2024 Nonprofit Power Players

Michelle was appointed executive director of HSC in May 2020 and leads the #JustPay Campaign, which seeks equitable pay for human services workers, resulting in over $2 billion in funding to increase human services wages to date. In her work at HSC, Michelle coordinated HSC’s government relations strategy and has led revolutionary policy changes, including leading City and State campaigns to improve the nonprofit sector’s ability to maximize social impact in communities.

What is your favorite thing about working in the nonprofit sector?
Movement building in the nonprofit sector is a driving force for me. Every day, human services workers are involved in systems change, whether by fighting to eliminate structures that perpetuate poverty in the communities they serve or by fighting to change city and state procurement systems that perpetuate poverty in their own lives. Human services workers are empowering themselves and others to demand fair wages and support from city and state governments.

How can policymakers support your organization?
City and state policymakers can support HSC and the human services sector by ending government-sanctioned poverty wages for human services workers by paying equitable wages on contracts with nonprofits. Human services workers deserve good-paying jobs that allow them to maximize their human potential while serving New Yorkers from all walks of life. Through cost-of-living adjustments and equitable salaries, the City and State can elevate human services workers and the communities they serve.

What was your organization’s biggest accomplishment in 2024?
Through our JustPay campaign, we secured a multi-year $741 million investment towards 9.27% wage increases from FY25-FY27 for city-contracted human services workers in the city budget. At the state level, we secured a 2.8% cost-of-living (COLA) for the state-contracted human services sector in the budget. Of this, at least 1.7% must go to wage increases for an organization’s State-contracted human services workers. But most of all, our biggest accomplishment is the continued support of human services workers!

As president of The Turn 2 Foundation, Sharlee Jeter leads its mission to motivate youth to reach their full potential by fostering leadership development, academic achievement, healthy lifestyles, and social change. Since she assumed leadership of Turn 2 in 2010, Jeter has taken the Foundation to new heights, elevating its profile across the country, raising substantial funds to strengthen its programs, and changing the lives of hundreds of young people.

What is your favorite thing about working in the nonprofit sector?
My favorite aspect of working in the nonprofit sector is witnessing the youth we serve grow with confidence, discover their passions and become changemakers. This past summer, I had the pleasure of working alongside our Jeter’s Leaders as they created meaningful change in Washington, D.C. during Turn 2’s Social Change Project presented by Goldman Sachs. As part of this year’s event, our students participated in an impactful service project benefitting youth in foster care.

How can policymakers support your organization?
Since Turn 2’s inception, our Foundation has given back over $45M to fund our signature programs and support other organizations who share a similar mission. Policymakers can help us further this important work by investing in education, afterschool programs, and youth empowerment opportunities, which are all essential for developing well-rounded future leaders. Additionally, supporting initiatives that teach critical skills, such as financial literacy and cultivating mental wellness, are key to preparing youth for success.

What was your organization’s biggest accomplishment in 2024?
Turn 2’s impact is reflected in the remarkable accomplishments of our youth. For the 18th consecutive year, 100% of our Jeter’s Leaders graduated high school and were accepted to college. Our 2024 graduates also received $2.6M in combined scholarships, grants and awards. Additionally, this year we raised significant funds through major fundraising events, including a new initiative with the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Hollywood, and the Derek Jeter Invitational at Baha Mar.

Johnson is executive vice president, chief communications, marketing, and advocacy officer for Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts. Since 2019, she has helped reach new audiences and led the institution’s ongoing transformation into a place where all New Yorkers can feel welcome, including by implementing a Choose-What-You-Pay ticketing model. Leah holds a B.A. in psychology from Harvard College. A Brooklyn native, she resides in East Harlem with her husband and daughter.

What is your favorite thing about working in the nonprofit sector?
Nonprofit work allows me to see firsthand the impact our programming has on the people we serve. Arts open our hearts and minds to the lives of others – an empathy that’s essential to civic life. I’m grateful to be supported in this work by our donors, who are committed to our mission and make what we do possible.

How can policymakers support your organization?
Policymakers are essential partners in helping us reach all New Yorkers with our work. When policymakers choose to value the role of the arts in their constituents’ lives, they provide us with more opportunities to make our programming diverse, dynamic, and accessible. We see the impact of this support in our ability to hold free and Choose-What-You-Pay events throughout the year and in our ongoing reimagining of the Amsterdam Avenue side of our campus.

What was your organization’s biggest accomplishment in 2024?
We are always thinking about new ways to grow our audiences. This year, Lincoln Center’s third annual Summer for the City festival welcomed 440,000 visitors of all ages – an 11% increase in attendance from last year. Another standout has been connecting with thousands of New Yorkers in the participatory planning process to open the west side of our campus on Amsterdam Avenue, helping make Lincoln Center inviting to neighbors and visitors from all neighborhoods.

Jennifer Jones Austin led monumental changes in social policy and law to strengthen and empower the marginalized. She led the development and passage of unprecedented proposals to amend the City’s charter to embed racial justice and equity in all government functions; and NYC’s Board of Correction in rule-making to end solitary confinement in City jails. Jones Austin co-chairs the National True Cost of Living Coalition to effect a national measure of need based on economic security and is commissioner of the NYS Commission on Reparations.

What is your favorite thing about working in the nonprofit sector?
Working with people who genuinely care and are committed to addressing the challenges people face in meeting their daily needs and striving to live with security.

How can policymakers support your organization?
Advance legislation and policy that dismantles structural economic deprivation and ensures the opportunity for all to live with economic security.

What was your organization’s biggest accomplishment in 2024?
Co-leading with the Community Service Society a nationwide coalition to develop with the renowned Urban Institute a national true cost of economic security measure, the first of its kind in the nation.

David R. Jones, Esq. is president and chief executive officer of the Community Service Society of New York (CSS), a nonpartisan, not-for-profit organization that promotes economic advancement and full civic participation for low-income New Yorkers. Mr. Jones, an outspoken advocate for low-income New Yorkers, writes a bi-weekly newspaper column in the New York Amsterdam News that serves to educate the public and government officials on issues of importance to minority and underserved communities. 

What is your favorite thing about working in the nonprofit sector?
The ability to have an impact on critical issues and influence public policies that can make a positive difference in the lives of low- and moderate-income New Yorkers trying to get ahead economically in one of the most expensive cities in the world to live in.

How can policymakers support your organization?
By paying attention to our research and reports on access to health care, affordable housing, wages and benefits, re-entry and other issues that are key to bringing down barriers to creating a more equitable and inclusive New York. The reports we produce are not simply academic exercises; they provide solid research for policymakers to consider in shaping legislative agendas to meet the needs of their constituents.

What was your organization’s biggest accomplishment in 2024?
Expansion of the city’s “Fair Fares” transit discount program to include NYC residents with incomes up to 145 percent of the Federal Poverty Level. As a result, more than 200,000 New Yorkers are eligible for the program. CSS research and advocacy were also instrumental in reforming the state’s Hospital Financial Assistance Law, including prohibiting hospitals from suing patients with income below 400 percent of FPL for medical debt.

Roderick L. Jones, Ed.D. has helmed Goddard Riverside since February 2017.  In September 2021, Goddard announced a strategic partnership that placed him at the head of the Stanley M. Isaacs Neighborhood Center as well. Previously, he served as president and CEO of Grace Hill Settlement House in St. Louis, Missouri. A native of East New York, Jones has a doctorate in education from St. John Fisher College and an MPA from SUNY-Brockport.

What is your favorite thing about working in the nonprofit sector?
The thing I love most about working in the nonprofit sector is helping people to see their possibilities and achieve their goals.

How can policymakers support your organization?
Policymakers can hear the voices of the people we serve and embrace our policy recommendations that reduce the need for more social programs. 

What was your organization’s biggest accomplishment in 2024?
Positioning Goddard Riverside to make progress on our ambitious goal of achieving community-level metrics that demonstrate family and community movement towards thriving.

Charles King, CEO and co-founder of Housing Works, Inc., leads a nonprofit offering housing, health care, legal services, job training, and advocacy for individuals affected by HIV/AIDS. He has served on the UNAIDS governing body, co-chaired the NYS Ending the Epidemic Task Force, and co-chairs the ACT Now: End AIDS Coalition. Charles is also on the National AIDS Housing Coalition Board. An ordained Baptist minister, he holds a law degree and a Master of Divinity from Yale.

In 1984, Doug Lasdon founded Urban Justice Center to provide legal services to homeless New Yorkers. Since then, Doug has expanded UJC, adding new projects supporting the most vulnerable New Yorkers through innovation and specialization. Doug mentors the next generation of social justice leaders through UJC’s Social Justice Accelerator. He is an Adjunct Professor at Cornell Law School and the host of “Beyond the Box,” a podcast about urgent issues facing the social justice community.

