New York Communities for Change

What New York Communities for Change does

New York Communities for Change (NYCC) is a 501(c)(4) nonprofit community organizing organization founded in December 2009 by former members and staff of New York ACORN. Headquartered at 470 Vanderbilt Ave., 9th Floor, Brooklyn, NY, NYCC operates roughly 30 employees across an 8-chapter network spanning New York City (Flatbush, Flatbush Workers Committee, Sunset Park, Bushwick, Brownsville, East New York, South East Queens, South Bronx) and Long Island (Nassau), supplemented by neighborhood groups in East Harlem, Far Rockaway, and Suffolk. Its mission is to organize New Yorkers to fight for safe and healthy communities across housing, climate, worker rights, social safety net, and criminal justice/immigration issues, using direct action, legislative advocacy, and coalition-driven campaigns.

NYCC's "products" are split between direct member services and advocacy campaigns. Direct services include 11 English as a Second Language (ESL) classes (online and in-person), digital literacy/computer-skills classes, GED preparation, the Flatbush Food Pantry (every second Saturday in partnership with Caribbean Equality Project and Flatbush Mixtape), and the Hempstead Community Garden (feeding 200+ families annually). On the advocacy side, NYCC runs campaigns on eviction protection, housing justice, green housing, climate action, green jobs, economic exploitation/wages, the social safety net, the Excluded Worker Fund, violence/incarceration/deportation, and sovereign debt. There is no proprietary technology platform; infrastructure is conventional web presence (nycommunities.org), ActBlue-powered donations, and SMS outreach under standard texting terms.

The business model is a donations- and membership-funded advocacy operation under 501(c)(4) status; contributions are explicitly not tax-deductible as charitable gifts. NYCC monetizes influence via coalition steering roles (Fund Excluded Workers, Housing Justice for All, Invest in Our NY, Justice Roadmap, People's Campaign for Parole Justice, Communities Not Cages, Communities United for Police Reform, Fight for $15, New Yorkers for A Fair Economy) and direct-action tactics (bridge shutdowns, a 23-day hunger strike) that have produced multi-billion-dollar policy outcomes, including New York's $15 minimum wage, the $2.1 billion Excluded Worker Fund (covering 130,000+ workers at $15,600 each), Local Law 97, the NYC fossil fuel pension divestiture, and a citywide gas ban in new construction. NYCC also conducts a formal candidate endorsement program and accepts donations via ActBlue. Revenue is not publicly disclosed.

Name

New York Communities for Change

Legal name

New York Communities for Change

Website

https://nycommunities.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

2009

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

New York Communities for Change (NYCC) is a Brooklyn-based 501(c)(4) nonprofit that organizes low-income tenants, immigrant, excluded-worker, and criminal-justice-affected communities across New York City and Long Island through member-led chapters, advocacy campaigns, and direct services like ESL classes and food distribution.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Brooklyn

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Others

Revenue model

1. Donations and Membership Contributions: NYCC is a 501(c)(4) organization. Contributions and gifts to NYCC are not deductible as charitable contributions for federal income tax purposes. The organization accepts donations through ActBlue and relies on member and public support.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

NYCC is a 501(c)(4) community organization that mobilizes New York City and Long Island residents through grassroots chapters to win policy campaigns on housing, climate, wages, immigrant rights, and criminal justice. Alongside advocacy, NYCC delivers direct member services including ESL classes, digital literacy/computer-skills classes, GED preparation, a food pantry, and a community garden that feeds hundreds of families each year.

Product overview

New York Communities for Change (NYCC) is a community organization, not a technology product company. It offers community services including ESL classes, digital literacy programs, GED preparation, a community garden, and food pantry services. The organization also runs multiple advocacy campaigns focused on housing justice, climate action, economic justice, workers' rights, and social safety net issues. These are social programs and advocacy initiatives, not commercial software products or technology platforms.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• English as a Second Language (ESL) Classes

Quantifiable outcome

• Won $2.1 billion Excluded Worker Fund providing $15,600 each to 130,000+ undocumented workers
• +5 more outcomes

