2024 Nonprofit Power Players

Christopher Nardone is currently serving as the executive director of the New York Association of Training and Employment Professionals (NYATEP). He has spent his career supporting New Yorkers from every walk of life in achieving their employment and career goals. This work began with work in organized labor and progressed to the public workforce development system. Chris is passionate about addressing the barriers facing working New Yorkers and ensuring economic mobility is within reach of all.

What is your favorite thing about working in the nonprofit sector?
My favorite thing about working in the nonprofit sector is the ability to have a positive impact. While the challenges of funding and operating a nonprofit are sometimes daunting, the ability to affect change and support communities makes the work all the more valuable.

How can policymakers support your organization?
Policymakers can support NYATEP by taking the time to understand the work we do and the members we serve. Workforce development is a complicated and intricately woven web of services and organizations. This intricacy can sometimes cause policymakers to try to simplify, and in that simplification lose the nuance that makes the system impactful.

What was your organization’s biggest accomplishment in 2024?
NYATEP has championed the workforce development system throughout the year, and we have seen many accomplishments. I believe our biggest accomplishment however was our ability to bring the benefit cliff into the forefront of the state and national conversation. The benefit cliff is a term referring to the sudden and unexpected decrease in public benefits that happens when a person’s income increases, typically from work, that disincentivises people from taking opportunities. 

Mitchell Netburn, president and CEO of Samaritan Daytop Village (SDV), has over 35 years of experience in the health and human services sector. A native New Yorker, Mr. Netburn has grown SDV into the second-largest provider of transitional housing, expanded behavioral health programs, and secured $335M to develop its first housing project.  Previously, Mr. Netburn held high-level positions in NY State, City, and Los Angeles governmental agencies, and was CEO of Project Renewal.

What was your organization’s biggest accomplishment in 2024?
Our biggest accomplishment in 2024 was finalizing the financing for and breaking ground on our redevelopment, Highbridge. This project will deliver 400+ units of new affordable, supportive, and transitional housing to the Bronx. This new development will transform the former Carmelite convent into a beacon of hope and opportunity. At a time when our city’s housing crisis continues to worsen, I am proud to lead an organization that is actively addressing the housing shortage.

Dr. Lisette Nieves, president of the Fund for the City of New York, drives policy and technology innovations for government and nonprofits. A distinguished clinical professor at NYU, she co-founded a doctoral program at NYU Steinhardt. Her books include Working for a Future (2024) and Working to Learn (2020). Dr. Nieves holds degrees from Brooklyn College, Oxford, Princeton, and UPenn, and has served on federal education initiatives under the Obama and Biden administrations.

Nancy Northup is president and CEO of the Center for Reproductive Rights, the global leader in protecting reproductive rights in law as fundamental human rights. Previously, she was the founding director of the Democracy Program at the Brennan Center for Justice and a prosecutor in the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York. She has held adjunct appointments at NYU and Columbia, where she taught courses in constitutional and human rights law. 

What is your favorite thing about working in the nonprofit sector?
Going to work every single day with people who show up motivated to do good and make the world a better place.

How can policymakers support your organization?
We are always at the ready to work with officeholders and their staffs to develop laws and policies that will increase access to the full range of quality, affordable reproductive healthcare and ensure that every individual can make their own decisions about their reproductive lives.

What was your organization’s biggest accomplishment in 2024?
In the last four months alone, the Center for Reproductive Rights has won court victories for abortion rights in six U.S. states – all in the heartland of the South. Not all are final rulings, but at a time when abortion is banned across large swaths of the country, these wins represent crucial progress. They will help safeguard access on the ground, and they are the building blocks for our long-term legal vision for reproductive autonomy.

