There's still time to vote in The People's Money!
You still have a chance to help decide how to spend $4 million of the city budget in your community! Through The People's Money, New Yorkers can vote on community-developed project ideas that address local needs and priorities across the five boroughs.
Voting closes this Sunday, June 21! All New Yorkers ages 11 and older can participate, regardless of immigration status. Whether you're voting for youth programs, health resources, cultural events, housing access, or other neighborhood initiatives, your vote will help determine which projects receive funding in your borough.
How do I vote?
🗳️ Vote online at on.nyc.gov/pb
🗳️ Find an in-person voting location or community voting event at participate.nyc.gov
Vote in your language this June Primary — Election Day is June 23!
You have the right to vote in your language! Our Voter Language Assistance (VLA) Program is helping ensure New Yorkers can access the information and support they need to participate in the June Primary Election. Voters have the right to bring an interpreter of their choice to the voting booth, and the CEC will also provide free interpretation services in select languages at designated poll sites during early voting and on Election Day.
Early voting runs from June 13–22, with Election Day on June 23. To learn more about language assistance services, participating poll sites, and your voting rights, visit on.nyc.gov/vla and watch our PSA video below!
Civic Leader Spotlight: Taylor Brown of the Mayor's Office of LGBTQIA+ Affairs
In celebration of Pride Month, we're honored to highlight Taylor Brown, the inaugural director of the city's first-ever Mayor's Office of LGBTQIA+ Affairs, for our June Civic Leader Spotlight.
A nationally-recognized civil rights attorney, Brown is the first transgender person to lead a City office or agency, making her the highest-ranking transgender person in New York City government history. In her role, she oversees and coordinates initiatives across city agencies that serve LGBTQIA+ New Yorkers, helping advance policies and services that promote equity, inclusion, and opportunity.
Prior to her appointment, Brown served as an Assistant Attorney General in the Civil Rights Bureau of the New York State Attorney General's Office, where her work focused on combating discrimination and protecting civil rights. She also spent nearly seven years with Lambda Legal and the American Civil Liberties Union's LGBTQ+ & HIV Project, leading litigation efforts that expanded protections for transgender people in healthcare, education, and employment.
As New York City continues its long history as a place where LGBTQIA+ communities can live openly and thrive, Brown's leadership represents a historic milestone in representation and public service. We celebrate her commitment to ensuring that all New Yorkers are seen, protected, and empowered to participate fully in civic life.
CEC in the Media
From radio conversations and podcast interviews to student journalism and reflections on civic participation, The People's Money has been generating discussion across various media platforms about how New Yorkers can help shape the future of their communities!
🗞️ An article from Columbia World Projects, produced in partnership with the CEC and three Columbia Journalism School students, takes readers inside the Borough Assemblies of our citywide participatory budgeting process through the stories of the New Yorkers who participated in them. As part of the Democracy Beyond Elections initiative, the article, "Meeting the People Behind 'The People's Money,'" profiles Assembly Members from three boroughs, exploring what motivated them to get involved, how they navigated disagreement and collective decision-making, and how the experience helped shape their sense of civic engagement.
→ Read the article
📻 Our Chair and Executive Director Sarah Sayeed and People's Artist Yazmany Arboleda also joined The Brian Lehrer Show on WNYC to discuss The People's Money and how participatory budgeting gives New Yorkers a direct voice in deciding how public funds are invested in their communities.
→ Listen to the segment
🎤 Senior Advisor Benjamin Solotaire appeared on the podcast "As We Rise: Community Voice & Power for the Future" for an episode titled "Turns Out, NYC Has Some Pretty Great Civic Tools." The conversation highlights innovative approaches to civic engagement in New York City and explores how programs like The People's Money help residents participate more directly in public decision-making.
→ Listen to the episode
📝 The People's Money was also featured in an essay in Only Love Art by Francesca Asher, an incoming college student, titled "Sama and the Practice of Deliberative Listening." Reflecting on her experience working with The People's Money in the Bronx, Asher writes about witnessing residents come together to discuss community priorities and seeing how deliberative democracy can create opportunities for people to listen across differences while helping government respond more directly to community needs.
→ Read the essay
The People's Money Project Spotlight: Saving For Your Future
In May, South Queens Women's March (SQWM) celebrated the graduation of youth who completed Saving For Your Future — a financial literacy People's Money project serving residents of Woodhaven, Kew Gardens, Richmond Hill, and South Ozone Park.
The final workshop connected financial empowerment to SQWM's gender-based violence work through a special presentation by Lalita Duke, MSW: Money, Power, and Control: Understanding Financial Abuse, Safety, and Independence. Participants reflected on how financial literacy shapes their relationships, independence, and wellbeing — especially as young people navigating the world.
Throughout the program, youth built knowledge through:
- Money Management
- Building Credit and Banking Basics
- Beyond the Budget: Food Access & Financial Stability
- Financing College & Career Choices - held in collaboration with TRIE partner, Unidad Y Fey
- Buying a Home/Apartment and Living on Your Own While Navigating Expenses
- Investing 101 and Building Generational Wealth
Saving For Your Future equipped Queens youth with the tools to build a stronger financial foundation — for themselves, their families, and their communities.
Cast your vote for next year's Queens People's Money projects!
Help improve public meetings in New York City!
How can public meetings better serve New Yorkers? That's the question behind the Better Public Meetings project, a national initiative supported by the Luce Foundation that New York City is participating in.
Public meetings, from hearings to board meetings and other community engagement events, play an important role in local decision-making. Through this project, cities are exploring ways to make these meetings more accessible, welcoming, transparent, and effective for residents.
In partnership with the National Civic League, we're looking for feedback from New Yorkers about their experiences participating in public meetings and events, including those hosted by us, the NYC Civic Engagement Commission. By completing this ActiVote survey, you'll help identify what's working well and where there are opportunities to improve public engagement across the city.
Celebrating Child Care Educator Appreciation Month
In May, we joined communities across the city in recognizing Child Care Education Appreciation Month and celebrating the educators who play such a vital role in supporting New York City's children and families.
To mark the occasion, our Chair and Executive Director Sarah Sayeed visited Elohim Daycare in the Bronx, a family home childcare center founded by Sara Fabian that has served local families for the past 15 years. During the visit, Dr. Sayeed met with staff and saw firsthand how educators support children's growth through reading, writing, hands-on learning activities, and individualized attention.
Child care educators are often among the first community leaders young children encounter. Their work not only supports learning and development but also strengthens families and neighborhoods throughout the city. We thank the dedicated educators at Elohim Daycare and all child care providers whose commitment helps New York City's children — our next generation of community leaders — thrive.
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