Craig Newmark Graduate School of Journalism—October 4, 2024—The Craig Newmark Graduate School of Journalism at CUNY is developing an innovative high school journalism education curriculum as part of Journalism for All — a public-private effort to bring equitable journalism opportunities to New…
News
A Plan to Fund High School Newspapers Seeks to Revive Student Journalism
NEW YORK TIMES—September 26, 2024—New York was hit with an onslaught of record-breaking rain last September … As the storm pummeled the five boroughs, a leak sprung at Pace High School in Chinatown, soaking the rubber flooring of its basement gym.…
Jewish donors and the case for CUNY
EJEWISHPHILANTHROPY—August 28, 2024—High-profile Jewish donors made headlines during the last academic year when they halted financial support for Ivy League universities, but there was surprisingly little public debate over where else those funds might go. Marc Charendoff proposed the minyan…
NYC elected officials push for student newspapers at every high school
GOTHAMIST—August 14, 2024—Elected officials are pressuring the Department of Education to fund student newspapers at every public high school in New York City. The resolution, introduced in April, argues that school newspapers provide students with a platform to express their ideas…
Could Eric Adams Lose Next Year? The hosts of a plugged-in New York City politics podcast wonder if the Mayor is really as weak as his political opponents believe.
The New Yorker—August 12, 2024—The one time Eric Adams went on the “FAQ NYC” podcast, he said something dumb. This was early 2020, when Adams was soft-launching his 2021 mayoral campaign. Harry Siegel, one of the show’s hosts, asked Adams if he…
Nonprofit and public leaders lead effort to recruit more NYC lifeguards
MYN MEDIA—July 25, 2024—In 2022, several of New York City’s swimming pools remained closed or operated under reduced hours due to a shortage of lifeguards, all while there was a disproportionate rate of children in communities of color who did…
Healing minds and bodies from Rikers
DAILY NEWS—July 12, 2024—Each week members of the New York Jewish Coalition for Criminal Justice Reform board the Q100 bus and travel over the bridge to Rikers Island to worship with people in custody awaiting trial. We are welcomed with warmth and…
City Parks Foundation Awards NYC Green Fund Pathways Grants to Change-Makers Building Equitable and Vibrant Parks
CITY PARKS FOUNDATION—July 9, 2024—City Parks Foundation awarded $500,000 in grant funding to 10 recipients through the 2024 NYC Green Fund Pathways Grants program, which supports systemic changes that will lead to a more equitable and resilient park and open space…
Vital City Releases Issue 8
VITAL CITY—July 1, 2024—Today, Vital City is proud to publish its latest issue on whether fears of a downward spiral for cities are justified and what comes next for urban America. We place a special focus on New York City’s…
GoVoteNYC Fund at The New York Community Trust makes nearly $1 million in grants to increase voter turnout
THE NEW YORK COMMUNITY TRUST—June 26, 2024—On the heels of this week’s primary election in New York, GoVoteNYC is announcing new grants to engage low-turnout voters in local elections over the next 18 months. The New York Community Trust’s GoVoteNYC Fund…
Everyone Into the Pool
VITAL CITY—June 21, 2024—The summer of 2024 will be hotter than ever, with forecasts predicting double last year’s total of 90-plus degree days. And while some of us can afford to just crank up the air, for millions of New Yorkers, the city’s…
ANNOUCING THE RECEIPIENTS OF THE 2024 POSTDOCTORAL DIVERSITY ENRICHMENT PROGRAM
BURROUGHS WELLCOME FUND—June 12, 2024—The Charles H. Revson Foundation is honored to collaborate with the Burroughs Wellcome Fund in recognizing the 2024 Postdoctoral Diversity Enrichment Program awardees. This year’s cohort includes 30 talented researchers, five of whom are Revson Scholars,…
Colin Powell School’s Moynihan Center Introduces 2024-25 Public Service Fellows
CITY UNIVERSITY OF NEW YORK—May 9, 2024— The Moynihan Center at the Colin Powell School for Civic and Global Leadership at The City College of New York has introduced its second cohort of the Moynihan Public Service Fellowship, which supports promising undergraduate students…
Announcing Connected Corridors: Envisioning the Future of Our Main Streets
URBAN DESIGN FORUM—May 6, 2024—Business Improvement Districts (BIDs) in Brownsville, Brooklyn; Sunnyside, Queens; and the Bronx Capitol District will receive funding and technical assistance to envision the future of their public spaces through the Local Center, a partnership between Urban…
NYC youth voter turnout is always low. Can this digital tool change that?
