Daily News Tracker

Grantee Partner

Military sex assault lawsuit aims to remove some commanders from overseeing cases

Sex assault victims filed a lawsuit Tuesday against the Department of Defense in an effort to take commanders with “misogynistic and sexist tendencies” out of legal proceedings for sexual harassment and sexual assault cases. http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2015/mar/31/military-sex-assault-lawsuit-aims-to-remove-some-c/

Local

Will Congress Let Hunger Hold Women Down?

Working women, already sacrificing and scrambling, face another threat. The budget proposals from the House of Representatives and the Senate threaten to slash SNAP, compounding cuts in effect since November 2013. http://citylimits.org/2015/03/31/will-congress-let-hunger-hold-women-down/

National

Child poverty impacts brain growth: study

Children of richer, better-educated parents have bigger brains and more cognitive skills than their less-fortunate peers, but social help and teaching can help to overcome the differences, a study published on Monday said. http://www.nydailynews.com/life-style/health/child-poverty-impacts-brain-growth-study-article-1.2168380

Obama Just Changed the Lives of 22 Americans Caught in the Cross Fire of the War on Drugs

On Tuesday, President Barack Obama commuted the sentences of 22 inmates serving time for drug crimes committed at least a decade ago. The move more than doubled the number of commutations the president has handed down to inmates in the federal prison system, the Huffington Post reports. http://mic.com/articles/114214/obama-just-changed-the-lives-of-22-americans-caught-in-the-cross-fire-of-the-war-on-drugs

The growing trend of transgender ‘bathroom bully’ bills

Nevada, Florida, Texas and others have proposed bills that would bar trans kids from using certain school bathrooms. http://america.aljazeera.com/articles/2015/4/1/transgender-bathroom-bills-are-a-statewide-trend.html

Foreign Adoptions by Americans Drop to Lowest Level Since 1982

State Department data show 6,441 children were adopted from abroad in fiscal 2014, down from about 23,000 in 2004. http://www.wsj.com/articles/foreign-adoptions-by-americans-drop-to-lowest-level-since-1982-1427837631?mod=WSJ_hp_RightTopStories

International

How Brazil’s President Plans to Get the Country and Herself Out of This Mess

Brazil’s President Dilma Rousseff is battling to regain the trust of voters and global investors alike as the economy sinks and a corruption scandal deepens. On Tuesday, she charted what she hopes is a path to recovery. http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-04-01/dilma-rousseff-charts-path-from-petrobras-scandal

Philanthropy/Non-Profit

Nonprofit Exec Accused of Defrauding Families of Human Trafficking Victims

Peter Senese, the Founding Director of the I CARE Foundation, which advertises itself as a “self-funded non-profit organization dedicated to preventing child abduction and trafficking,” has been charged with allegedly defrauding parents whose children were victims of international abduction. http://www.nynp.biz/index.php/breaking-news/24766-nonprofit-exec-accused-of-defrauding-families-of-human-trafficking-victims

Opinion

The Effect of Women on Corporate Boards

Germany is the most recent European country to require many of their large corporations to reserve a percentage of corporate board positions for women – in this case, 30 percent of the boards of some 100 companies. Some advocates say that having female board directors is good for business, while others argue that a quota doesn’t need to generate financial result to be fair. http://www.nytimes.com/roomfordebate/2015/04/01/the-effect-of-women-on-corporate-boards

Grantee Partner

Prisoners Illegally Shackled While Giving Birth

Huff Post Live featuring Hour Children mothers discussing their experiences of being shackled, interviewed by Tamar Kraft-Stoler from the Correctional Association of New York. http://live.huffingtonpost.com/r/segment/female-new-york-prisoners-shackle-inmates/54e76ac502a7606b6300048d

Local

De Blasio to Seek Donations for Nonprofit to Promote His Policy Goals

Mayor Bill de Blasio is ramping up a political campaign to promote his housing and education priorities, with an eye toward amassing a financial war chest that can compete with well-financed opponents. http://www.nytimes.com/2015/03/11/nyregion/mayor-de-blasio-is-quietly-soliciting-donations-for-future-policy-battles.html?ref=nyregion&_r=1

Probe faults city homeless system as inherited problems multiply

New York City’s homeless population is not only at record levels, but conditions in city-run, taxpayer-funded shelters are filthy, unhealthy and dangerous, according to a report released this morning by the city Department of Investigation. http://www.capitalnewyork.com/article/city-hall/2015/03/8563912/probe-faults-city-homeless-system-inherited-problems-multiply

National

Solitary confinement is terrible for youth – and some places are trying to get rid of it

Solitary confinement is terrible for adults and much worse for children. http://www.vox.com/2015/3/3/8134915/juvenile-solitary-confinement

