Pivotal Place: New York City Guidelines

The Rockefeller Brothers Fund has been active in New York City since its founding there in 1940. New York City's extraordinarily diverse population, economic prominence, and cultural vitality combine to make the city pivotal to the future of its region, the nation, and the world. New York City has the potential to be a model 21st century sustainable urban community that nourishes neighborhoods and civic life, encourages immigrant civic and political participation, supports individual achievement and artistic expression, generates widely shared prosperity, and preserves and enhances its built and natural environments. Linked as it is to the region, the nation, and the world, New York City can become a beacon of excellence and a force for positive change both within and well beyond its boundaries.

Two of the Fund's three program areas—sustainable development and democratic practice—are reflected in the RBF's engagement with New York City as a pivotal place. The Charles E. Culpeper Arts & Culture Grants are a distinctive feature of the Pivotal Place: New York City program.

DEMOCRATIC PRACTICE

In the absence of national immigrant integration policies, much can be accomplished at the local level to remove barriers to immigrant and new citizen civic and political engagement. The Fund will focus on immigrant communities throughout its Democratic Practice grantmaking in New York City by pursuing the following goal and strategies:

Goal: Advancing the Civic and Political Participation of Immigrant Communities

Strategies:

Strengthening the organizational capacity of a limited number of key community-based and immigrant-led groups to advance citywide social and political equity issues.
Supporting collaborations and new networks among immigrants, established community groups, and public institutions to improve local government accountability, access, and services. A special interest of the Fund is to strengthen citywide multi-group collaboration and strategic alliances to advance public education advocacy efforts that promote accountability, transparency, and equal access for all public institutions.
Connecting immigrant groups with citywide, national, and international networks and campaigns for joint action on immigration issues, mutual support, and leadership development. Special attention will be given to projects that align with RBF-related thematic areas.

SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT

New York City is poised to become a model of urban sustainable development and environmental stewardship for the next century. However, the city faces complex development challenges driven by projections of significant population growth, limited space, and the imperatives of climate change mitigation and adaptation. Against these challenges, PlaNYC and the adoption of state and local legislation to advance green economic development in the city offer promising new avenues for the development of sustainable New York communities.

Goal: Building Sustainable Communities

Following on a history of support for community and waterfront development and brownfield remediation, the Fund seeks to engage low-income communities and communities of color in the development of an equitable green economy that produces high quality jobs in New York City.

Strategies:

Supporting citywide advocacy efforts that advance brownfield reclamation and waterfront revitalization and promote civic engagement in vital, green, and sustainable communities.
Advancing energy efficiency and innovative affordable green buildings, particularly in affordable housing.

CHARLES E. CULPEPER ARTS & CULTURE GRANTS

The Charles E. Culpeper Arts & Culture Grants honor the legacy of Charles E. Culpeper by supporting the artists and arts and cultural organizations that make New York City one of the world's most dynamic creative capitals. These grants support the creative process, build the capacity of small and mid-size arts and cultural institutions, and promote the pursuit of the creative life.

The standard online grant inquiry process does not apply for these grants. Applications may only be submitted online at www.rbf.org. Because of the response to the 2011 request for proposals, the Fund will not be issuing requests for proposals in 2012 and 2013.

Grantee organizations must wait a minimum of three years from their grant final payment before reapplying.

Goal: Supporting the Creative Process

The Fund seeks to foster an environment in which artists and the creative process can flourish through the following strategy:

Strategy:

Supporting organizations that assist individual artists and the creative process, providing infrastructure to sustain the artistic life, and offering artists additional opportunities to develop skills complementary to their creative talents.

Goal: Building Capacity in Cultural Organizations

The Fund seeks to sustain and advance small and mid-size cultural organizations, particularly those that are community-based and/or culturally specific, with annual budgets under $4 million, through the following strategies:

Strategy: