On October 30, 2007, more than 170 community leaders, funders, government officials and other stakeholders participated in a forum on defining and measuring poverty. A partnership between The New York Women’s Foundation®, Women of Color Policy Network at NYU Wagner and New York University’s Robert F. Wagner Graduate School of Public Service, the forum consisted of two panels of experts who presented on the issue from local, national and global perspectives.

Moderated by Gail B. Nayowith, Executive Director of the Laurie M. Tisch Foundation, the first panel of the morning addressed the intersection of poverty with various social issues such as race, gender and social exclusion and that effective solutions that generate systemic change must account for these intersections. This was eloquently articulated by Dean Ellen Schall of NYU Wagner Graduate School of Public Service who remarked, “The answers are at the intersection.”

The second panel focused on local responses and consisted of community leaders, former and current grantee partners of the Foundation. They spoke of their work to eradicate poverty in New York City and highlighted the impact that experiences of powerlessness have on breaking the cycle of poverty. Exemplifying the pivotal role that individuals most impacted by poverty must have and the need for their voices in creating lasting solutions, Alexie Torres-Fleming, Executive Director of Youth Ministries for Peace and Justice stated, “There can be nothing about us, without us”.

Forum Participants Comments