Students at the May 2019 IntegrateNYC Action
North Star Fund makes Rapid Response grants year-round to respond to urgent threats or breaking opportunities. Rapid Response grants support our grantees to move decisively in key moments in order to bring campaigns to the final steps of victory.
Our Rapid Response grants in the first half of 2019 supported several mobilizations of New Yorkers to advance campaigns years and decades in the making, from real rent reform and education justice to drivers licenses for all.
Green Light NY: Driving Together Coalition – $5,000
…for the final push for a bill that will enable all immigrant New Yorkers to obtain drivers licenses. Awarded May 2019. Thanks to the hard work of organizers that mobilized hundreds of people across the state to the Capitol, the Green Light bill was signed into law in June 2019.
IntegrateNYC – $5,000
…to amplify a students’ policy platform to end school segregation as the mayoral administration prepared final recommendations on school diversity in June. Awarded April 2019. The Board of Education, together with the mayor, has largely adopted the students’ demands, announcing the 5Rs of #RealIntegration becoming a citywide blueprint.
Movement for Justice in El Barrio – $2,500
…for lobbying the federal government in D.C. in response to budget increases for the Department of Homeland Security. Awarded May 2019. As of June 2019, the agency received their budget without making additional oversight commitments, but public pressure to end the inhumane treatment of migrants at the southern border, especially asylum seekers, continues to grow.
New York City Coalition for Educational Justice – $5,000
…for development of a communications strategy highlighting the importance of culturally responsive education in public schools, as right-wing media publish unrelenting attacks on anti-bias trainings for New York City teachers. Awarded May 2019. As of June 2019, this campaign is ongoing.
NYC Veterans Alliance – $2,500
…to mobilize veterans to oppose the federal ban on transgender military service, in effect as of April 12. Awarded April 2019. As of June 2019, this campaign is ongoing.
Release Aging People in Prison (RAPP) – $ 5,000
…to expand organizing into Long Island in preparation for an expected backlash to changes to the Board of Parole that make it more fair-minded and rehabilitation-focused. Awarded April 2019. As of June 2019, this campaign is ongoing.
Street Vendor Project – $5,000
…to support the training and mobilization of street vendors for an April City Council hearing on a bill to increase the number of vendor licenses. Awarded February 2019. As of June 2019, this campaign is ongoing.
Upstate/Downstate Housing Alliance – $10,000
…to support a historic, statewide mobilization of 1,500 tenants to Albany to expand rent regulations as they faced expiration this June. Awarded May 2019. The package of rent protections—some of the strongest rent protections the state has seen—was passed within weeks and then signed by Governor Cuomo.