GOTHAMIST—April 19, 2024—A new tool is poised to help Gen Z New Yorkers strengthen their civic muscle. The Youth Civic Hub offers high-school-aged New Yorkers and other young people a one-stop resource for information about elections, community events, and opportunities…
Most NYC high schools lack newspapers. A new journalism curriculum could help change that.
CHALKBEAT—April 18, 2024—While more than three-quarters of the schools with the highest concentrations of white and Asian American students had student publications, the same was true for just 8% of schools with high concentrations of Black students and 16% of…
Commentary: Judicial appointment process must be transparent
TIMES UNION—March 20, 2024—In the wake of a New York Times investigation demonstrating that ex-Congressman George Santos fabricated portions of his resume, veteran media critic Margaret Sullivan pointed to the decline of local journalism as the reason Santos got elected.…
One Way to Help a Journalism Industry in Crisis: Make J-School Free
NEW YORK TIMES—March 18, 2024—Many uncertainties haunt the field of journalism today — among them, how we can reach our audience, build public trust in our work, and who is going to pay for it all. But one thing is…
Newmark Students Land Summer Data Journalism ‘Equity’ Internships
CRAIG NEWMARK GRADUATE SCHOOL OF JOURNALISM—March 1, 2024—Three Newmark students have notched summer data journalism internships at two top nonprofit newsrooms — becoming the first to gain crucial work experience opportunities through the J-School’s Equity Through Data Project. Ashley Borja and…
New Short Films from The Local Center
URBAN DESIGN FORUM—February 15,2024—The Local Center is a community design network led by the Urban Design Forum and the Association of Neighborhood and Housing Development. The Local Center brings together neighborhood leaders, designers, and government agencies to realize local visions…
Jonathan Rosen with Julie Sandorf: The Best Minds
NEW YORK PUBLIC LIBRARY—Author Jonathan Rosen will discuss his New York Times, Wall Street Journal, and The Atlantic Top 10 Book of 2023 The Best Minds with Julie Sandorf on Wednesday, February 7, 2024 at Stavros Niarchos Foundation Library (SNFL).
To register for the event sign up here.
Safeguarding Israeli journalists
THE TIMES OF ISRAEL—January 3,2024— Startled by the predawn hour of his editor’s phone call, the journalist raced his car southward to capture events he never fathomed he would be telling the world. “In the excruciating long hours of October…
Brooklyn Public Library Opens Its 10th Iteration of Making Space
SITU—November 9, 2023— When we first began developing Making Space in 2017, it was conceived as a system-wide, urban-scale transformation of Brooklyn Public Library’s community rooms. We designed this highly flexible architecture as a kit of modifiable components, adapted to…
Burroughs Wellcome Fund And Charles H. Revson Foundation Establish Partnership To Support Minority Scientists
BURROUGS WELLCOME FUND—September 18,2023— RESEARCH TRIANGLE PARK, NC, 18 September 2023 — The Burroughs Wellcome Fund and the Charles H. Revson Foundation are proud to announce a collaboration aimed at fostering diversity and inclusion in the scientific research community. This partnership…
Hochul, City College Moynihan Center inaugural class honor late senator
NEW YORK AMSTERDAM NEWS—September 14, 2023—The City College of New York celebrated its inaugural classes of the Moynihan Public Scholars and Moynihan Undergraduate Fellows programs last week, created to honor the late U.S. Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan, a City College…
New Research Provides a Roadmap for Boosting Turnout in Local Elections
THE WELL NEWS—September 7, 2023—While national campaigns get the big headlines, local elections often have the most direct impact on the day-to-day lives of Americans. Yet in New York City, local elections are an afterthought for most voters — so…
Could “prying open the vault” to small business loans help save local news?
NIEMAN LAB—August 16, 2023—A foundation that has invested millions in local journalism in New York starts a new report with a warning. More than half of American daily news outlets are controlled by hedge funds and private equity firms, which…
How to Make Early Voting More Accessible in New York
BRENNAN CENTER FOR JUSTICE—August 10, 2023—On November 5, 2022, when Blaise Bryant and his fiancée, Erin, passed by an early voting poll site near their home in Rensselaer County, New York, they decided to take advantage of the opportunity and…
Newmark J-School Launches Data Journalism ‘Equity’ Campaign
CRAIG NEWMARK GRADUATE SCHOOL OF JOURNALISM—August 3, 2023— The Craig Newmark Graduate School of Journalism at the City University of New York is expanding its reach as a national data and investigative journalism leader by launching a major effort to train…
Opinion: Trusted Relationships are the Secret Ingredient to Increased Voter Turnout
CITYLIMITS—July 21, 2023—“An analysis of voter turnout by the New York City Campaign Finance Board found that from 2008 to 2018, only 3 percent of registered voters cast their vote in every election in which they were eligible. More than…
Water, Water Everywhere
VITAL CITY—In the summer of 2021, fortified by a miraculous shot in the arm, I celebrated my emergence from the horrors that COVID inflicted on New York City by going to a matinee screening of “In the Heights.” A highlight…
Lab/Revson Foundation award $160,000 to innovative projects in Jewish chaplaincy
CHAPLAINCY INNOVATION LAB—May 31, 2023—Through a grant from the Charles H. Revson Foundation, the Chaplaincy Innovation Lab at Brandeis University has funded four projects to advance innovative approaches to Jewish spiritual care. Recent research from the Chaplaincy Innovation Lab found that Jewish chaplains are…
Three Ideas About Fixing Our Freedom of Information Laws
SECOND ROUGH DRAFT—April 27, 2023—Our freedom of information (FOI) laws are among the best tools for enterprise journalism in this country; they have fueled a broad range of excellent stories. But much of the time, the laws don’t work—they may…
Greenpoint Library Wins Top Prize in Culture Pass’ Citywide Library Book Display Contest
BKLYN PUBLIC LIBRARY—April 3, 2023—Culture Pass, the library program created in 2018 to provide cardholders free access to cultural institutions, announced the winner today of a book display contest. Nearly 100 libraries—representing every borough—participated in the competition, designing displays for…
Eleven NYC Public High Schools Win Top Prizes at The Newsies
BARUCH COLLEGE—April 3, 2023—The only competition for excellence specifically in NYC public high school journalism – The Newsies at Baruch College – has announced the award program’s 2023 winners[…] Developed at Baruch, The Newsies Best in NYC Public High School…
NYC Green Relief & Recovery Fund Grants $510,000 to 10 Organizations Promoting Equity and Innovation in NYC’s Parks and Open Spaces
CITY PARKS FOUNDATION—March 23, 2023—City Parks Foundation is pleased to announce that the NYC Green Relief & Recovery Fund (NYC Green Fund) recently granted $510,000 to 10 innovative projects advancing equity and community involvement in parks and open spaces. The…
City Locks in Lifeguard Pay Bump and Bonuses as Swim Task Force Explores Solutions
THE CITY—March 28, 2023—Newer city lifeguards are getting a permanent raise — and all public pool and beach watchers could net an attendance bonus — as the Parks Department and a new multi-agency task force hope to avoid another critical…
Local newspapers are on life support; banks could provide the cure they need
AMERICAN BANKER—March 10, 2023—Community news organizations are often integral to the vitality of a community. Studies, and common sense, have indicated that communities that lack good local news have less civic involvement, more corruption, higher taxes and lower voter turnout.…
One Percent of the Budget for Parks? A Bargain, Says a Nonprofit
NEW YORK TIMES—March 13, 2023—How much for parks? That was the subtext of a conversation with Adam Ganser, whose answer puts him at odds with Mayor Eric Adams, and it was hardly surprising. Ganser is the executive director of New Yorkers…
Identity/Crisis Podcast
SHALOM HARTMAN INSTITUTE—In a frenzied media cycle, Identity/Crisis delves into the big ideas behind the news from a uniquely Jewish perspective. Host Yehuda Kurtzer, president of the Shalom Hartman Institute of North America, talks with leading thinkers to unpack current events effecting…
Caring For Our Kids’ Mental Health, Jewishly [podcast]
SHALOM HARTMAN INSTITUTE—December 21, 2022—What is the responsibility of Jewish leaders to address mental health in the Jewish community? Yehuda Kurtzer talks with Yael Kornfeld, campus social worker at Hunter College Hillel and a Jewish professional on the frontline of the mental health…
Want Your Giving to Make the Most Impact? Donate to Local Media
INSIDE PHILANTHROPY—December 6, 2022—Chances are, you are thinking hard about your choices this giving season. As leaders at two New York City news organizations focused on deep, impactful and useful coverage of local communities and issues, we know that many…
Protect Our Democracy. Support Local News.
