Meet The Winners Of The 2026 Just Brooklyn Prize

Nov 24

Just Brooklyn Prize 2026 Celebration

Brooklyn Org and The Social Justice Fund

Barclays Center, 620 Atlantic Avenue, Brooklyn, NY 11217
6:00 PM–8:00 PM EST

Attend

Clara Wu Tsai’s The Social Justice Fund and Brooklyn Org are excited to announce the five winners of this year’s Just Brooklyn Prize, which awards $20,000 to community leaders who have dedicated themselves to strengthening Brooklyn.

Over 500 Brooklynites were publicly nominated for the 2026 prize, and for the first time, five runners-up also received $5,000 each!

Join us to honor these Brooklyn heroes at Barclays Center on Tuesday, November 24th at 6PM! The event is free and open to the public with RSVP.

2026 WINNERS

• Alton Aimable
  • President and Founder, Tropicalfete, Inc.
• Gustavo Ajche
  • Leader, Los Deliveristas Unidos
• Bobbie Sackman
  • Campaign Leader, NY Caring Majority/ JFREJ Member Leader
• Esmeralda Simmons
  • Principal/Co-founder, Coalition for a Democratic and Just New York
• Joanne N. Smith
  • Founding President, Girls for Gender Equity

Learn More About Our Winners

The 2026 Just Brooklyn Prize Selection Committee: 

• Sharon Daughtry, Executive Director, Downtown Brooklyn Neighborhood Alliance
• Lindsay Greene, President and CEO, Brooklyn Navy Yard
• Rev. Dr. Emma Jordan-Simpson, President, Auburn Theological Seminary
• Dina Rabiner, Senior Vice President of Strategy and Innovation, Brooklyn Chamber of Commerce
• Ninaj Raoul, Founder, Haitian Women for Haitian Refugees and 2025 Just Brooklyn Prize winner
• Maya Wiley, President and CEO, The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights
• Jo-Ann Yoo, Deputy Executive Director of Asian Americans for Equality

About the Social Justice Fund

Clara Wu Tsai launched The Social Justice Fund in 2020 in Brooklyn to focus on the inequities and work to support economic mobility within communities across the borough. Driven by a $50 million commitment over ten years, the Social Justice Fund invests in programs that are scalable and confront the root causes of racial gaps in education, health, and wealth. Learn more at bksjf.org

About Brooklyn Org

Brooklyn Org is a champion for Brooklyn bringing together community changemakers to be a new model for local philanthropy. Since its founding in 2009, Brooklyn Org has moved over $150 million to nonprofits through its strategic grantmaking and Donor Advised Funds, while driving action to address urgent crises and long-term change in Brooklyn. Learn more at brooklyn.org.