John,

● It’s still tax season! Returns for tax season this year are due on 4/18, and to help you out, NYC offers free tax filing tools to those who make under $72,000.

● Are you or do you know a high school or college student looking for a paid summer internship? Our office has a few exciting internship opportunities for this summer with a rolling application deadline. Check out the descriptions on our website and apply!

● Voting for Participatory Budgeting starts in just a few short weeks! Learn more about how projects were selected in the section below.

Civic Assemblies!

A quick reminder, we’re in our 12th cycle of Participatory Budgeting here in District 39! We are currently working to assemble the ballot in preparation for vote week from 3/25 - 4/2. During this week you will be able to vote online or at one of our pop-up polling locations around the district. Speaking of, we need poll volunteers to help us operate our voting sites across the district! Sign up to volunteer so your neighbors will be able to come and vote!

In past years, a select group of volunteers debated and selected projects to go on the ballot. But this year, inspired by the Hannah Arendt Center’s Democracy Innovation Hub our Participatory Budgeting Director Hannah brought a bold new idea of civic assemblies. Rooted in Athenian democracy from thousands of years ago, current civic or, citizens’ assemblies, bring together a randomly selected, but representative sample, of the community to learn about challenges facing society and identify policy solutions. Similar processes have been organized to address issues like climate change, public transit, and end-of-life care in nations like France, the United Kingdom, Poland, and Brazil. In this tradition, our Participatory Budgeting Civic Assembly is part of a larger international effort to expand people’s power over government decision-making.

Since our Participatory Budgeting cycle is focused on climate change, we figured it would be a perfect system to try out this year! Neighbors were nominated and then 25 delegates were selected through a random lottery. Our civic assembly had delegates from all ages, backgrounds, and identities, andover three separate sessions, learned about the potential projects, debated their merits, and voted for their favorites to craft the ballot that you will get to vote on soon!

But don’t just take our word for it, hear from the delegates themselves! Ishan, a junior at Brooklyn Prospect Charter School, said, “Civic Assembly meetings have been an extremely impactful event on my understanding of politics in my community.” Danny, volunteer on the Participatory Budgeting outreach committee also shared, “I was nervous leading up to the Civic Assembly. I was wondering if people would truly show up for a , 3-day workshop -- it was like wondering if anyone would show up to your birthday party! In the end, we had nearly full attendance for all 3 sessions. It was energizing to see how much people are interested in playing a role in the democratic process if the opportunities exist.” Danny’s favorite part was, “watching people come together from different neighborhoods across the district -- with different perspectives and backgrounds -- and genuinely listen, learn and agree on what initiatives will be most impactful for the district at large.”

More to come from Participatory Budgeting soon!

Community Bulletin

● The Menstrual Equity Project is a youth movement with the goal of spreading awareness, cultivating action, and enabling change around menstrual product accessibility in District 39 public schools. They are actively recruiting students to participate in their project by attending a series of youth-led workshops. Register HERE! If you have any questions, please feel free to contact Project Manager Gabriela Carrillo at [email protected]

● Brooklyn Workforce Innovations, South Brooklyn Industrial Development Corporation, and Building Skills are hosting a Construction Training Program. Earn five in-demand credentials and break into the construction world for FREE! Training starts on 3/13. Register for an info session here.

● The Brooklyn Book Festival is the literary celebration of the fall, but throughout the year, everyone can still experience the Festival -- virtually and free! Check out their website for discussions on fiction and non-fiction, with international authors such as Mohsin Hamid, Esmeralda Santiago, Jacqueline Woodson, Marlon James, and Jennifer Egan, among dozens more!

● Attorneys from the Eastern District of New York at the US Department of Justice will be doing a presentation at the Park Slope Center for Successful Aging in partnership with Good Neighbors of Park Slope and Park Slope Parents on 3/15 at 2 PM on Elder Fraud.

● Young people aged 14-24 can now apply to DYCD’s Summer Youth Employment Program (SYEP). Apply here!

● Applications for the Sadie Nash Summer Institute, a 6-week summer program where participants explore their own leadership and activism skills with other like-minded women and gender-expansive youth, are now open!

● The S.E.E.D. project workshop series is an introductory education course to prepare potential cannabis license applicants to participate in the “Business of Cannabis in New York.” The course is a 30-hour instructional, encompassing 15 classes of 2 hours a piece, taught over five weeks (three classes per week). Participants will conclude with an exam and certificate after the course. Sign-up today!

● The Climate Reality Project is hosting a free, online workshop to demystify the process of accessing Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) funding. To register with this link.

● Calling all deliveristas and allies! Join Lime, Workers Justice Project, FDNY, and Los Deliveristas Unidos on Monday, 2/27 at 6:30 PM, via Zoom, for their first community education event to teach New Yorkers how to safely handle lithium-ion batteries, commonly found in rechargeable electronics like cellphones, laptops, e-bikes and e-scooters.

In Solidarity,

Shahana