2 Police Officers Shot in Ferguson ‘Ambush’ Are Released From Hospital

The 2 police officers who were shot here early Thursday were victims of “an ambush,” the St. Louis County police chief said, hours after gunfire rang out in front of the police station, throwing into panic what had been a largely peaceful protest. http://www.nytimes.com/2015/03/13/us/ferguson-police.html?hp&action=click&pgtype=Homepage&module=first-column-region&region=top-news&WT.nav=top-news

Here’s How to Fix Food in America

How do you even begin to address a system that produces 30 million tons of food waste each year? Fortune talked to a few experts. Here’s what they said. http://fortune.com/2015/03/11/food-waste-america-tedxmanhattan/

How Far American women have come in the last 20 years – and how far they’re still behind

At the U.N. this year, world leaders put out a message: we could a lot more to help women. http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/wonkblog/wp/2015/03/11/how-the-u-s-treats-women-in-six-charts/

Ellen Pao, Kleiner Perkins and Silicon Valley’s Most Important Trial

Ellen pao says she was harassed, ignored, and shunned by her firm. They say she’s resentful and has a ‘female chip on her shoulder.’ http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2015/03/11/ellen-pao-kleiner-perkins-and-silicon-valley-s-most-important-trial.html

International

Ebola Deaths Top 10,000

More than 10,000 people have died from Ebola in West Africa, according to new numbers released Thursday. http://time.com/3742986/ebola-deaths-10000/

Opinion

Op-Ed: UWS Straining Under Homeless Shelters

A resident takes issue with our story on the impact—or lack thereof—of shelters and supportive housing facilities on neighborhood quality of life. http://citylimits.org/2015/03/12/op-ed-uws-straining-under-homeless-shelters/

Red Hook’s Cutting-Edge Wireless Network

Former NYWF grantee, Red Hook Initiative is working on improving the local mesh, a wireless digital network that residents can use whether or not Internet service is available. http://www.nytimes.com/2014/08/24/nyregion/red-hooks-cutting-edge-wireless-network.html?ref=nyregion

New Just Food Director Takes a Personal Interest to a Professional Level

Longtime social justice professional, NYU Grad and Former Executive Director of LoveHeals, Jasmine Nielsen is now Director of Just Food. http://www.ediblebrooklyn.com/2014/08/15/new-just-food-director-takes-personal-interest-professional-level/

Advocates want to see NFL act on domestic violence

Ravens running back Ray Rice is sitting out two games for domestic violence. A positive marijuana test, meanwhile, may have triggered a yearlong ban for Browns wide receiver Josh Gordon. Critics of NFL’s arbitrary push toward domestic violence point to the contrast between the punishments and say it’s time for the league to crack down on players who hurt women. Judy Harris Kluger, ED of Sanctuary for Families is mentioned in this article.  http://pro32.ap.org/article/experts-want-see-nfl-act-domestic-violence

40 Percent of Restaurant Workers Live in Near-Poverty

It isn’t just fast-food empires that rely on a low-paid, disempowered, and quite-often impoverished workforce. As a stomach-turning new report from the Economic Policy Institute shows, the entire restaurant industry hides a dirty little labor secret under the tasteful lighting of the dining room. http://m.motherjones.com/tom-philpott/2014/08/40-percent-restuarant-workers-live-near-poverty

Why Aren’t Women Advancing at Work? Ask a Transgender Person

As a population that has experienced the workplace from both perspectives, they hold the key to its biases. http://www.newrepublic.com/article/119239/transgender-people-can-explain-why-women-dont-advance-work

Grantee Partner 

Bronx Net interviews Boom!Health

Robert Corder of Boom!Health NYC and Eileen Newman of Center for Bronx Nonprofits at Hostos tells Bronx Net more about Boom!Health’s rebranding and how it is helping the Bronx Community. 

A Co-op State of Mind

Co-ops tend to be more difficult to get started than conventional businesses but once they’re up and running, they tend to be very sustainable. New York is giving a $1.2 million grant that will be allocated to 11 worker-cooperative support organizations including The Center for Family Life and Make the Road New York. The article also features a profile on Si Se Puede, a woman owned worker cooperative that was started with the help of SCO Family of Services’ Center for Family Life. 

Bronx shelter helps kids escape tortures of domestic violence, heals emotional wounds

The Sarah Burke House, the state’s largest transitional shelter for victims of domestic violence, run by Sanctuary for Families, provides up to 58 families a temporary safe haven while preparing mothers to find permanent housing, shore up their finances and establish a stable life with their kids. 

Women

How a Part-Time Pay Penalty Hits Working Mothers

Women get paid less than men in almost all jobs, but when women in low-wage jobs need to take time off work to care for children, they are at an even greater disadvantage. Ther is one exception to the pay gap among the lower-wage occupations: tehcnicians. In these jobs, which include clincal lab workers and legal assistants, women still get paid less, but are not penalized for working fewer hours. It is also striking that among high-income occupations, tech also has the smallest pay gap. 

