North Star News: 2011
Occupy and Connect
You'd be forgiven for thinking that Occupy Wall Street spontaneously erupted one day. And that, soon thereafter, there were hundreds of fresh-faced college students and frustrated unemployed workers camping at Zuccotti Park, communicating via Facebook and human microphones. You'd...
Anya Rous: Why I Give
I am truly honored to be a member of North Star Fund's Community Funding Committee and part of a grantmaking model that is activist-led and participatory. When it comes to making its grants, North Star Fund turns to the...
Grants to Occupy
Soon after the occupation at Zuccotti Park began, North Star hosted conversations with Occupy activists and our grantee activist leaders. We identified the needs that we heard and quickly made several Rapid Response grants to strengthen the connection between...
New City Law Stems Deportation from Rikers
Hugh Hogan, North Star Fund's executive director, has just published an article in the Huffington Post on the new city law, signed by Mayor Bloomberg yesterday, that will stem the deporation of innocent people from Rikers Island. Click here to...
Read Our 2011 Annual Report
For the 2011 North Star Fund Annual Report, members of our community contributed personal stories and artifacts emblematic of this foundation's mission and vision. The idea was to create a kind of time capsule to inspire future generations in...
Brandworkers Wins Round Against Flaum
Should a company refuse to follow wage and labor laws because it employs undocumented immigrants? That's what Flaum Appetizing claims. And its employees are having none of it. Earlier this week, Brandworkers International, a North Star Fund grantee since...
Philanthropy News Digest Interviews Hugh Hogan on Occupy Wall Street
Occupy Wall Street started in New York, and quickly became a global phenomenon, changing the conversation on wealth distribution, political power, and economic justice. Many in the world of philanthropy have paused to consider what the shift in discourse will...
VOCAL Heard: Head, Heart and Bullhorn
Editor's note: As we go to press, VOCAL-NY has just won another much-lauded victory. Last week, after sustained pressure led by VOCAL, Police Commissioner Ray Kelly instructed police officers to stop arresting people for carrying small amounts of marijuana....
Lloyd Martinez
I got involved in ACT UP, the AIDS Coalition To Unleash Power right after I moved to New York from Texas. Ronald Reagan was in office and we had to be out there protesting, marching, demonstrating. We were very...
Hiring Executive Coordinator
North Star Fund is currently hiring for an Executive Coordinator to keep our office running smoothly and to manage the scheduling for our busy Executive Director. The position is 30-35 hours per week with the potential to become full-time...
Honoring Inspiration
Two New Memorial Grants Created in Memory of Inspiring Supporters of North Star Fund North Star Fund lost two long-time and beloved supporters in Betty Millard and C. Edwin (Ed) Baker, who passed away within months of each other:...
Apply to the Greening Western Queens Fund
North Star Fund is proud to announce the release of the RFP for the Greening Western Queens Fund. The Greening Western Queens Fund is a $7.9 million initiative to invest in energy-efficiency and environmental projects in the Western Queens community...
Recap: 2011 LGBTQ Community Brunch
On June 25, 2011 North Star Fund hosted its third LGBTQ Community Brunch. Donors came together to learn about the ground-breaking work and the profound impact that groups we support have in New York City's LGBTQ communities. Lule Demmissie, co-host...
Susan Butler Plum: Why I Give
I am the founding director of the Skadden Fellowships. Every year, we make grants for 25 beginning attorneys to provide civil legal services to the poor. We had a theory when we started that if we gave lawyers an...
Meet Roshni Melia, New Director of Donor Programs
As the Director of Donor Programs, Roshni Melia's goal is to provide North Star's donors with a wide variety of interesting programs and networking opportunities to expand their knowledge, gain subject expertise, and increase their effectiveness as donors. Roshni...
New Immigrant Community Empowerment
Mario* had worked for almost a decade at a warehouse where he was constantly yelled at and harassed by one of the managers. He stuck it out because he is an undocumented immigrant, and the owner of the warehouse...
Movement Leadership: Five Groups Leading the Way
In Fall 2010, we unveiled our new grantmaking vision and program. Movement Leadership Grants are a centerpiece of our new grants vision. They are the biggest grants that our Community Funding Committee has awarded in the foundation's history --...
Activism and Dim Sum
On January 30th, North Star Fund celebrated the Year of the Rabbit with a Lunar New Year Dim Sum at Chinatown's stylish Red Egg. The intimate gathering of 40 friends featured a compelling discussion of community organizing in New...
Asa Johnson: Why I Give
I've seen grassroots organizing in action. North Star Fund is a foundation that 'gets it.' North Star is always thinking creatively and thoughtfully about how to do the best job supporting grassroots activism. Just out of college, I worked...
Grantees Gather for Greening Western Queens Fund
On February 10, 2011, North Star Fund brought together the fifteen grant recipients of the Greening Western Queens Fund at the Woodside Branch of the Queens Library. Grantees presented their projects and explore opportunities to collaborate, pool ideas and...
Our New Grantmaking Vision: First Recipients Selected
North Star Fund is pleased to announce our first round of grants following the Fall 2010 launch of our new grantmaking vision and guidelines. The new guidelines build on our 32 year tradition of funding some of the most...
Media Attention for Greening Western Queens Program
On February 8, North Star Fund announced the recipients of the first round of Greening Western Queens Fund grants. Over the course of three years, North Star Fund will distribute $8 million in grants to the communities in western Queens...
Wanda Imasuen: Why I Give
I was born in 1948, in Harlem, and I was raised in Harlem. I'm 62 now. I learned at an early age that community has to stick together in order to survive. When I was growing up, blacks were...
Greening Western Queens Grants Announced
Western Queens will soon see an infusion of trees, green jobs and youth environmental programs thanks to over $3 million in grants distributed by North Star Fund. The grants mark the beginning of a three year, $8 million initiative...
Jessie Cagan: A Life Well-Lived
In December, New York City's activist community lost one of our brightest stars, Jessie Cagan. For decades, Jessie was a stalwart leader of many movements for a better, more just and sane planet. She was also a beloved friend,...
Meet our New Program Officer, Walter Barrientos
North Star Fund is pleased to announce the appointment of Walter Barrientos as our new Program Officer. Walter will be responsible for implementing our new grantmaking guidelines, coordinating technical assistance and training programs, and collecting and publicizing the stories...
To Cuomo: How to Be a Great Governor
What is the test of a great governor? Hugh Hogan, North Star Fund's Executive Director, answers that question in recent article for The Empire Page, a website devoted to New York state politics and government. With a $10 billion budget ax...
