The Nonprofit Relations Committee reviews the progress of Innovation Grantees twice a year, for two years after the date of their grants, to evaluate performance against mutually agreed goals and outcomes. For more information about the projects or join the committee, email nonprofit_relations@impact100nyc.org

2023 Innovation Grantee 

Progress Report: Sure We Can received provisional approval from NYC's Economic Development Corporation to create its second satellite redemption center - to be funded by Impact 100 NYC --  at a city-owned site in East New York.  While it waits for final approval and access to the space, Sure We Can is developing plans to clean the site and install equipment, and providing management training to future satellite manager Josefa Marín, a long-time canner who has grown into an organization leader and Board member.

During a Brown Bag Lunch moderated by Impact 100 NYC member Amy Davidson, SWC gave members real insight into the challenges facing canners in NYC and how potential changes to the NYS Bottle Bill could affect their work and recycling across the City. The panel discussion, via Zoom on January 18, 2024 with Ryan Castiglia, Executive Director of Sure We Can, Josefa Marin, President and Co-Founder of the Alliance of Independent Recyclers of NYC, and Blair Horner, Executive Director of the NY Public Interest Research Group, shared changes, challenges and opportunities to a reproposed bill coming before the NY State Legislature this year. To learn more, view the recording of "The NYS Bottle Bill: Why It Matters." 

2023 Innovation Grantee
In the heart of Harlem where four in five children go home alone each day after school, Harlem Grown ’s mission is to inspire youth to lead healthy and ambitious lives through hands-on education in urban farming, sustainability, and nutrition. Since 2011, Harlem Grown has operated 13 – soon to be 14 – local urban farms, and provided farm-based development programs. 

To ensure a continuum of care for its youth outside of school hours while increasing the opportunities for high academic achievement and supporting the community in leading healthy lives, Harlem Grown applied its 2023 Innovation Grant from Impact 100 NYC to launch the Inaugural Independent After School Program.

“It’s only been a few months, and we’re already seeing that it’s working,” said Nicole Engel, Executive Director, Harlem Grown. “Through gardening, cooking, science, and fitness activities, our children are obtaining a greater sense of self-efficacy, leadership and personal wellness while building community and growing academically. And, families benefit, too," added Engel.  "Eighty percent of our families reported they were able to sustain or improve their economic, educational, employment, and/or self-care opportunities as a result of their child’s enrollment in afterschool.”  See highlight video of the after school program here.

Progress Report: 
In its first semester, Harlem Grown provided 30 NYC public school students with high-quality, consistent afterschool programming focused on academic enrichment along with access to free healthy food, academic enrichment, daily physical activity, and one-on-one educator engagement. 

More than a dozen Impact 100 Members attended a ribbon cutting on March 13, 2024 and presented a plaque to mark the inauguration of the program and the opening of its dedicated classroom. HG has created a vibrant and nurturing afterschool experience for Harlem students – all free of charge – making a long-held wish a reality. The program not only gives them a place to go, they garden, cook, and foster community while learning math, science and inter-personal skills.  See remarks from Harlem Grown founder, Tony Hillery, and executive director, Nicole Engel  and Impact 100 NYC founding board member, Hope Buerkle, at the classroom dedication and ribbon cutting.

Like to garden? Cook with kids? Mentor? Volunteers always welcome! Harlem Grown’ s calendar of events

Upcoming Impact 100 NYC Community Garden Spruce Up, May 9^th.  Register here to volunteer.

2022 Innovation Grantee 

Futures and Options' Get Ahead in Healthcare, a comprehensive continuum of career development and internship programming funded by its 2022 Innovation Grant, focuses on career pathways in healthcare, one of the fastest growing industries in the city and the country.  Programming includes Healthcare Career Essentials, Healthcare Guest Speaker Series, Healthcare Career Expo, and Healthcare Internship Program. 

Progress Report:

This summer, Get Ahead in Healthcare’s Internship Program offered paid internships to graduates of Healthcare Career Essentials. A total of 49 students applied for the program, with 29 placed in summer internships. Interns worked for community health organizations, public health agencies, hospitals, optometrist offices, and psychotherapy providers. Generally, the interns assisted with research, data collection and analysis, community outreach, advocacy, and shadowed medical professionals to become familiar with their day-to-day responsibilities.

As the program moves into its second year in 2024, Futures and Options will continue to offer alumni of Get Ahead in Healthcare access to College Guidance workshops, as well as continued career exploration and networking events through Alumni Engagement program.

Based on the initial success and strength of Get Ahead in Healthcare, NYC Public Schools selected F&O to implement a program with six schools to introduce high school students to careers in the healthcare sector. F&O will lead coordination between schools, students, and employers to deliver career exploration field trips, work-readiness workshops, industry-based projects (“workplace challenges”), and paid internships, leveraging the employer partnerships they developed through Get Ahead in Healthcare.

To learn more about F&O and their success you can view their 2023 Annual Report  HERE