over two years) will support dance performances, commissions, residencies and specialized services for dancers. A grant to the Battery Dance Company for the Downtown Dance Festival ($10,000 for one year) will support seven days of free outdoor afternoon performances in Chase Plaza and Battery Park.

For a full listing of additional recent grants in each of these areas, please click on Program Areas at the top of this page.

November 2006

The Foundation is pleased to announce 33 new grants totaling $2,195,000 in the areas of human rights, New York City community development, and dance.

The Foundation’s Human Rights in the U.S. program supports the application of international human rights principles in the realization of social change and justice in the United States. For example, a project grant to Amnesty International USA ($200,000 over two years) will explore whether the human rights framework can be used to secure relief for neglected victims of hurricane Katrina. A grant to the Midwest Coalition for Human Rights ($150,000 over two years) will explore the value of a regional network in enhancing local groups’ efforts to advance human rights.

The Foundation’s New York City Communities program supports organizing and advocacy work in under-served neighborhoods that emerges from local efforts and often comes together in city-wide campaigns. As an example, a grant to the Chinese Staff and Workers’ Association ($50,000 over one year) will respond to new patterns of economic injustice in Chinatown and Sunset Park by supporting organizing efforts among women workers and linking them to legal advocacy and support networks to address labor violations. A grant to the Urban Justice Center ($100,000 over two years) on behalf of the Beyond Ground Zero Network will help 9/11 clean-up workers suffering serious health problems to access medical treatment and workers’ compensation benefits.

The Foundation’s New York City Dance program sustains a high level of activity and visibility for dance in the city, and cultivates the richest possible mix of artists and audiences. For example, a grant to Dance New Amsterdam ($50,000 over two years) will support dance programming at the organization's new Lower Manhattan location. A grant to City Park Foundation for CityParks Dance ($50,000 over one year) will support free weekend workshops and performances during the summer in neighborhood parks in Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens and the Bronx.

For a full listing of additional recent grants in each of these areas, please click on Program Areas at the top of this page.