It's been a long month: from taking action in the streets to getting the Ali Forney Center Troupe ready for a tour of their new forum play, Trap, we've been up to a lot these last few weeks. 

Here's what's in our newsletter this month:
1. New foundation partners
2. Welcoming new board co-chairs and intern
3. Ali Forney Center Troupe tours in February
4. TONYC in the Village Voice
5. Highlights from Joker Training
6. Ways to Tune In & Turn Out

Read on! See you in action,
The TONYC Team

New Foundation Partners

TONYC is thrilled to build new relationships with the David Rockefeller Fund and The Shelley & Donald Rubin Foundation in 2017. Funding from the DR Fund has allowed us to bring on a Creative Advocacy Coordinator, Rebecca Kelly Golfman (you met her as a new Joker a couple of months ago), to amplify and document the impact of Legislative Theatre in NYC; and the Rubin Foundation's support will help sustain our Forum Theatre Troupes. Stay tuned for updates!

Staff & Board Updates

Thank you to our outgoing board chair, John Cape, whose two years of service in this position helped grow the board's capacity exponentially; and welcome to our new co-chairs, Brandon J. Holmes and Antoinette Klatzky.

Antoinette Klatzky is the Executive Director and co-creator of the Eileen Fisher Leadership Institute (EFLI) an initiative that promotes young women and men through self-empowerment, connection with others and activism in their communities. As a community organizer and social justice advocate, Antoinette has served in a number of leadership roles including having chaired the Under 30 Committee for the North East Regional Council of the YWCA, was the secretary and then Vice Chair of Planned Parenthood Hudson Peconic Action Fund and now serves as the Co-Chair for the Westchester Women’s Agenda. After supporting TONYC over the last seven years, Antoinette is honored to serve as co-chair of the board with the outstanding Brandon Holmes.

Brandon J. Holmes is an organizer at the New York Civil Liberties Union, where he is responsible for regional engagement, leadership development strategies and strengthening relationships with community organizations. He has been on the TONYC board for a little over a year and is invested in TONYC's growth, development, and commitment to centering the voices of directly impacted communities through unconventional forms of political and social advocacy. Holmes’s grassroots campaigning experience includes organizing formerly incarcerated people. As the civil rights organizer for VOCAL-NY, he worked with civil rights leaders to pass the NYC Fair Chance Act, the strongest legislation in the country protecting people with criminal records from job discrimination. Holmes is also part of the training team for People’s Action, a national organization made up of 600 organizers and over 1 million members from 29 states.

Meet our new Community Engagement Intern, Morgan Sullivan!

Morgan Sullivan is a New York-based actor and activist who is finishing up his senior year as a Theatre Performance major with a minor in Arts For Communities at Marymount Manhattan College. He is most deeply involved in advocacy for transgender rights, and works on many projects which address issues that the LGBTQ+ community faces. Currently, he is producing an all-trans version of A Midsummer Night’s Dream, which will run at WOW Café Theatre in November, as well as rehearsing for Grand Rounds, a dance and theatre piece, which will run at La MaMa ETC from April 26th through May 14th. He is looking forward to learning more about using theatre as a vehicle for social change! Read more on our blog.

New Forum Play Touring in February: FOUR Free Shows!

This season, we're working with the Ali Forney Center Troupe to create a play addressing harassment of queer and trans homeless youth, based on the real-life experiences of the actors. Catch them on tour in February and take a look at their creative process here.

TONYC in the Village Voice

This month we were featured in the Village Voice, focusing on the struggles TONYC and other arts nonprofits have faced in securing affordable space, and on developers who don't uphold their bargains with NYC. Check out the article here and reach out to us to talk more about it!

Highlights From Joker Training

This past weekend, we gathered at LaGuardia Community College for our annual Level 1 Joker Training. Here are some highlights from the training! It's not too late to sign up for Level 2 if you're interested.

 

Tune In & Turn Out: Join TONYC to Amplify the Resistance

Here are some NYC events and mobilizations coming up:
Wednesday, February 1st: No Ban No Wall! March for Muslims and Allies
Friday, February 3rd: Brooklyn Forum To Address The Needs of TGNC NY'ers
Saturday, February 4th: Queens LGBTQ Youth Summit 2017 (featuring a TO workshop with Jokers Vincent and Charlie)
Saturday, February 18th: TONYC Volunteer Orientation

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