Named customers3 records

Segments6 records

Ideal customer profiles5 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Twelve partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Fund Excluded Workers CoalitioncoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2021NYCC helped lead the Fund Excluded Workers coalition in winning the first-of-its-kind $2.1 billion Excluded Worker Fund in 2021. The coalition used tactics including bridge shutdowns and a 23-day hunger strike to pressure the NY state legislature. This campaign helped 130,000+ New Yorkers access $15,600 each.
• Housing Justice for AllcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerNYCC helped launch and participates in this powerful statewide coalition of tenants. Together in 2019, the coalition won the strongest package of tenant protections in decades in New York.
• Invest in Our NY CoalitioncoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerNYCC is part of the Invest in Our NY coalition campaigning to tax the rich to create an equitable New York with fully funded schools, public transit, social programs, affordable housing, and climate programs.
• Justice RoadmapcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerNYCC is a steering committee member of Justice Roadmap, a coalition of advocates pushing interconnected legislative action to address criminalization of immigrants and Black and brown communities.
• People's Campaign for Parole JusticecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerNYCC is a steering committee member of this grassroots coalition working to promote fair and meaningful release opportunities for incarcerated people in New York State prisons, with goals of decarceration and family reunification.
• Communities Not CagescoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerNYCC is a steering committee member of this grassroots campaign led by impacted people and families across New York State fighting to end mass incarceration and overhaul New York's racist and unjust sentencing laws.
• No Price on JusticeminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerNYCC participates in this coalition of economic and racial justice advocates working to end New York's predatory court fines and fees.
• Communities United for Police Reform (CPR)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerNYCC is a Voting Member of CPR, an unprecedented campaign to end discriminatory policing practices in New York, bringing together community members, lawyers, researchers and activists to work for reforms ensuring the NYPD protects and serves all New Yorkers.
• New Yorkers for A Fair Economy CoalitioncoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerNYCC works with this coalition to fight for the 21st Century Anti-Trust Act and Warehouse Worker Protection Act, bringing NY antitrust laws up to date and increasing regulations to help communities, small businesses and workers.
• Fight for $15coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerNYCC co-founded the Fight for $15 and won a $15 minimum wage in New York. The movement has since spread nationally.
• Caribbean Equality ProjectminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerFlatbush Chapter partners with Caribbean Equality Project to distribute free groceries and essentials to the community every second Saturday.
• Flatbush Mix tapeminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerFlatbush Chapter partners with Flatbush Mix tape to distribute free groceries and essentials to the community every second Saturday.

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• Make the Road New York: Make the Road New York is a fellow NY-based community organizing nonprofit that mobilizes low-income immigrants and workers through member-led campaigns on housing, workplace justice, and immigration. It operates overlapping chapters (e.g., Bushwick, Staten Island) and co-leads several of NYCC's key coalitions (Housing Justice for All, Invest in Our NY), making it the closest direct peer.
• Center for Popular Democracy: Center for Popular Democracy is a national network of community organizing affiliates running campaigns on economic and racial justice. NYCC and its peer affiliates share direct-action organizing tactics and frequently co-lead coalition work, making CPD a direct peer in scale, model, and issue mix.
• Community Voices Heard: Community Voices Heard is a NY-based low-income member-led organizing group focused on economic justice, housing, and criminal justice. It uses the same chapter-based, member-driven organizing model as NYCC and works on overlapping campaigns and coalitions.
• ALIGN: The Alliance for a Greater New York: ALIGN is a NY-based labor-community coalition that runs organizing campaigns on economic and climate justice. It shares NYCC's NYC geographic focus, blue-collar member base, and use of direct-action tactics, and the two groups coordinate on worker and climate campaigns.
• VOCAL-NY: VOCAL-NY is a statewide grassroots organizing nonprofit focused on housing, HIV/AIDS, drug policy, and criminal justice reform. It shares NYCC's direct-action organizing model and works on overlapping issue campaigns across NY, frequently within the same coalitions.
• Community Change (formerly Center for Community Change): Community Change is a national community organizing nonprofit that builds power in low-income communities of color through grassroots campaigns on housing, jobs, and immigration. It is a direct peer to NYCC as both run member-driven organizing models with overlapping issue areas and shared coalition leadership across national progressive campaigns.
• Faith in New York: Faith in New York is an interfaith community organizing nonprofit mobilizing NYC congregations around housing, criminal justice, and immigrant rights. It uses the same broad-based organizing model as NYCC, frequently co-endorses candidates, and operates in overlapping NYC geographies.
• Working Families Party: Working Families Party is a progressive political party rooted in community organizing, with deep NY operations and candidate-endorsement activity that mirrors NYCC's model. It overlaps significantly with NYCC on electoral strategy, donor networks, and coalition campaigns like the Fight for $15.
• People's Action: People's Action is a national network of 1,000+ member-led organizations running state and federal campaigns on housing, healthcare, and economic justice. NYCC participates in coalitions co-led by People's Action (e.g., Invest in Our NY), making it a direct peer in organizing model and federal policy work.

Emerging players

• Tenants and Neighbors: Tenants and Neighbors is a NY tenant-rights organizing nonprofit focused on rent stabilization and affordable housing preservation. It overlaps directly with NYCC's housing justice campaigns and coalition work (Housing Justice for All) but operates with a narrower single-issue focus and smaller scale.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat7 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/nychange
• Facebookfacebook.com/nychange
• Instagraminstagram.com/ny4change
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/new-york-communities-for-change

Compliance1 record

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about New York Communities for Change