NEW YORK TIMES—November 29, 2022—Take Greg Smith, a reporter for a local nonprofit news organization in New York called The City, which I have donated to. At 5 p.m. on the Friday before Labor Day, he got a text from a source at New York’s public housing authority. The drinking water in a large public housing complex in Manhattan had tested positive for arsenic, and city officials had known about it for two weeks. It was only after Smith asked the housing authority and City Hall for comment on his scoop that the city hustled to provide bottled water to the thousands of tenants living in the complex...
73% of NYC high schools don’t have a newspaper. Efforts are growing to fill in the gaps.
CHALKBEAT NEW YORK—November 23, 2022—Emely Ou Feng dreams of being an investigative journalist one day. But the 16-year-old hasn’t had many opportunities to pursue that goal at school for a simple reason: Her Brooklyn campus doesn’t have a student newspaper.…
Jewish chaplains: Leading where life happens
EJEWISH PHILANTHROPY — October 26, 2022 — The pandemic put chaplains before the public eye as the country’s “spiritual first responders.” Media reports shined light on their important work, more typically unseen, and on chaplaincy’s evolution into a vocation that is…
The Three Vs for Voter Engagement: Validators, Volunteers and Visibility
GOTHAM GAZETTE — August 26, 2022 — In this week’s late August primary, the second primary this summer in New York, voter turnout barely cracked ten percent in New York City. The first primary of the summer, in June, saw turnout drop by nearly half from…
Settlement Houses GET OUT THE VOTE! 2021 Report
UNITED NEIGHBORHOOD HOUSES—August 17, 2022—United Neighborhood Houses of New York (UNH) is a policy and social change organization with a mission to promote and strengthen the settlement house movement’s neighborhood-based, multi-service approach to improving the lives of low- and moderate-income…
Eli Evans, ‘poet laureate of Southern Jews’ and influential grant-maker, dies at 85
JEWISH TELEGRAPHIC AGENCY— July 28, 2022 — It was the landmark 1993 handshake between Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat and Israel prime minister Yitzchak Rabin that inspired Eli Evans to invest, for the third time, in “Sesame Street.” As an executive…
Eli N. Evans, z’l
The Trustees and staff of the Charles H. Revson Foundation mourn the passing of Eli N. Evans, its founding President. Through his great generosity of spirit, love of Israel and the Jewish People, profound belief in the promise of American…
Press Release: GoVoteNYC Funder Collaborative Announces $1.05 Million in Grants to Get Out the Vote
THE NEW YORK COMMUNITY TRUST— April 26, 2022 — The GoVoteNYC Fund in The New York Community Trust has announced $1.05 million in grants to 11 nonprofits for nonpartisan get-out-the-vote activities. Targeting more than 2 million new and infrequent voters,…
Shaun Donovan Interview
ROTHSCHILD CADETS FOR LOCAL GOVERNMENT— March 31, 2022 — Shaun Donovan shares his experience developing affordable housing with students and practitioners in Israel.
Risking life and limb, Hesed network continues caring for Ukraine’s neediest Jews
THE TIMES OF ISRAEL— March 2, 2022 —With roads blocked and public transportation either shut down or commandeered for military needs, providing care to needy members of Ukraine’s Jewish community has never been more fraught. But social workers in Ukraine…
Richard Kim talks about the Importance of Nonprofit Newsrooms
THE TAKEAWAY — March 23, 2022 — How do non profit newsrooms thrive? Richard Kim, the new Editor-in-chief of TheCity.nyc joins us to discuss his new position, the world of nonprofit newsrooms and how they can compete with their big money…
Let’s strengthen local reporting by 50,000 new journalists.