Why Are So Many Women Dying From Ebola?Studies show that infectious disease often affects one gender more than another – but that knowledge isn’t being put into practice. Sabra Klein, a Johns Hopkins University professor, explains that consciously evaluating what happens in an outbreak, or in any health crisis, needs to be seen through a gender lens. It would also mean tackling systemic problems, such as women’s unequal access to adequate health care of the finances they might require for treatment. In short, it wuld mean challenging fundamental and dangerous disparities.

The Top States For Female EntrepreneursThere are more female entrepreneurs in America than ever. The number of women-owned businesses has almost doubled from 5.4 million firms in 1997 to 9.1 million in 2014, according to new research from Expert Market. According to the research, the states with the most female-owned businesses are: Washington DC (34.5%), Maryland (32.6%), New Mexico (31.7%), Hawaii (31%), and Georgia (30.9%). 

Among the Poor, Women Feel Inequality More Deeply

For most women, real wages have been climbing but it’s at the lowest income levels that the burden on women stands out. Not only are they more likely than men to be in a minimum-wage job, but women are also much more likely to be raising a family on their own. 

Grantee Partner

Ten Semifinalists for Nonprofit Excellence Awards

The ten semifinalists for the 2014 New York Community Trust Nonprofit Excellence Awards have been announced. The Awards recognize outstanding management practices of nonprofits in New York City, Long Island and Westchester. This year’s semifinalists include past grantee Row New York and present NYWF grantee, Girls Write Now.

Report finds sexual assault, drug use at Air Force Academy

The superintendent of the Air Force Academy has called for an investigation into allegations of sexual assault, drug use, cheating, and favoritism among start student athletes. Greg Jacob, legislative director of SWAN offers solutions on how to make service academics more accountable for harassment and assault.

Local

De Blasio’s Prekindergarten Expansion Collides with Church-State Divide

Racing to secure space to accommodate 53,000 full-day prekindergarten seats, New York City is asking religious schools to house more public school students.

National

How Google scans your Gmail for child porn

Google makes use of Microsoft’s PhotoDNA technology to scan emails, and calculate a mathematical hash for an image of child sexual abuse that allows it to recognize photos automatically even if they have been altered.

Women

Justices’ Rulings Advance Gays; Women Less So

Justice Ruth Bader Ginsberg said the court’s conservative majority, all men, did not understand the challenges women face in achieving authentic equality.

Opinion

Help Boys, but Don’t Shortchange Girls

Pamela Shifman, ED of the NoVo Foundation and Gloria Steinem co-write a letter to the editor calling for more programs to help girls and women of color.

How Male Allies Help the Gender Equality Movement

These men put their feminist words into action and show that “gender equality is smart economics.”

Grantee Partner

Owning the Office Adueñándose de la Oficina

STRIVE student Dominique Howard, a 21-year-old JP Morgan Chase employee, is representing the United States against 40 other countries at the Microsoft Office Specialist (MOS) World Championship taking place this week in Anaheim, California. Howard originally took the MOS certification exam at STRIVE New York, an East Harlem workforce development center that provides job training and career assistance.

Local

EXCLUSIVE: Housing Authority gives homeless families priority over domestic violence victims for public housing

The Housing Authority quietly approved a plan that will move 750 homeless families per year ahead of domestic violence victims for public housing, putting them at the top of the list. The policy change was made Friday during a special meeting that was not listed on a public schedule, catching many people by surprise.

National

Senators Offer Bill to Curb Campus Sexual Assault

A bipartisan group of senators on Wednesday introduced legislation designed to curb the startling number of sexual assaults on college campuses. The measure would require schools to make public the result of anonymous surveys concerning assault on campuses, and impose significant financial burdens on universities that fail to comply with some of the law’s requirements.

Exclusive: Attorney General Eric Holder to Oppose Data-Driven Sentencing

Citing concerns about equal justice in sentencing, Attorney General Eric Holder has decided to oppose certain statistical tools used in determining jail time, putting the Obama Administration at odds with a popular and increasingly effective method for managing prison populations. Holder says using static factors from a criminal’s background could perpetuate racial bias in a system that already delivers 20% longer sentences for young black men than for other offenders.

Opinion

The Girls Obama Forgot

Kimberle Williams Crenshaw: My Brother’s Keep Ignores Young Black Women

Women

Cracking the Girl Code

Tech giants like Google, Facebook and AT&T  bet on summer camps like Girls Who Code to close their gender gap.

Women Taxi Drivers

With Uber’s job openings and fewer late shifts, a male-dominated industry is suddenly a little less so.

