Insights From Our CEO’s Summer of Listening & Sharing

Summer in Brooklyn is in full swing: with block parties, free concerts in the parks, fireworks at Coney Island, and more, countless memories are being made every day across our borough. Like many Brooklynites, our President & CEO Dr. Jocelynne Rainey has had a packed summer calendar herself, enjoying unique opportunities to connect with the place we’re proud to call home.

This summer Dr. Rainey has met with communities across Brooklyn to share the values that drive our work here at Brooklyn Org, as well as personal insights gained throughout her career. From addressing college graduates to offering advice to nonprofit leaders, we’re sharing highlights of key moments and insights from Dr. Rainey’s recent speaking engagements below.

Weeksville Heritage Center Spring Benefit: Imagining our Future

BKO partner Weeksville Heritage Center is an historic site and cultural center in Central Brooklyn that preserves, documents, and inspires engagement with the history of Weeksville, one of the largest free Black communities in pre-Civil War America.

Weeksville honored Dr. Rainey at their annual spring benefit, an event that also launched the photography exhibition “Imagining Our Future,” honoring the past with an eye toward the future.

In her speech, Dr. Rainey described Brooklyn Org’s special, long-time relationship with the center: “Twenty-five years ago, Weeksville became one of our first grantees, receiving $25,000 for the restoration and preservation of the Hunterfly Road Houses. Over the years, as we evolved from a bank foundation to become the first public foundation dedicated to Brooklyn, and now a new model and movement for local philanthropy as Brooklyn Org, we have remained steadfast in Weeksville’s corner – in the good times and the tougher times.”

Center for Justice Innovation Staff Retreat

From our investment in the Brownsville and Red Hook Community Justice Centers to more recently, Neighbors in Action, Brooklyn Org has supported the work of the Center for Justice Innovation across the borough.

As any nonprofit knows, staff retreats are crucial for reflecting on an organization’s work and strengthening commitments to goals. Dr. Rainey and CJI’s Executive Director Courtney Bryan were in conversation at their annual staff retreat, reflecting on building a team:

“When I interview people, I always say to them: ‘What are you passionate about?’ Especially when you’re doing work like ours of creating a more equitable, fair, and just Brooklyn through a racial justice lens,” shared Dr. Rainey. She underscored how important it is for team members to feel motivated by the work, and that, “there should be some issue that keeps you up at night, and I will say that our justice system keeps me up at night.”

Dr. Rainey also offered advice on avoiding burnout as a nonprofit CEO, emphasizing that “being connected to your community and your work is so important. It has improved the quality of my life because, most of the time, I don’t feel like I’m working. It’s so important to have work that you enjoy, work that is part of who you are.”

NYC Kids Rise 529 Day  

Dr. Rainey returned to her elementary school alma mater, P.S. 152, to speak to students and families as part of an event hosted by NYC Kids Rise, an organization that provides NYC public school students with 529 college savings accounts and scholarships through their Save for College program. NYC Kids Rise found support in its early days through funding by a Donor Advised Fund held at Brooklyn Org, and has continued to expand their programming ever since.

After addressing an auditorium of parents, elected officials, and NYC Kids Rise staff, Dr. Rainey greeted a group of second graders who sat brimming with excitement, eager to ask questions and share what they want to be when they grow up. One student pointed to a photo in Dr. Rainey’s presentation that showed her being interviewed by a local news station, asking how she ended up on the news. Dr. Rainey replied with encouragement, sharing, “What I find is that when you follow your passion – whatever it is that you want to be – you become an expert, and then people want to talk to you about your passion.”

New York City College of Technology Commencement  

Dr. Rainey knows the incredible value of a good education – having earned a doctorate in education herself – so when the invitation came to be the keynote speaker at City Tech’s graduation ceremony, she gladly accepted.

In her address to the Class of 2024 Dr. Rainey shared that her leadership journey was driven by a deep commitment to helping others, a realization that first came to her while working at Wendy’s as a teenager: “It was there I understood that leaving any place – and its people – better than I found them, was the goal. This ethos is universal and can be applied regardless of your role or industry.”

However, her path has not been without its challenges, as Dr. Rainey shared: “It took a few rejections and a lot of soul-searching to lead me to where I am today, and I couldn’t be more grateful for the journey that led to me being the CEO of Brooklyn Org – allowing me to do work that I love. So, I urge you all to embrace the challenges that come your way, to see them not as obstacles but as opportunities for growth and self-discovery.”

FPWA Panel On Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion  

Dr. Rainey joined FPWA for a panel conversation in honor of Juneteenth, “Should DEI Die: The Impact on People and Communities in Crisis and the People and Institutions Providing Care,” discussing the issues of systemic racism and the strides we still need to make to address racial disparities across our society.

Speaking alongside other women and leaders of color from the nonprofit, philanthropic, corporate, and government sectors, Dr. Rainey aptly summed up the current state of DEI in the United States: “We are all aware of the attacks on Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion – DEI – and racial justice that we have faced personally in recent years. These challenges must be called out. Systemic racism can only be undone through systemic change and intentional investment.”

PIX11 News: Closing The Racial Wealth Gap  

Dr. Rainey joined PIX11 News to discuss the racial wealth gap, sharing how Brooklyn Org promotes economic equity for BIPOC communities across our borough. Addressing the stark inequities impacting communities of color, she noted that “We are so far behind in being able to generate wealth that BIPOC families do not have the opportunities to leave an inheritance to their families. That is where wealth comes from.”

While the racial wealth gap is daunting, Dr. Rainey offered some hope for the future: “At Brooklyn Org, we have been able to do a lot of work with nonprofits in Brooklyn that are actually doing the work to undo structural racism, to be able to make families safer, and to organize and advocate around this [issue].”

Brooklyn Org’s 2024 Listening Tour

Each year, Dr. Rainey visits different Brooklyn neighborhoods to meet with community members and give them the space to talk about the issues that impact them the most. Dr. Rainey reflected on the importance of these Listening Tours, sharing, “Sometimes we can be too focused on the literature and not seeing what’s happening in action. That’s why I do the listening tours in this way. I want to hear what’s happening on the ground, not just what the research says.”

Working Together To Ignite Change

At Brooklyn Org, we know that Brooklynites hold the solutions to our borough’s challenges and provide powerful models for places beyond. Connecting with our communities is an essential part of our work, as well as one of the most rewarding – and you can join us! Mark your calendars to join us October 23rd for The Brooklyn Org Changemakers Ball, an unforgettable celebration of Brooklyn and the dedicated nonprofit changemakers working tirelessly to end inequity and injustice across our borough.