Hester Street worked with the NYC Commission on Gender Equity (CGE) and the Mayor’s Office of Operations to develop a strategic plan that will advance the Commission’s goals to reduce gender-based inequity in New York City. The Commission is tackling institutional barriers that affect women, girls, transgender and gender non-conforming individuals and includes City Council Members, researchers, advocates and activists.
In the first phase of our work, Hester Street’s research and spatial analysis helped the Commission to identify focus areas within three issue areas: Economic Mobility and Opportunity, Health and Reproductive Justice, and Safety. Our work with the Commission culminated in a draft plan to inform strategic investment to address these priority issue areas. In 2019, HST continued our efforts with CGE by organizing and facilitating a series of Gender Equity Summits across NYC in all five boroughs. We facilitated robust conversations across the three priority issues areas identified in the Strategic Plan. Conversations focused on the four strategie and initiatives that CGE sought feedback on: engaging “Men as Allies”, the formation of a Gender Equity Youth Leadership Council, establishing Borough Civic Leadership Academies, and the mobilization of a “16 Days of Activism Against Gender-Based Violence” campaign.
In the next phase of our work with the Commission, we are creating a user-friendly and accessible Gender Equity Summit Report to capture key findings from the Summit events to continue advocating for and building upon the gender equity movement.