COLUMBIA JOURNALISM REVIEW — February 28, 2022 — In 2004, the number of newspaper newsroom staff topped 71,000, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Since then, it has declined by more than half. If we want to make up that…
Combating Hate in Our Midst
THE TIMES OF ISRAEL — January 19, 2022 — When the Sabbath ended this week, I turned on my phone after a 25 hour pause in notifications and news updates. The first message that appeared was from Imam Abdullah Antepli…
Building the Open Newsroom: A Q&A with The City’s Nic Dawes
COLUMBIA JOURNALISM REVIEW— December 22, 2021 — In 2019, New York City saw the launch of THE CITY, a local nonprofit news platform built with considerable foundation and donor funding; one of the publication’s goals has been to engage with New York communities…
Center for an Urban Future Report and Forum Call for NYC Libraries to Help City Recover
LIBRARY JOURNAL — December 06, 2021 — Center for an Urban Future (CUF) released its most recent report, “Branches to Recovery: Tapping the Power of NYC’s Public Libraries to Rebuild a More Equitable City,” on November 30. The report, funded…
Harness NYC’s libraries to spread equity
DAILY NEWS — December 01, 2021 — Although many other entities will be pivotal to creating a more equitable city — including schools and hundreds of community-based nonprofits — libraries are uniquely equipped to help in so many critical areas, from expanding access to early education and closing the digital divide to strengthening minority-owned businesses and bolstering the language, literacy and technology skills needed to access the good jobs of tomorrow.
Local Foundations Need Solid Local Journalism if They Hope to Advance Their Missions
THE CHRONICLE OF PHILANTHROPY — November 16, 2021 — In New York City, the Charles H. Revson Foundation supported an effort that resulted in the city delivering $9.9 million — more than 80 percent of the city’s ad budget — to community news organizations. This helped ensure that publications such as the Haitian Times and the South Asian Times, which were struggling with ad-revenue losses, could continue to deliver critical Covid-19 safety information to readers.
Reform New York City’s Board of Elections Now
THE NEW YORK TIMES — October 30, 2021 — If you built a laboratory solely to concoct the most inept, opaque and self-dealing election board imaginable, you would have a hard time outdoing the real-life specimen currently functioning — or…
New York’s Next Mayor and a Failure of Local Reporting
SECOND ROUGH DRAFT — October 7, 2021 — Two weeks before the June 22 Democratic primary that everyone knew would be tantamount to the election of the next mayor of New York City, Politico New York published a story raising doubts about…
How to Fix the New York City Board of Elections
THE BRENNAN CENTER FOR JUSTICE — September 9, 2021 —“A national embarrassment.” “A disaster.” “Wins at screwing up.” These were just a few assessments of the New York City Board of Elections (NYC BOE) after its most recent in a long…
How New York City Is Saving Its Local News Outlets
Revson President, Julie Sandorf's and Dean of the Craig Newmark Graduate School of Journalism at CUNY, Sarah Bartlett's piece "How New York City Is Saving Its Local News Outlets" was published in The New York Times on May 20, 2021.
GoVoteNYC Fund Announces $1 Million in Grants for Voter Engagement
THE NEW YORK COMMUNITY TRUST — April 26, 2021 — Decades of low voter turnout and an historic election cycle drive a new philanthropic effort housed in The New York Community Trust to increase voter participation in NYC. The GoVoteNYC…
A Diverse Sisterhood of Strangers Showed Me How Pluralism Works
CENTER FOR INCLUSION AND BELONGING — April 25, 2021 — Two years ago, I joined a Sisterhood of Salaam Shalom local chapter in Manhattan. The Sisterhood brings together equal numbers of Jewish and Muslim women in intimate chapters of between 10-20 members,…
If We Want to Strengthen Democracy, Let’s Start in Our Back Yard
Revson Senior Program Officer, Martha King piece "If We Want to Strengthen Democracy, Let's Start in Our Back Yard" was published in Philanthropy New York on April 14, 2021.
Revson Grantee, THE CITY receives Punch Sulzberger Innovator of the Year Award
The Revson Foundation is proud to support THE CITY, a new nonprofit news organization, who received the Punch Sulzberger Innovator of the Year Award.
Rethinking local news in New York City by collaborating with residents and libraries
MEDIUM — March 30, 2021 — How THE CITY’s Open Newsroom initiative is creating a “two-way street” of information sharing on issues like food insecurity, tenants rights and unemployment. Audience engagement in journalism can refer to everything from social media…
Pooled Journalism Funds Could Help Save Local Newspapers
Revson President, Julie Sandorf's piece "Pooled Journalism Funds Could Help Save Local Newspapers" was published in The Chronicle of Philanthropy on March 3, 2021.
