Five Brooklyn Leaders Selected to Receive “Just Brooklyn Prize” From Joe and Clara Tsai Foundation’s Social Justice Fund & Brooklyn Org

Oct 16, 2024

A speaker at a podium addresses an audience in an arena. A large backdrop displays a stylized Brooklyn Bridge. People in the audience are taking photos. — Clara Tsai Speaking at the Just Brooklyn Prize 2023 Award Ceremony

The Joe and Clara Tsai Foundation’s Social Justice Fund and Brooklyn Org announced today the recipients of the second annual Just Brooklyn Prize, an award that celebrates five outstanding champions in the fight for social justice in Brooklyn. Each winner of the Just Brooklyn Prize will receive an unrestricted $20,000 grant in recognition of their contributions to the pursuit of social justice in the borough.

Representing a diversity of backgrounds and professional pursuits – media and film, social and criminal justice, labor organizing, and immigration – the winners will be honored with an award ceremony at Barclays Center on Wednesday, October 30th featuring a keynote address by Maya Wiley, President and CEO, The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights.

The 2024 recipients of the Just Brooklyn Prize are:

Carolyn A. Butts: Founder and Director of African Voices Communications Inc and Reel Sisters of the Diaspora Film Festival & Lecture Series
Chino Hardin: Co-Executive Director, Center for NuLeadership on Human Justice and Healing
Christine Yvette Lewis: Organizer, Culture Outreach Coordinator, and Secretary of Domestic Workers United
Derrick Hamilton: Co-Founder, Family and Friends of the Wrongfully Convicted
Ninaj Raoul: Director and Co-Founder, Haitian Women for Haitian Refugees

“We are thrilled to bring back the Just Brooklyn Prize. This year, we are honoring five remarkable social justice leaders dedicated to both their ideals and their communities,” said Clara Wu Tsai, founder of the Social Justice Fund and owner of the Brooklyn Nets, New York Liberty, and Barclays Center. “We are proud to support them and their dedication to a more just and equitable Brooklyn.”

“Brooklyn Org extends our deepest gratitude to the Social Justice Fund for this extraordinary gift to our borough’s unsung heroes,” said Brooklyn Org President and CEO Dr. Jocelynne Rainey. “Every day, nonprofit and community leaders quietly and steadfastly dedicate themselves to making our communities stronger, fairer, and more just, and we are honored to be part of delivering this special recognition to these five fantastic leaders.”

The 2024 Just Brooklyn Prize winners were chosen by a selection committee of Brooklynites, including:

Sharon Daughtry, Executive Director, Downtown Brooklyn Neighborhood Alliance
Dr. Emma Jordan-Simpson, President, Auburn Theological Seminary
Zawadi Morris, 2023 Just Brooklyn Prize Winner, Founder and Publisher, BK Reader
Randy Peers, President and CEO, Brooklyn Chamber of Commerce
Antonio Reynoso, Brooklyn Borough President
Maya Wiley, President and CEO, The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights
Angela Yee, Host, Way Up With Angela Yee
Jo-Ann Yoo, Executive Director, Asian American Federation

About the Winners

Carolyn Butts has devoted 32 years to creating an arts institution that addresses equity in the film and writing industries. She is a filmmaker, artist, and founder of the Reel Sisters film festival and African Voices Magazine. Reel Sisters, founded in Brooklyn 1997, is the first Academy-qualifying festival for short narrative films devoted to women of color and women filmmakers. African Voices magazine is one of the leading print literary magazines dedicated to showcasing fine art and literature. Both platforms address the social justice issue of ensuring BIPOC artists have equity and access to creating and showcasing their work to audiences in Brooklyn and beyond.

Derrick Hamilton is the Co-Founder of Family and Friends of the Wrongfully Convicted, which he founded behind prison walls when he was serving a life sentence for a crime he did not commit. He organized with other incarcerated people as well as families and friends to bring attention to wrongful convictions. The organization works on individual cases as well as at a systems level to change laws and policies that lead to wrongful convictions. Using his expertise and experience, Derrick now teaches law students how to spot and stop bias in the legal system, mentors young people, and supports community members returning from incarceration.

Chino Hardin is the founder and co-ED of the Center for NuLeadership, which is deeply rooted in Bed Stuy and has worked for over 20 years to fight mass incarceration and criminalization. Chino has been an organizer since he was 20 years old and fighting mass incarceration and the building of new youth jails, and has since worked with the Center to end mass incarceration by directly resourcing their people and communities. Chino is also leading the development of a rural retreat outside of the city to curate a space that allows people to be who they are and reconnect with nature.

Christine Yvette-Lewis is the founder of the Domestic Workers United. She is a worker-leader and multi-disciplined performance artist who pulls from her calypsonian roots and skill as a steel-drum player, spoken word artist, author and poet to get the message out and build power for domestic workers. She has worked for over 23 years advocating for fair labor standards and building a dynamic women’s movement bent on both ending exploitation and changing the conversation around “women’s work.” She was part of the movement to pass the historic Domestic Worker Bill of Rights in 2011, which organized a coalition of domestic workers and allies to win rights and protections for domestic workers in New York. Throughout her time organizing for DWU, she has also been a nanny caring for many children and families in Brooklyn.

Ninaj Raoul is the founder and director of Haitian Women for Haitian Refugees, which provides support to thousands of families who are seeking asylum in the U.S. after being persecuted in Haiti. They provide culturally competent programs that include immigration-related screenings and referrals, community education, supportive services, and healing-centered community organizing. Through education, community organizing, leadership development, and collective action, HWHR members empower themselves as they struggle for social, economic, and racial justice.