As CEO of Philanthropy New York, Kathryn O’Neal-Dunham guides nearly 300 philanthropic organizations in advancing innovative strategies to address complex social issues. She has charted a new strategic direction for the organization that centers racial equity and aligns PNY’s advocacy with the nonprofit sector. A strategist and relationship-builder with previous leadership roles at the United Way of New York City and Macquarie Group Foundation, Kathryn galvanizes philanthropic institutions to resource and champion meaningful social change.

What is your favorite thing about working in the nonprofit sector?
The people. The nonprofit sector attracts creative, passionate, intelligent people who care deeply. I’ve been fortunate enough to work with innovators and leaders who have tirelessly centered a vision for a more inclusive, equitable future. There is likely no other sector where I could have received the same mentorship and guidance from women of color in executive leadership positions, highlighting a vision and imagination that other sectors don’t realize they are missing.

How can policymakers support your organization?
Philanthropy can only be effective if the organizations we support are healthy. Policymakers can ensure timely payments for nonprofits, a living wage for nonprofit workers, and a seat at the table for movement leaders who understand the ground-level impact of government decisions. Under those conditions, philanthropy can collaborate with the government and the nonprofit sector to drive innovation, deepen capacity, test creative solutions, and enhance community resilience.

What was your organization’s biggest accomplishment in 2024?
Two years ago, we committed to becoming an anti-racist organization and supporting our members’ equity journeys. I’m most proud of our efforts to operationalize equity including building relationships across City Council and departments to address health and education, gathering over 200 people to discuss shifting power toward anti-racist practices, and fostering brave dialogues amidst resistance. We’ve also reframed accountability and risk, grounding philanthropy closer to its core – “a love of humankind” to drive long-lasting change.

An influential figure in the growing field of the public humanities, Sara Ogger has served as Humanities New York’s executive director since 2007. She holds a B.A. from Bryn Mawr College and a Ph.D. from Princeton University, and was a visiting professor of German at Montclair University prior to joining HNY. Founded in 1975, HNY is the sole statewide proponent of the humanities and the NYS partner of the National Endowment for the Humanities.

What is your favorite thing about working in the nonprofit sector?
I feel truly honored to work with people who are guided by human values. I continue to learn and grow through partnerships that are illuminating, gratifying, and often enough, joyful to boot. I love the way the humanities are practiced and appreciated in different communities, and feel secure in the knowledge that my colleagues and I have vital connections across the state and nation who are excited to converse, plan and act with us.

How can policymakers support your organization?
Culture and imagination are essential to our democracy. If it is to renew and preserve itself, new concepts, imaginaries, and new forms of community are required. Policies ought to hold space for culture and allow non-profit presenters to flourish; further, it is incumbent on democratic nations to provide funding for arts, letters, and educational efforts they can be proud of. The private sector alone cannot provide such broad and distributive support.

What was your organization’s biggest accomplishment in 2024?
HNY’s Post-Incarceration Humanities Partnership, funded by the Mellon Foundation, is a great example of how creative work can improve lives. In the hands of returning citizens, theater, art and storytelling help “center the human” and mitigate the dehumanization of our carceral system. Twenty HNY grantees come together as a cohort to enhance and continue educations begun behind bars, connect with family and build networks of support, and to invent new rituals of return.

Ana Oliveira’s unwavering commitment to improving the lives of those in greatest need enabled The New York Women’s Foundation to increase grantmaking from $1.7M to approximately $10M annually to benefit over 6M women and girls across NYC. Ana has been a thought leader on issues of social and economic inequity, gender, and criminal justice, leading cross-sectoral partnerships to advance women’s issues and serving on the Independent Commission to study Criminal Justice Reform in NYC.

What is your favorite thing about working in the nonprofit sector?
It is fulfilling to see The Foundation’s investments drive meaningful change. We influence policies and programs that strengthen communities and witness the power of grassroots leadership in action. Watching women and gender-expansive people come together to uplift their communities and build collective resilience is inspiring. This work shows that when we invest in women, we create ripple effects that transform entire neighborhoods and beyond.

