Lineage Project Inc

“Prior to each year's filing, Lineage Project's Form 990 is presented by the external accounting firm handling that years' independent review or audit to: the Board of Director's Finance and Audit Committee (FAC), including the Board Treasurer; the Co-Executive Directors; and the Director of Finance and Administration-each of whom have time to comprehensively review the Form 990 and ask questions of the firm. As a standing practice, the Form 990 is also circulated to the entire Board of Directors for a more generalized review.”

“Yes, Lineage Project has a written conflict of interest policy, and the organization regularly and consistently monitored and enforced compliance with the policy during the tax year. All members of the Board of Directors review and sign the written policy on an annual basis, and new board members review and sign the policy as part of their orientation to board service. Lineage's Board Chair, the Executive Committee of the Board of Directors, and our Co-Executive Directors are primarily responsible for the first steps in assessing any potential conflicts of interest among board members and enforcing compliance. Should a perceived or actual conflict require additional attention beyond these parties, it would be raised with the entire Board of Directors and, if warranted, outside counsel.”

“During the tax year, Lineage Project's FY2019, FY2020, and FY2021 Audited/Reviewed Financial Statements and Form 990s were made available to the public for review/download via the organization's website (lineageproject.org). Additionally, other governing documents and the organization's conflict of interest policy were made available to the public by request.”

“Yes, the process for assessing and determining compensation for the Co-Executive Directors included independent review and approval by the Board of Directors, whose deliberation and decision was contemporaneously substantiated.”

“Mission statement Lineage fosters embodied awareness + collective care, and breaks down race/class barriers to mindfulness education. Our vision is for young people-especially Black and brown young people inside of/impacted by systems-to: 1) have access to simple, portable mindfulness tools that support inner and collective wellbeing; and 2) experience and feel a deep sense of belonging, support and care, particularly from adults around them. We work towards this vision by teaching trauma-sensitive mindfulness to young people (12 - 24 y.o.) and adult staff inside NYC's court, foster care, education, shelter, immigration + suspension systems. By sharing strategies-rooted in community-that nourish the capacity for wellbeing, inner power, joy, reflection, honesty + interconnection, we support young people + staff to cope with and navigate daily challenges and trauma. Our work cultivates community/individual well-being and resilience; supports co-regulation; and mitigates secondary trauma + staff burnout.”

“Public Trainings (Professional Trainings) In FY22, Lineage offered mindfulness-based professional development (PD) trainings for staff who work with young people inside/impacted by systems in NYC-supporting them in working more effectively and empathetically with young people and reducing secondary trauma and staff burnout. Participants learned to: 1) make more skillful, empathic, and intentional decisions about how they conduct their high-stakes relational work with young people experiencing disproportionately high levels of interpersonal trauma; and 2) how and when to employ concrete, practical, and specialized tools/supports that help mitigate the stress, vicarious trauma, and immense emotional toll of working with young people inside/impacted by systems. Participants who completed these trainings consistently reported learning valuable coping skills for managing stress and experiencing an increased sense of connection to their peers-which, in turn, supported their work. In FY22, we offered these PD trainings to a wide and diverse range of organizations and staff members working with young people inside/impacted by systems. The demand for these trainings has drastically increased as a result of the ongoing spike in workload, staff burnout, and secondary trauma caused by the pandemic and its ongoing ripple effects. Prior to the pandemic, NYC nonprofit/community-based organizations were already being asked to meet complex, urgent, and emergent needs with too few resources-at a cost often born by frontline workers. Since early 2020, the individual, collective, and cumulative toll on nonprofit/community-based organizations and their staff has been exponential. The PD training we offer is no silver bullet, and big/deep structural transformation is needed. We have, however, been able to support individual staff and organizations in meaningful ways during a particularly challenging time-in turn, supporting the people and communities that they work with. Select highlights from Lineage's PD trainings include: staff members working children and families in shelters at Homes for the Homeless; advisors, faculty, and administrators working with students impacted by the foster care system at City University of New York; lawyers and social workers working with young people inside the criminal legal and immigration systems at the organizations Youth Represent and Kids In Need of Defense; and a blended group of young people and adult caregivers who do advocacy work at Justice for Families ("a national network of family leaders impacted by the justice system working to end mass criminalization, particularly that of youth and communities of black, indigenous and people of color (BIPOC)"); and a wide range of professionals working with young people at dozens of after school programs across NYC with Partnership for Afterschool Education (PASE). We also offered a variety of live, virtual trainings for the general public in FY22. During the pandemic's early stages, we began offering virtual professional development programming. We learned that there is a nationwide demand for these specialized trainings. In response, we continued expanding our virtual training menu. In FY22, Lineage offered a new weekend-long intensive version of "Foundations of Trauma-Conscious Care." This training is a "deep dive" into trauma-informed practices for adults working with young people facing stress, adversity and trauma. One training participant shared: "[T]ruly moving and transformative experience. The structure and sessions facilitated by [the Lineage trainer] were expertly taught and handled with great spaciousness, careful listening and attention."”

