Equity Advocates

Join Equity Advocates for a timely and action-oriented workshop on Congressional Appropriations and Budget Reconciliation, just as Congress begins shaping the federal budget. This session will break down how Congress sets and adjusts the federal budget, how these processes impact funding for critical food and farm programs, and why reconciliation is a powerful tool for making policy changes. To help us explore what’s at stake right now and where advocacy can make a difference, we will hear from the following experts: - Mike Lavender, National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition - Krista Hesdorfer, Hunger Solutions New York - and others coming soon! You’ll walk away with a clear understanding of how federal funding decisions are made and concrete actions to influence the process in real time. Don’t miss this opportunity to get informed and engaged! Register here: https://lnkd.in/ejJTeb-z

HUGE NEWS: Governor Kathy Hochul is including universal free school meals for ALL 2.7 million New York students in her State of the State priorities! This would not be possible without our legislative champions, Michelle Hinchey and Jessica González-Rojas. Equity Advocates has been a proud member of the #Meals4AllNY Coalition for the last two years. Thank you to Community Food Advocates and Hunger Solutions New York for leading the 300-member strong Healthy School Meals for All New York Kids campaign coalition.

Excited to share a great opportunity to join my Policy and Government Relations team at City Harvest, build your career in policy and advocacy, and support the efforts of hundreds of pantries by advocating for systems change and policy solutions to hunger. Scheduled to start in mid-January, I am happy that we were able to start the Dunn/Ramirez Food Policy Fellowship. Named after two former coworkers (and a fishing friend) who passed between 2020 and 2022 after dedicating their careers and lives to fighting hunger, this is a great opportunity to advance your career during NYS busy time for advocacy: https://lnkd.in/edvtxJDv

On #GivingTuesday, your support can help us provide food justice leaders with the tools, training, and strategic guidance they need to drive meaningful policy change. Together, we can expand access to healthy, affordable food, strengthen urban agriculture and nutrition education, and advocate for a robust social safety net that uplifts entire communities. Join us in building a more equitable food system—your generosity makes it possible. In the last year we … ?? Trained 600 food justice leaders with critical advocacy skills ?? Successfully advocated for over $1 billion in City and State government funding to strengthen our food system ??? Launched a major advocacy campaign to secure state food benefits for low-income immigrant New Yorkers—gaining the support of 80 groups statewide in just one week! With hunger increasing across the state, your support is more important than ever.?Let’s work together to move from vision to action this new year!?Please consider a donation today on #GivingTuesday.? Donate now?at https://lnkd.in/eJWdexEu

Today, food insecurity is at its highest level in more than a decade. Over two million New Yorkers struggle with food insecurity, disproportionately affecting families of color. While this is profoundly alarming any time of year, it is particularly disturbing during this season of hope and plenty. Equity Advocates is a NY-based food justice nonprofit that fights the root causes of hunger through policy change. We build the capacity of food justice leaders in New York to advocate collectively for greater access to healthy and affordable food, expand urban agriculture and nutrition education programs, and build a strong social safety net for communities. As EA launches our year-end giving campaign, we hope you will help Equity Advocates create a more equitable food system for thousands of families in New York and beyond. A donation in any amount this holiday season will go a long way! Learn more and donate at: https://lnkd.in/eQwVS22d

Calling all Food Justice Advocates in NYC! Join us for an Advocacy Panel hosted by Equity Advocates and the NYC Food Policy Alliance Advocacy Panel on September 26, 2024, from 3 PM to 5 PM. We will have plenty of time for networking and a panel conversation on,?“Cross-Sector Collaboration:?Building Effective Advocacy Campaigns.”?This panel, moderated by Leah Eden , Executive Director of Equity Advocates, will highlight local advocacy campaigns as a way to learn about building cross-sector coalitions, developing campaign strategies, and implementing advocacy activities.?Come with lots of questions for our panelists: - Rebecca Bailin from New Yorkers United for Child Care - Caitlin Pearce from Riders Alliance RSVP?by September 23th: https://lnkd.in/eNgsE-97

We are excited to invite your organization to join us for the launch of an important statewide advocacy campaign: SNAP4All New York. The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) is the largest and most impactful anti-hunger program in the United States, providing nearly 3 million New Yorkers with an average benefit of $6.20 per day. However, our current system excludes many individuals based on their citizenship status, including DACA recipients, Temporary Protected Status (TPS) holders, undocumented immigrants, and certain visa holders. These exclusions leave countless New Yorkers without the critical food benefits they urgently need. SNAP4All New York aims to change this. We are advocating for a state investment to extend food benefits to all income-eligible New Yorkers, regardless of their immigration status. Our state leaders have the power to make our food safety net more equitable and inclusive, ensuring that no one in our community goes hungry. Register for our kickoff call on September 17 at bit.ly/3Xyn8cM

We are thrilled to announce that Allison Marino, MSW, one of our Community Board Members, has been named to the 40 Under 40 - Class of 2024 by the Hunter College New York City Food Policy Center! ? Allison has served as a member of Equity Advocates' Board of Directors for four years, providing guidance, passion and expertise to help us meet our mission. She is also a co-chair of our NYC Food Policy Alliance’s Youth Development and Urban Agriculture committee, where she helps ideate and facilitate strategy, collaboration, and direct advocacy action across the Alliance. Join us in celebrating Allison's well-deserved achievement and her dedication to the food justice community! ? Congratulations,?Allison Marino, MSW!

Equity Advocates was proud to stand on the steps of City Hall last week to demand increased funding for the Community Food Connections program, alongside partners including?United Way of New York City, City Harvest, Food Bank For New York City, West Side Campaign Against Hunger, Project Hospitality, NY Common Pantry, Hunger Free America, United Neighborhood Houses, VISION URBANA, and many more. The NYC Human Resources Administration’s Community Food Connection, the City of New York’s primary program funding food pantries, is facing a 50% cut. With food insecurity on the rise, this funding cut couldn’t come at a worse time. It's more important than ever for the?Mayor and?City Council?to allocate and baseline $60M for the Community Food Connections program in the upcoming FY25 City Budget. This program is vital in ensuring that frontline emergency food providers can provide access to not just any food, but healthy, fresh, and culturally and religiously appropriate food. We need your help! Please contact your City Council representative and urge them to oppose these cuts and restore the funding for essential food programs in the FY25 NYC Budget. Click the LINK BELOW to send an email to your local representatives. https://lnkd.in/eJJTEVgw #nycbudget?#foodsecurity?#endhunger

So much of our work at Equity Advocates is about intentionally bringing folks together from across the food system to the same table to make better public policy. But people don’t always understand what this kind of planning and cross-sector collaboration really looks like. Check out this new video series from our friends at New York Health Foundation, featuring Equity Advocates' own Leah Eden and several of our community partners.