Philanthropy/Non-Profit

Walmart Gives $150K to Three LI Nonprofits

The Walmart Foundation’s New York State Giving Council has awarded $150,000 to three Long Island nonprofit organizations for its second funding cycle of 2014. This funding cycle’s “Focused Giving” centers on promoting hunger relief, healthy eating and career opportunities. Walmart donated $50,000 each to Sustainable Long Island, Long Island Cares Inc., and Long Island Council of Churches.

Grantee Partner

R.I. toymaker Hasbro, Year Up launch new jobs program for disadvantaged

NYWF grantee, Year Up, and Hasbro Inc., the world’s second-largest toy maker, have partnered together to create a new program that will prepare 15 young people for sales and marketing jobs within a year. Having taken Year Up interns into the Pawtucket-based company since 2007, Brian Goldner, CEO of Hasbro says he is confident this stronger partnership will produce well-prepared employees by next July. http://www.providencejournal.com/breaking-news/content/20140727-r.i.-toymaker-hasbro-year-up-launch-new-jobs-program-for-disadvantaged.ece

New VA head inherits sex assault crisis

On Tuesday, shortly before the Senate confirmed Robert McDonald in a 97-0 vote as the new Secretary of Vetarans Affairs, Service Women’s Action Network and the Vietnam Veterans of America sued the Department of Veterans Affairs over its refusal to review or change its rules on processing benefit claims for survivors of Military Sexual Trauma (MST). http://www.msnbc.com/msnbc/veterans-groups-sue-va-over-sexual-assault-claims

‘Guardians of the Galaxy’ star Chris Pratt surprises audience during charity screening of the film, takes selfies with every kid in the auditorium

Actor Chris Pratt surprised an auditorium full of children during an early screening Monday. NYWF grantee Girl Be Heard was in attendance. http://www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/movies/guardians-galaxy-star-shows-early-screening-article-1.1883418#bmb=1

De Blasio appoints 16 to Mayor’s Advisory Committee on the Judiciary

Mayor de Blasio appointed 16 individuals to serve on the Mayor’s Advisory Committee on the Judiciary. The Committee recruits, screens and recommends to the Mayor highly qualified, diverse and experienced candidates for judicial appointments to the New York City Criminal and Family Courts, as well as interim appointments to the elected Civil Court in the event of vacancies. Appointees to the Committee include Judge Judy Kluger, ED of Sanctuary for Families and Sharon Stapel ED of the New York City Anti-Violence Project. http://brooklyneagle.com/articles/de-blasio-appoints-16-mayors-advisory-committee-judiciary-2014-07-28-140000

Friedrich Donates Air Conditioners to 38 Cornerstone Programs

38 Cornerstone programs in NYCHA buildings will be receiving a total of 150 air conditioner units to keep City kids cool this summer through a donation by Friedrich, a leading manufacturer of air conditioners. The 38 buildings include centers run by Grand Street Settlement, SCO Family of Services, and Jacob Riis Neighborhood Settlement. http://www.nynp.biz/index.php/breaking-news/21576-friedrich-donates-air-conditioners-to-38-cornerstone-programs-

Local

NYC Paid Sick Leave Laws Kick In Today

Today marks the first official day of city-mandated paid sick leave. http://gothamist.com/2014/07/30/nyc_paid_sick_leave.php

New York’s Abortion Protest Law is Praised by Justices, but Few Others

A 15-foot buffer zone outside clinics was cited as a possible model by the Supreme Court, but both abortion-rights advocates and abortion opponents have criticized the statute. http://www.nytimes.com/2014/07/31/nyregion/new-yorks-abortion-protest-law-is-praised-by-justices-but-few-others.html?ref=nyregion

National

Immigrant Mothers Released From Holding Centers, but With Ankle Monitors

With a surge in mothers traveling with children across the border, but few spaces to hold families, the government is expanding the use of electronic bracelets. http://www.nytimes.com/2014/07/30/nyregion/immigrant-mothers-released-from-holding-centers-but-with-ankle-monitors.html?rref=nyregion&module=Ribbon&version=origin&region=Header&action=click&contentCollection=N.Y.%20%2F%20Region&pgtype=article

Women

What is a woman?

The dispute between radical feminism and transgenderism. http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2014/08/04/woman-2

Philanthropy/Non-Profit

Nonprofits Must Practice Intergenerational Generosity

Experience can be a gem or a fossil. New ideas can be a boost or a fetish. As the city ages and a new generation of leaders emerge, nonprofits have to figure out how to get the best out of everyone. http://www.citylimits.org/conversations/263/aging-city-youth-with-needs-the-challenge-for-nonprofits

Disney heiress Abigail disowns her share of family profits in West Bank company

Abigail Disney – filmmaker, philanthropist (NYWF honorary chair) and great-niece of legendary animator Walt Disney – has publicly renounced her share of the family profits from an Israeli firm she claims is exploiting “occupied natural resources.” http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/disney-heiress-abigail-disowns-her-share-of-family-profits-in-west-bank-company-7953513.html