How can policymakers support your organization?
Policymakers can support our organization by championing policies that promote gender equity, fair funding for women and families, and expanded resources for community organizations. Securing robust public funding for gender-focused initiatives and advocating for inclusive, equitable practices are essential steps. By collaborating with community leaders and amplifying these initiatives, policymakers can drive systemic change, helping us to create a lasting impact across the city and beyond.

What was your organization’s biggest accomplishment in 2024?
The Foundation continues to expand its impact. This year, we surpassed a total of $130 million in cumulative grantmaking, a milestone reflecting decades of commitment to advancing gender and racial justice. Reaching over 500 community partners, we’ve supported a vast network of organizations driving change at the grassroots level. This achievement represents the strength of our partnerships and our shared dedication to building a more equitable future.

Since 2015, Anne Pasternak has served as the Shelby White and Leon Levy director of the Brooklyn Museum, one of the oldest and largest fine arts institutions in the nation. For over thirty years, Pasternak has devoted her career to engaging broad audiences with the power of art to move, motivate, and inspire. Under her leadership, the Brooklyn Museum has become a bold, dynamic center for visual arts, blending its historical collections with contemporary perspectives.

Ramon has over 30 years of experience working in grassroots organizations that tackled the most challenging issues facing low-income residents in New York: HIV and AIDS awareness, child and substance abuse, child development issues, housing, and senior health and nutrition education. Ramon is a Mayoral appointee to the Board of Directors of the Brooklyn Navy Yard Development Corporation, board member of the Early Care Learning Council, and board chair of Nuestros Ninos Preschool Center.

What is your favorite thing about working in the nonprofit sector?
What I like about this sector is the ability to have a direct impact on the lives of the people you serve, and to pay it forward to people who come from your community, and people who might look like you. You can hold up an image of what people might become themselves in the future.

How can policymakers support your organization?
The first way is to create relationships with us so they can understand the impact of their legislation on the people we serve. Sometimes policymakers can end up making decisions in silos, but we really are the experts in the field! Why not utilize us to make sure that their policies are in the best interest of the people on the ground?

What was your organization’s biggest accomplishment in 2024?
We have so much going on, that it’s hard to pinpoint one! We have new work with asylum seekers at our new office in Long Island City, we have a new Early Head Start grant to open a program for hundreds of children in Brooklyn and the Bronx, and we’re doing more to extend housing support to people in our network.

Perry Perlmutter is Services for the UnderServed’s president and chief executive officer. In 2023, Perry was recognized by City & State as a Nonprofit Power 100 Honoree. The list recognizes the most notable nonprofit leaders who are strengthening the safety net and serving the most vulnerable individuals in New York. Perry was also named in PoliticsNY’s inaugural list of Nonprofit Power Players, which highlights dedicated leaders championing causes from accessible education to affordable housing.

What is your favorite thing about working in the nonprofit sector?
As the CEO of a large social services organization, I am deeply passionate about our mission to transform the lives of people with disabilities, people in poverty, and people facing homelessness. I’m always impressed by our dedicated workforce for everything they do to support the individuals and families who come to us for services. S:US transforms lives, improves communities, and helps break the cycle of poverty for future generations.

How can policymakers support your organization?
As we know, there is a housing crisis in many parts of the country and the same holds true in New York City. S:US is one of the largest supportive housing developers and service providers in New York. We are committed to bringing more than 2,000 new affordable units online per year. We ask government officials to work with organizations like ours to bring more affordable housing to New Yorkers in need.

What was your organization’s biggest accomplishment in 2024?
(1) Success in the area of Food Security including opening five community fridges in Brooklyn and the Bronx; (2) Completing lease up of our second largest affordable and supportive housing building in the Bronx, our first Passive House project; (3) Built the first Supportive Crisis Stabilization Center in New York City,  a new model of diverting people in crisis from psychiatric emergency rooms into supportive and community-based mental health treatment options; opening in Brooklyn soon.