Each year, The Trust’s annual report celebrates the prior year’s successes. On the eve of our 100th anniversary, we not only share the good news of 2022, we look forward to a next century of service: connecting New York’s most generous donors with our most impactful nonprofit partners. No one has a better perspective or a bigger investment in our region’s future than our tech-savvy, eco-friendly, empathetic, and full-hearted youth. We hope you draw hope and inspiration from the words of Eileen Miranda in the video below. Eileen is a poet with DreamYard, a Trust grantee that nurtures the arts in the Bronx.
It’s an honor to be your partner at The Trust.
Valerie S. Peltier, Chair
Amy Freitag, President
“Children are the fabric of the city,” said David Adams, chief executive officer of Urban Assembly, a Trust grantee that uses data-driven learning tools and programs to boost student growth and school performance. “When we do right by them, they do right by us.”
Improving public schools has been a top priority for The Trust since awarding its first grant in 1924 to P.S. 9 in Manhattan in honor of a beloved teacher.
The scale and complexity of educating New York’s children is daunting. The city has one million students enrolled in 1,600 public schools, making it the largest district in the country. Although the overall student body is diverse, the schools themselves are not—The Civil Rights Project found that New York was the most segregated state in the country for Black students and second-most segregated for Latinx students.
Even before the pandemic disrupted the system, fewer than half of students in grades 3-8 were reading at grade level. And, students’ individual learning needs are complex: Students and parents speak in more than 180 languages; one in five students have a disability, and one in 10 have experienced homelessness.
“Public education is where we demonstrate how we want to invest in the future,” said Adams. “It points us towards a common narrative of who we want to be.”
See more content from the Annual Report.
Making Grants for Today and Tomorrow
The Trust’s patient approach to systemic change paid dividends as the year’s legislative and policy wins grew out of grants from years past, while grants made in 2022 brought immediate relief to many New Yorkers and planted seeds for future victories.
For almost a century, New Yorkers have established permanent funds with us to continue their commitment to causes they care about. The Trust’s program team—experts with extensive experience in their fields—turn those funds into grants to improve the lives and livelihoods of everyone in the eight counties we serve.
Together, we can make a bigger impact, and have fun doing it.
When you join our community of donors, you open the door to opportunities that can enrich your life while enriching the world around you.
Wherever you are on your giving journey, we can meet you there.
The Trust accepts a variety of assets, and most funds can be started with a simple letter of agreement or a single paragraph in a will. You also can contribute a one-time or recurring gift to The Trust to meet urgent community needs, join one of our giving circles, and attend educational events with others in our community.
Here for You. For Your Clients. Here for Good.
With all of the uncertainty in the world, professional advisors—CPAs, trust & estate attorneys, and financial planners—value having a partner they can rely on in The New York Community Trust. We’ve been here for nearly 100 years, and we’ll be here for the next 100.
Advisors recommend us to their clients because we listen closely to their philanthropic priorities and make sure we can build solutions together that honor their wishes, withstand the test of time, and adapt to meet the challenges of the future.
Meet The Trust’s Leadership
Twelve dedicated New Yorkers—selected for their judgment, integrity, and understanding of philanthropic needs—serve as both the Distribution Committee of The Trust and as the Board of Directors of Community Funds, Inc., our nonprofit corporate affiliate.
Six members are nominated by civic authorities representing the public: one by the Mayor of New York City; one by the Chief Judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit; one by the Co-Chairs of the Partnership for New York City; one by the Chairman of Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts; one by the President of the Association of the Bar of the City of New York; and one by the Chairman of the New York Academy of Medicine. The Distribution Committee selects six additional people to serve. The Committee meets five times per year.
Read the 2022 Financials released by The Trust.
Download the 2022 Annual Report
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