Clear all

9 results found

reorder grid_view

Reclaiming Retirement for All: Findings from the Just Futures needs assessment of the nonprofit sector

October 4, 2022

Nonprofit workers, once deemed ineligible for retirement benefits through work, now collectively hold over $1 trillion in employer-sponsored retirement savings plans. These retirement dollars hold the potential to advance social change and provide long-term financial security to nonprofit workers. This potential is undermined by a seismic shift in risk and responsibility for retirement—away from government and employers and onto individual workers. The result is increasing profits for financial services companies and inequitable access to and distribution of benefits, which reinforces and exacerbates existing generational and racial wealth gaps.In this report, we share findings from a nationwide needs assessment of the nonprofit workforce and retirement benefits commissioned by Just Futures and conducted between November 2021 and February 2022. The survey data and focus groups include insights from over 200 different nonprofit organizations from across the country, with a particular focus on smaller organizations engaged in social justice and movement work. More specifics on who participated and benchmarking data can be found in the appendix.We identify four gaps that currently exist in the nonprofit sector that lead to reductions in long-term retirement savings:Gap #1: The Capacity Gap – Nonprofit Organizations, particularly smaller ones, face disproportionate administrative burdens to launch and operate a retirement plan.Gap #2: The Transparency Gap – Complex and sometimes inscrutable administrative and investment fees by the financial industry reduce returns on investment.Gap #3: The Values Gap – The values of retirement advisors and investment options in retirement portfolios are frequently misaligned with those of nonprofit organizations, creating low trust in retirement plans by nonprofit workers and disengagement in the retirement planning process.Gap #4: The Equity Gap – Default design elements within organizational retirement plans frequently reinforce existing generational and racial wealth gaps.Our recommendations are based in a historical and political framework that understands retirement benefits as a collective public good and focuses on reclaiming retirement for all.

Protecting the Protectors: Aligning Investment Strategies for Native American Communities

April 26, 2017

Protecting the Protectors: Aligning Investment Strategies for Native American Communities is a step-by-step resource guide designed to help mission-driven asset owners better manage investments in publicly held companies and funds that impact Native American communities. This guide focuses on communities within the geographic boundaries of the United States, and on those Indigenous Peoples broadly defined as Native American; however, many of the principles and methodologies shared in this guidebook can be applied to investments that impact Indigenous communities around the world.

Feeding New York: Challenges and Opportunities for Workers in New York City's Food Manufacturing Industry

June 1, 2014

With some $5 billion in gross annual sales, New York City's food manufacturing industry provides the livelihoods of 14,000 workers and their families. Approximately 900 firms do business across the five boroughs of New York City. Across New York State, the industry employs 43,142 workers. Food manufacturing provides an important source of employment for those with a range of educational backgrounds and familiarity with English -- according to a 2007 study by the Fiscal Policy Institute, 70% of workers in the sector are immigrants, 72% are people of color, and 64% have less than a high school diploma. Increasingly, the industry also provides opportunities for women, though they are often paid less and face obstacles to better jobs.

Rise of the Renter Nation: Solutions to the Housing Affordability Crisis

June 1, 2014

Private homeownership cannot serve as our only model for decent, stable housing. While the most recent speculative bubble raised the proportion of homeowners nationwide to 70 percent of all households, this gain was an illusion that vanished as the market collapsed. A longer view reveals that for three decades before the bubble began in the mid-1990s, homeownership rates hovered around 64 percent, despite massive federal and market support. Further, the historic average obscures important and severe racial disparities in homeownership rates, which have never exceeded 50 percent for black and Latino populations. Yet, policy and even much of the progressive analysis of the housing crisis seem incapable of acknowledging -- much less acting on -- these realities. The result is a national dialogue about the housing crisis that all but ignores the growing renter class, where the crisis is concentrated, and retains a myopic focus on private ownership. The following report is a reality check. It attempts to redirect the conversation and provide an agenda for genuine housing security for all.

Learning From Katrina: Lessons From Five Years of Recovery and Renewal in the Gulf Coast

September 1, 2010

Examines the progress in and lessons from the recovery efforts since 2005, the role of community leadership and civic engagement in shaping that recovery, and what is needed to ensure full renewal in the face of the 2010 oil spill and other challenges.

2010 Proxy Preview: Helping Foundations Align Investment and Mission

May 12, 2010

Promotes proxy voting as a way for foundations to fulfill missions via social and environmental corporate practices. Outlines trends in shareholder advocacy, 2009 highlights, and 2010 proposals, including animal welfare, human rights, and sustainability.

Benchmarking Diversity: A First Look at New York City Foundations and Nonprofits

October 8, 2009

New York City foundations and nonprofit organizations have racially diverse staffs, according to a new report by Philanthropy New York and the Foundation Center, but this diversity decreases at higher levels of seniority. A substantial number of foundations and nonprofits are tracking information about the racial and ethnic makeup of the grantees and populations that they respectively serve. The study is the first of its kind in New York City and the nation to examine "both sides" of the equation -- with survey data from 95 grantmaking foundations and 540 nonprofit organizations in the five boroughs.

Proxy Preview '09: Helping Foundations Align Investment and Mission

March 31, 2009

This report aims to help foundations navigate shareholder proposals related to social and governance issues, as a way of identifying the proposals that are relevant to their missions and grantmaking agendas.

Asthma In Chinatown

August 1, 2002

New York City's Chinatown has been heavily impacted by air pollution. The Chinese Progressive Association (CPA) designed this survey to get a more complete picture of the asthma problem in the Chinatown area. CPA volunteers and staff surveyed residents from a total of 580 households, representing 2040 individuals. This report outlines the results of the survey. The report also contains recommendations that will improve air quality and protect the health of the community.