It's Our Money

Name of Your Organization:

Gotham Philosophical Society, Inc.

Overview of the Project - Please provide a brief description of the project.

What kind of city will our young people inherit? What New York will they eventually work in, govern, and raise their own children in? What happens in 2021 will have a lot do with the answers to those questions. As you read this, the city has begun what may be the most important and consequential election season in its history. Numerous candidates are running for City Council and, of course, for Mayor, in the hopes of leading the city out the current pandemic and into what they claim will be a better and brighter future. But that future belongs to our youth and they should have a say in what it looks like and how we get there.

Our civics-focused project is designed to give young New Yorkers a voice. But not just a voice that can be heard but a voice that can be listened to. To do that, participants will use the policy platforms of actual candidates for mayor as the starting points for a critical, philosophical analysis of the issues facing the city and the solutions being proposed. During their workshops, participants will be encouraged to rethink the city from the underground up. From economics to education, housing to healthcare, and transportation to trash removal, participants will collaboratively develop their own vision of what the city could eventually become and how they will figure in it. This ‘Young People’s Platform” will then be presented to the candidates themselves ahead of the June 22nd primaries. 

Which of the following issues does your project address?

1. Issue 1 - Addressing Mental Health
2. Issue 2 - Preparation for College and/or Career
3. Issue 3 - Youth Advocacy Promotion

3 Youth Advocacy Promotion

Youth Engagement - Please explain how you will engage youth in the planning and implementation of the project.

The entire project is youth-driven. Student participants will establish communities of philosophical inquiry in which they will collaboratively investigate the ideas that underlie the issues we face. What counts as ‘harm’? What does ‘public safety’ mean? What should students learn in schools? How should these things be taught? Should housing and healthcare be considered rights? What would food justice look like? What is the purpose of a police force? What responsibilities should it have or not have? These questions are examples of the sorts of questions that participants will critically examine – the exact questions will be determined by the participants themselves. So, too, will be the answers they arrive at, and the policy proposals that then develop out of them. Finally, the participants will determine the format of their platform, and how they want to share it with candidates and the city in general. 

Budget - Your total project budget must equal $20,000 to be placed on the ballot for a youth vote. Please provide a brief description of what the funds would be used for to successfully implement your project. You will also need to download, fill in, and attach a full budget using this template (External link).

Budget funding will go to pay workshop facilitator salaries (there will be 4 cohorts of 15 students), supplies and incentives for student participants, and promotional efforts to both recruit participants and to share the finished platform. 

Timeline- Please describe the timeline for the implementation and completion of the project. All work for this project must be completed by June 30, 2021, which is the end of the city’s fiscal year and the deadline for the funds to be spent.

February-April: participants will research candidate platforms and engage in philosophical workshops exploring the underlying ideas, assumptions, values, and priorities of their stated positions. Participants will culminate this part of the project making well-reasoned judgments of the soundness of the various candidates positions and evaluations of their responsiveness to their own needs and concerns.  

May: participants will collaboratively formulate their own platform, voting on it’s final form. 

June: participants will present their platform to candidates and the city at large through various forms of media (social media, podcasts, etc). 

Project Activity Alignment - How does your project align with at least one of the following topics:

1. Leadership skills development: organizing & advocacy trainings
2. Stewardship of public spaces: public parks, transportation, etc.
3. Youth and student engagement
4. Civic education and advocacy
5. Community outreach involving residents that have been historically underrepresented in or underserved by city government and its processes

1, 3, 4, 5

What is your organization's area of focus?

1. Children and youth related
2. Advocacy and organizing
3. Arts and culture
4. Civic engagement
5. Education and literacy
6. Emergency management and disaster response
7. Employment and workforce development
8. Environment and sustainability
9. Faith-based
10. Food access
11. Health and medicine
12. Homelessness and/or affordable housing
13. Human rights
14. Human services
15. Immigrants and/or refugees
16. Justice related
17. Legal services
18. People with disabilities
19. Senior services
20. Women's issues

1, 4, 5, 16

Affirmations - Type "YES" below each statement to affirm that you are eligible to appear on the ballot for this process.

I confirm that my organization will be registered in the NYC Payee Information Portal and in PassPort, NYC’s online procurement system, in order to receive funding from the City of New York.

Yes

I confirm that my organization is able to front the costs of implementing this project. Organizations will be paid based on deliverables. 

Yes

Completion of Deliverables: I understand all deliverables must be completed by June 30th, 2021.

Yes

I understand a condition of funding includes submission of a final report upon project completion, and participating in a debrief session with the CEC.

Yes