Design Trust for Public Space Inc.

“Reviewed by audit committee and finance committee, circulated to full board”

“Executive committee reviews annual disclosure forms”

“Executive committee reviews performance and compensation of the executive director annually. In 2010, a custom guidestar compensation report was pruchased in order to accurately assess compensation.”

“All employees undergo an annual performance evaluation with the executive director. Nonprofit salary surveys are used to accurately assess compensation.”

“All 990 forms and financial statements are both available upon request and on the organization's website, designtrust.org”

“OTHER PROGRAM SERVICES 4: Plaza Stewards $15,529:For the Plaza Stewards Program, Design Trust held a three-day long program, including a workshop in August 2018, co-sponsored by New York City Council Member Diana Ayala and Manhattan Borough President Gale Brewer, at the National Black Theatre in East Harlem. With support from the Harvard Loeb Fellowship Alumni Council, Design Trust, Neighborhood Plaza Program at The Hort, and Loeb Fellows Damon Rich, Marc Norman, Jennifer Siegal, and Susan Chin explored community-based plazas in under-resourced neighborhoods, led a cross-sector group of 50 stakeholders in a workshop, and toured and analyzed the 125th Street Plaza in East Harlem, with Plaza Partner Uptown Grand Central. The Workshop with community organizations, Plaza Partners, Business Improvement Districts, local businesses, developers, numerous homeless support organizations, and public agencies, including NYC Mayors Community Affairs Unit, NYC Departments of Transportation, Homeless Services, Health & Mental Hygiene, Small Business Services, Consumer Affairs, Cultural Affairs, and NYC Parks, Metropolitan Transportation Authority, New York Police Department framed the plazas project by clarifying language often used in discussions of public plazas in New York City to envision better plazas from the perspective of different user experiences, and crafted a research agenda for the future Design Trust initiative. In 2019, conversations to establish a partnership with the Neighborhood Plaza Program at the Horticultural Society of NY and Uptown Grand Central began with the goal of Design Trust producing a study of better practices for stewardship of community- managed plazas, including inclusive tactics for engaging homeless people. Close to half of NYCs 70 pedestrian plazas, established by NYC Department of Transportation are in under-served communities, where struggling organizations invest the time, money and sweat equity to privately manage them. Unfortunately, The Hort was unable to sign on as a project partner for capacity issues, so Design Trust began conversations with a new partner on the project NYC Department of Small Business Services. The resulting project now called Neighborhood Commons: Sidewalks, Plazas and Beyond will work with Business Improvement Districts, Community Based Organizations and local businesses and entrepreneurs to reimagine how our public spaces can support local economies and build collective community power around stewarding these spaces.”