“School Sites (Education) In FY22, Lineage continued offering mindfulness-based programming for teens inside NYC's public school system. In our school-based classes, we provide young people with consistent, ongoing access to mindfulness practices, tools, and spaces that support nervous system regulation, self-awareness, skillful decision-making, and that deepen inner and collective resilience. These offerings are also designed to enhance students' social-emotional skills and compliment/support other aspects of their learning. We taught a 4-day per week mindfulness program for teens at Leaders High School (an Outward Bound School). Students learned simple and concrete strategies to nourish their capacity for wellbeing, inner power, joy, reflection, and interconnection. They practiced mindfulness individually and collectively, including sharing their insights and favorite tools with one another over time, and serving as peer teachers to one another. At Lineage's heart is the aspiration that our students can and will make mindfulness practices their own. We want young people to evolve mindfulness practices in any ways they want to, so that what they learn can be of greater value and support to them and their communities, and so that they can be at the creative forefront of the ongoing evolution of what mindfulness practices look and feel like in any given time and place. Working with young people inside of their schools and in a consistent way over time, allows us and them to experiment and play with integrating mindfulness tools/strategies throughout their day-to-day life. One high school principal shared the following about Lineage's school-based programming: "The students in my school love Lineage's mindfulness classes. The Lineage teacher sets a great tone with the students, so they are eager to participate. It helps bring everyone to a good, calm space. The students leave Lineage's classes with a renewed spirit. I can see the calming effect it has on them, and how engrossed they are with Lineage's mindfulness activities. The students enjoy it immensely and tell me how much they look forward to the next Lineage class."”

“Other Sites (Community) In FY22, Lineage taught young people at a range of community-based organizations in NYC that work with young people inside/impacted by systems and their caregivers. Our community-based programs provide participants with opportunities to learn short, simple mindfulness practices to support their wellbeing in ongoing ways; foster embodied awareness; and support collective care. Further, these programs expose young people to basic principles of neuroscience to help them gain a deeper understanding of their own brains, bodies, and nervous systems, and how mindfulness/embodied practices can support them. A unique benefit of these programs is that they are generally held in partnership with other community-based organizations that have pre-existing relationships with young people. Through these partnerships, Lineage-itself a modestly-sized community-based organization-is able to expand its reach and impact. In FY22, we also taught young people in partnership with the NYC Department of Youth & Community Development (DYCD), a large city agency that works with young people and families citywide. At two DYCD locations, we introduced teens to short, simple mindfulness practices to support their wellbeing that can be incorporated into daily life. We also created on-demand "portable practice" videos and an electronic mindfulness guide for young people to access at any time they wish to keep practicing what they learned. These tools were also used by adult staff facilitating citywide afterschool programs. This multi-faceted approach reflects our core belief-honed over close to 25-years of doing this work-that working effectively with young people requires supporting/engaging the adults around them. During the fiscal year, we also taught teens and young adults transitioning out of the foster care system in partnership with Lawyers for Children-a children's law office that provides advocacy and social work services to young people involved in the foster care system. Additionally, we continued partnering with Trinity Youth After School at Trinity Commons, offering weekly drop-in classes open to teens across New York City. One teenaged student shared the following about their experience in our programming: "I like the way everyone is open to talk about what they are feeling, share ideas, and be non-judgemental. I love the laughter we have in class, it's very rare to find a place like that."”

“Description:other professional fees total fees:154100”