More than 600 people gathered Wednesday evening at Powerhouse Arts’ Grand Hall to celebrate Brooklyn’s brightest stars — the changemakers whose work is creating a lasting difference across the borough.
Brooklyn Org’s 2026 Changemakers Ball celebrated its third year of naming 25 community leaders and non-profit organizations-- coined the Brooklyn Org 25-- driving real change and impact in Brooklyn.
This year, Brooklyn Org split their 25 list into three categories: “Defending Rights,” “Protecting Families,” and “Preserving Culture.”
This year's honorees included:
Defending rights
Randy Ali, Executive Director, Arab-American Family Support Center
Jenna Bimbi, Founder and Executive Director, NY Birth Control Access Proje
Aundaray Lamond Guess, Executive Director, GRIOT Circle
Sierra Kraft, Executive Director, ICARE Coalition
Jonathan Monsalve, President and CEO, Osborne Association
Ravi Ragbir, Executive Director, New Sanctuary Coalition
Emily Shechtman, Co-founder and Executive Director, South Brooklyn Sanctuary
Protecting families
Wai Yee Chan, President and CEO, Homecrest Community Services
Rev. DeVanie A. Jackson, Co-founder and Director of Programs, Brooklyn Rescue Mission Urban Harvest Center
Julia Jean-Francois, Executive Director, Center for Family Life
Tiera M. Mack, Executive Director, United for Brownsville
Nanda Prabhakar, Executive Director, The Opportunity Hub
Dana Rachlin, Co-founder, We Build the Block
Robin Redmond, Executive Director, Flatbush Development Corporation
Dr. Florence Saint-Jean, Founding Executive Director, Global Trauma Research
Dr. Melony Samuels, Founder and CEO, The Campaign Against Hunger
Preserving arts and culture
Amy Andrieux, Executive Director and Chief Curator, Museum of Contemporary African Diasporan Arts (MoCADA)
Caron Atlas, Director, Arts & Democracy and Naturally Occurring Cultural Districts NY
Atiba T. Edwards, President and CEO, Brooklyn Children's Museum
Rasu Jilani, President and Executive Director, Brooklyn Arts Council
Marj Kleinman, Founder and Executive Director, Stoop Stories
Toya Lillard, Executive Director, 651 ARTS
Morgan Monaco, President, Prospect Park Alliance
Régine M. Roumain, Co-founder and Executive Director, Haiti Cultural Exchange
Yamilée Toussaint, Founder and CEO, STEM From Dance
Photoville curated a photo installation at the event honoring those selected which will move to a public plaza in November for all of Brooklyn to see.
Local breweries provided spirits; Superbowl tickets were up for auction and Brooklyn United electrified the room with a performance from their drum and marching band.
This year’s theme, “We The People,” asked attendees to make a declaration of their own.
“[The Declaration] was a promise that the future of this country doesn’t belong to someone else,” said Dr. Jocelynne Rainey, Brooklyn Org president and CEO as she addressed the crowd. “It belongs to us.”
The crowd watched as an introduction video brought them back to the current moment — one where ICE detention has risen up to 70 percent and where food insecurity is on the rise.
The event takes place at a time when funding for nonprofits at a national level has been slashed.
“There’s been so much pullback on funding for nonprofits that are doing critical work for families, that help families thrive and also help families to realize the American dream,” Rainey told BK Reader. “The nonprofits that are doing the work every single day, they need the support.”
One of the Organizations at the ball was South Brooklyn Sanctuary, which helps New York immigrants during immigration proceedings. According to Emily Shechtman, co-founder and executive director of South Brooklyn Sanctuary, there is no right to an attorney in immigration proceedings, and nearly half of New York immigrants represent themselves.
Shechtman described the issue as a “civil rights crisis that’s hiding in plain sight.”
The organization, Shechtman said, had “ambitious programing before [they] had the infrastructure to support it.” Brooklyn Org helped give them that support, providing administrative training and fundraising.
Brooklyn Org was described by honorees as more than organization, but as an ecosystem.
Atiba T. Edwards, president and CEO of the Brooklyn Children's Museum Dr. Rainey, Edwards said, was on the Brooklyn Children’s Museum board in the past. Since then, Brooklyn Org has provided a platform of hundreds that they were able to join in on, Edwards told BK Reader.
Brooklyn Children's Museum President and honoree, Atiba T. Edwards, added, “The most important thing is that we're all doing the work of ‘We The People’ in our own way, but we’re all aligned in the same goal of making the world better day by day."