Vanishing in the Desert, Traditional Bedouin Culture Lives Online
THE NEW YORK TIMES — March 2, 2021 — After 50 years of fieldwork in the Negev and Sinai deserts, an Israeli researcher donated his rare archive to the National Library of Israel. JERUSALEM — When Clinton Bailey first began…
American Jewish Historical Society Emma Lazarus Poetry Contest – 2020 Winners
The American Jewish Historical Society announces winners of its “New Colossus” national poetry contest, part of the Emma Lazarus Project. Hear the middle school, high school, and college winners read and speak about their winning poems here.
The Gate of Healing
Revson Program Officer, Elizabeth Leiman Kraiem piece "The Gate of Healing" was published in eJewish Philanthropy on September 22, 2020.
6 Ways Local News Makes a Crucial Impact Covering COVID-19
MEDIUM — April 20, 2020 — During the pandemic, local news publishers and journalists have become essential sources of trusted information The horrific spread of the novel coronavirus across America has prompted an outpouring of questions from confused citizens in…
NYC Weighs Mentoring Amid Hate Crime Rise
Reuven Blau, a reporter from THE CITY, a Revson grantee, was interviewed on CBS News about the city's proposal on the anti-semitic attacks in NYC.
13 Local News Stories and Series That Made a Difference in 2019
MEDIUM — December 16, 2019 — These pieces highlight the best of collaborative journalism, community engagement and national-local partnerships This selection of 13 local stories that made a difference in 2019 highlight the strategies that can help local journalism both…
President Julie Sandorf’s article “Eyes Upon the Street” is published in Stanford Social Innovation Review
Revson President, Julie Sandorf's piece "Eyes Upon the Street" was published in the Stanford Social Innovation Review's Winter 2020 Issue.
Revson grantee, The City, wins multiple awards
The Revson Foundation is proud to support THE CITY, a new nonprofit news organization, who won three EPPY awards and whose reporter Christine Chung won Newswomen's Club of New York Front Page Award.
5 Ways Place-Based Foundations Can Support Local News
MEDIUM — November 5, 2019 — Local foundations are known for directing grants to nonprofits in their towns, but not as much for supporting local news. That equation is changing, as more place-based foundations see watchdog journalism faltering. Many times…
Stemming the Loss of Local Journalism
Revson president, Julie Sandorf, writes in the New York Times, on the important role philanthropy should play on helping to finance the reinvention of local news as a public service.
Libraries’ Culture Pass Signs Up 70,000 in First Year
THE NEW YORK TIMES — August 13, 2019 — It’s been one year since public library cardholders in New York’s five boroughs were given expanded — and free — access to the arts through the citywide Culture Pass initiative. Since the…
Culture Pass program gave out more than 70,000 museum, theater tickets in its first year
AM NEW YORK — August 12, 2019 — The Culture Pass program offering free admission to New York City library cardholders is an “enormous success,” according to city and library officials. Since it launched in July 2018, the program has given out more than…
A terrible time for de Blasio to cut library funding
Julie Sandorf, President of the Revson Foundation, writes in Crain's New York on the critical need to protect NYC public libraries' funding, and the important role our libraries will play in helping all New Yorkers participate in the 2020 Census.
‘There is nobody who will cover this’
COLUMBIA JOURNALISM REVIEW — April 29, 2019 — Last September, during a heavy downpour in Brooklyn’s Sunset Park neighborhood, Luis Sánchez Almonte was buried alive. An immigrant from the Dominican Republic, Sánchez Almonte, who was 47, had been living in northern…
Making Space Launches at the Flashbush Branch Library
Commissioned by the BPL, SITU created a kit-of-parts that realigns century-old library spaces with 21st-century programming. Made up of adjustable infrastructure and furniture systems, the system creates flexible spaces to support the huge range of programs hosted by each branch. Across BPL’s 59 libraries, these spaces host close to 70,000 programs annually. Modular and scalable by design, the system is a pathway to revitalize community spaces in neighborhoods across Brooklyn.
