We’re thrilled to honor these outstanding organizations!
In celebration of the NYIC's This is Our New York 2023 Gala, we are thrilled to recognize and honor three outstanding organizations and individuals who have made impactful contributions to our community. Join us in celebrating these remarkable honorees, and scroll down to learn more about their incredible work!
Visionary Honoree
For over twenty-five years, the Stavros Niarchos Foundation (SNF) has made grants to nonprofit organizations and projects around the world, working with an incredible community of partners to create transformative change whose benefits multiply and are shared widely. Their mission, encompassing program areas of Arts & Culture, Education, Health & Sports, and Social Welfare, is broad by design. At its core are a fundamentally collaborative approach based on the expertise of partners on the ground, a commitment to public-private partnership, and a belief that everyone should have access to art, education, health care, and life’s other essentials. This approach to empowering humanity has guided over 5,300 grants to nonprofit organizations in 134 countries.
Champion Honoree
Henry Garrido, Executive Director
Henry A. Garrido is the executive director of District Council 37, New York City’s largest municipal employee union. He was elected to a third term in January 2022. Since becoming executive director in 2014, Garrido has focused on encouraging greater member participation. Garrido initiated the DC 37 Union Strong organizing campaign that helped boost DC 37 membership to 150,000. Garrido previously served as the union’s associate director. In that position, he helped establish the Municipal Employees Housing Program, which coordinates grants for first-time homebuyers and provides foreclosure prevention services, financial education and counseling. He also directed the union’s white paper project that addressed government waste by investigating the privatization of City services and identifying additional revenue sources. Garrido also was involved in an initiative on sustainability and green jobs in New York State. Garrido is an international vice president of the Association of Federal, State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME), co-chair of the Municipal Labor Committee, a trustee on the city’s Workforce Investment Board, and serves on the board of the New York City Employees Retirement System (NYCERS). A native of the Dominican Republic, he is the first Latino to head DC 37 since it was formed in 1944.
Member of the Year
Columbia County Sanctuary Movement (CCSM) has been a member organization of the NYIC for 6 years. CCSM organizes with (im)migrants and allies to collectively support, empower, and defend our communities.They believe long-term systemic change comes from bottom-up organizing by establishing leadership from directly impacted communities and forming relationships grounded in solidarity and mutual aid. CCSM has six program areas: Community Organizing and Civic Engagement, Deportation Defense, Legal Support, Accompaniment and Family Support, Food Justice, and Community Building.
