Catherine Green is the Founder and Executive Director of ARTs East New York Inc. (AENY) and has been a frequent partner and collaborator of Hester Street. Founded in 2009, AENY provides a growing community of 120,000 residents with access and affordability in innovative arts programming. Over the past 10 years, AENY has created a robust portfolio of cultural initiatives uniquely designed to address issues that impact the growth of the community such as health disparities, environmental sustainability, violence, economic development, gentrification and displacement.
Catherine and AENY – which was honored at the 2019 Hester Street Benefit – has worked to ensure that residents of East New York have the opportunity to shape their neighborhood with efforts such as the Coalition for Community Advancement, the East New York Community Plan, CreateNYC (New York’s first cultural plan), Where We Live NYC: Fair Housing Together (confronting segregation and advancing equitable neighborhoods), and a new Brooklyn Public Library branch in New Lots.
Catherine also its on the board of the BMS Brownsville Family Health Center; Co-chairs the EBACA East Brooklyn Arts and Cultural Alliance; is a steering committee member of the Coalition for the Advancement of ENY and Cypress Hills; and was appointed to the NYC Cultural Plan Advisory Committee.