Local News in America is Dying. Charity Might Save It
BLOOMBERG — April 25, 2019 — The City, a website covering local news in America’s biggest metropolis, debuted this month with a bank account some of its nonprofit peers could only dream of. Backed by almost $10 million from philanthropies and individuals,…
Muslims must combat anti-Semitism in our midst
THE SEATTLE TIMES — November 19, 2018 — In a story most Muslims believe authentic, the Prophet Muhammad stands up as a Jewish funeral procession goes by. His companions wonder why he shows such respect. “It is only a Jew,” they…
Haroon Moghul’s Piece “Happy Birthday, Muhammad” featured in The New York Times
THE NEW YORK TIMES — November 20, 2018 — Tuesday is the Prophet Muhammad’s birthday. It’s the 12th of Rabi al-Awwal, the day most Muslims believe he came into the world some 1,400 years ago. I first met Muhammad in August…
Presenting THE CITY, A Revson-Conceived Nonprofit Digital News Startup
A major new nonprofit digital news organization focused on New York City, called THE CITY (@TheCityNY), is about to begin staffing up with top New York City journalists, and it will launch later this year with the mission of adding…
Revson-funded book, Palaces for the People, featured in The New York Times and WNYC
The Revson Foundation is proud to support the publication of Eric Klinenberg's new book, Palaces for the People: How Social Infrastructure Can Help Fight Inequality, Polarization, and the Decline of Civic Life.
Reentry: Start Here – A Profile of Brooklyn Public Libary’s TeleStory Program
URBAN OMNIBUS — September 7, 2018 — Where do you go to get help? A branch library system is an ideal physical infrastructure of aid: in New York City, 209 branches are dispersed throughout the city, yet central to neighborhoods’ identities; they…
Key to the city: Kudos to the brains behind Culture Pass
NEW YORK DAILY NEWS — July 22, 2018 — It’s hard to believe nobody thought of it sooner: A New York City library card can now get you into 33 museums free. The Brooklyn, New York and Queens libraries launched Culture Pass,…
The funding to save local journalism: Importing an idea from San Diego
NEW YORK DAILY NEWS — August 20, 2018 — Mary Walter-Brown came to New York the other day on a mission to help save our local journalism. She may seem an unlikely savior to New Yorkers. A graduate of Northern Kentucky University,…
Culture Pass Featured on The Brian Lehrer Show & New York Times Editorial
THE BRIAN LEHRER SHOW— July 20, 2018 — Linda Johnson, president and C.E.O. of the Brooklyn Public Library, talks about the new program that lets all three library system card-holders visit major NYC cultural institutions for free. Listen to the interview here.…
NYC’s Public Library Systems Launch Culture Pass
With support from the Revson Foundation, the Stavros Niarchos Foundation, and the New York Community Trust, NYC’s three public library systems have joined together to launch Culture Pass, a city-wide initiative providing free access to 33 cultural institutions across the five boroughs to the millions of library card holders.
Really want to fix local journalism, Mayor de Blasio? Here’s how
Julie Sandorf, President of the Revson Foundation, describes the national decline in local news coverage and calls for increased investment in local journalism in New York.
City must not force libraries to give up gains
Revson President, Julie Sandorf, cites the critical role of NYC's libraries and discusses the need for additional investment to maintain the libraries' current levels of service.
Ta-Nehisi Coates and Julie Sandorf Accept J-School Honors
On April 11, 2018, Julie Sandorf, President of the Charles H. Revson Foundation, accepted the 2018 Distinguished Service to New York Award alongside Ta-Nehisi Coates, National Correspondent for The Atlantic, who accepted the 2018 Journalistic Achievement Award. Click here to watch both…
THE ROLE OF PHILANTHROPY IN RESUSCITATING LOCAL JOURNALISM: FIRG SEMINAR WITH THE PRESIDENT OF THE REVSON FOUNDATION
DUKE UNIVERSITY SANFORD SCHOOL OF PUBLIC POLICY — January 31, 2018 — Professor Joel Fleishman discusses the role of philanthropy in reviving local journalism initiatives with the President of the Revson Foundation, Julie Sandorf.
Out of Print – The Case for Philanthropic Support for Local Journalism in a Time of Market Upheaval
In a new report, Tony Proscio, of the Center for Strategic Philanthropy & Civil Society at the Sanford School of Public Policy at Duke University, explores the current landscape of local journalism, with a particular focus on the role that philanthropy could play…
Literary Treasure
METROFOCUS — December 7, 2017 — Two New York organizations have teamed up to honor one of the Big Apple’s biggest treasures, our libraries. We’re joined by Julie Sandorf, president, Charles H. Revson Foundation, and Manuel Martinez, branch manager, Allerton Library,…