What is your favorite thing about working in the nonprofit sector?
I believe fulfilling work is a critical part of a good life. I’m driven by a powerful desire to make the world better for those facing injustice. I’ve been privileged to work on important issues; enjoyed satisfying, enriching relationships with partners and mentors; seen our work result in important changes; and had lots of fun. The pursuit of justice brought me to this work, but the community I’ve connected with keeps me in it.

How can policymakers support your organization?
Throughout my career, while I’ve worked in close partnership with diverse civil, religious, and nonprofit organizations to bring civil legal services to unhoused people, the support of governmental policymakers has been critical to our work. I hope policymakers will reach out to us, learn about our work and our causes, champion our policy proposals to improve our clients’ lives and support us through grants and advocacy so we can effectuate change for another 40 years.

What was your organization’s biggest accomplishment in 2024?
In 2024, we proudly graduated the second cohort of leaders from our Social Justice Accelerator, an incubator program that develops advocacy and justice-based organizations. After two years with Urban Justice Center, they are fully-fledged nonprofits improving the treatment and conditions of incarcerated people; fixing the broken and racist family services system; creating leadership opportunities for young organizers; fighting for South Asian survivors of violence; and developing policy proposals supporting children and families in NYC.

Dan Lehman brought over 30 years of experience in nonprofit organizations and government when he joined HELP USA last year, including being a deputy commissioner at both the City’s Department of Social Services and Department of Health and Mental Hygiene; executive vice president and CFO for Primary Care Development Corporation; and interim CEO for the Collegiate Church of New York. He lives in Brooklyn and loves playing hockey, being outdoors and spending time with his kids. 

What is your favorite thing about working in the nonprofit sector?
My favorite things about working in the nonprofit sector are defining the mission of an organization and then fulfilling it, in a way that makes people fundamentally better off than they were before. Nonprofits often take on tough problems that for-profits don’t engage in, because the financial payoff may be too small. But the social payoff can be enormous, and that’s to everyone’s benefit.

How can policymakers support your organization?
Policymakers can best support nonprofit organizations by making sure expectations are fair, clear and properly funded. Too often, nonprofits are expected to help the government deliver programs and services, but government payers simply don’t acknowledge what the true cost is, or begin micro-managing contracts in a way the government doesn’t do with for-profit vendors. That creates problems for everyone.

What was your organization’s biggest accomplishment in 2024?
I’m proud of the new programs we are running, including shelter sites for recent arrival families. They are inspiring – from their journey to get here to their drive to work and contribute. I’m proud of new affordable housing being built by our affiliate, HELP Development Corp., and a significant Citibank Foundation grant for homelessness prevention. These are just a few initiatives underway that underscore our commitment to ensuring everyone has a place to call home. 

Dan Leventhal is the founder and executive director of Bronx Lacrosse, a nonprofit using lacrosse, tutoring, mentorship, and college-access support to help Bronx youth reach their full potential. Under Dan’s leadership, Bronx Lacrosse has empowered hundreds of South Bronx youth to develop lacrosse and leadership skills and improve academically. A Teach for America alumnus, Dan holds a degree from Tufts University and a Master’s in Education from Fordham University.

What is your favorite thing about working in the nonprofit sector?
Working with our student-athletes and seeing them grow every year has been very fulfilling. Whether seeing them lift each other up, improve their math scores, achieve new lacrosse skills, or get into college – all of this drives me. Watching their newfound dedication and passion within the program is inspiring and reinforces why we work so hard every day. Each student’s journey reflects the impact of our work and I’m proud to help strengthen this alongside them.

How can policymakers support your organization?
Policymakers can play a crucial role in expanding access to sports and extracurricular programs, particularly for underserved youth in New York City. Increased funding for after-school programs, access to safe athletic facilities, and academic resources would help bridge opportunity gaps. Policies that prioritize sustainable funding for youth development initiatives would amplify our impact and empower students to reach their full potential.

What was your organization’s biggest accomplishment in 2024?
In 2024, we expanded our reach to over 300 student-athletes through new school partnerships, strengthening both our support network and impact. Our students showed outstanding commitment, achieving a 95% school attendance rate, with 93% of them avoiding chronic absenteeism. This growth reflects both our organization’s momentum and our students’ resilience as they continue to excel as athletes and scholars, embodying Bronx Lacrosse’s core values of community, growth, and commitment.