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 and the Co-Executive Directors-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 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 Audited/Reviewed Financial Statements and Form 990s from prior fiscal years 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 Mission Statement: Lineage teaches trauma-sensitive mindfulness to young people (14-24 y.o.) and adult staff inside NYC's criminal legal, foster care, education, shelter, immigration, and school suspension systems-providing easy-to-use tools to manage stress and uncertainty; nourishing students' imaginations and "mental fitness" (as some students in an incarceration facility describe it); cultivating collective care and community; and breaking down systemic race/class barriers to mindfulness education. Nature of Activities Teaching Model: Lineage's teaching is grounded in cutting-edge research on trauma and neurobiology and 23+ years of experience. At the heart of our work is an understanding of how traumatic experiences impact the brain, body and nervous system; and a belief that our students are ultimately their own best teachers. Our three-part program model uses a theme (e.g., "inner power") to weave together movement (e.g., yoga; Qi Gong), facilitated dialogue on guiding questions (e.g., "share about a quality in yourself that represents your inner power"), and guided meditation. Programs for Young People Inside/Impacted by Systems: Our core mindfulness programs are generally held inside systems, facilities, institutions, and schools, with options for remote programs. These classes are typically 1-hour long and run 1-3 times per week, for an average of 3-9 months. Whether participants engage with us for a few classes or several months, we provide them with information and tools for portable personal practices that can continuously support their wellbeing. We also teach young people in Spanish. Community Program: This 10-16-week, cohort-based, intensive mindfulness training program. The vast majority of students are BIPOC. Participants learn about mindfulness in the context of the nervous system and neurobiology; practice socially engaged mindfulness that is responsive to the realities of daily life in the world we live in; create independent projects; teach mindfulness to peers; and earn meaningful stipends and graduation certificates. Programs for Systems Staff: Through our professional development (PD) work with the adults who make up NYC systems, Lineage supports them to: 1) acknowledge and help mitigate their (and their peers') compassion fatigue, secondary trauma, and burnout; 2) more deeply understand the critical impact their inner regulation and wellbeing have on young people; 3) cultivate and sustain increased empathy for the young people they work with-who are all too often seen by systems as problems to fix; 4) more skillfully conduct high-stakes relational work with young people experiencing trauma; and 5) learn how/when to employ mindfulness tools at work-to support both themselves and young people. Public Trainings: We train educators, social workers, caregivers, caseworkers, and credible messengers on trauma sensitive mindfulness work with young people. We offer both intensive, three-day trainings and shorter, topic-focused workshops. Trainings are a mix of in-person and online with participation from across the United States. Mindful Design + Community Education Fellowship: We collaborated with an inaugural cohort of fellows to co-create the Mindful Design + Community Education materials for the general public-an advanced mentorship program open only to Community Program graduates.”

“Programs for Systems Staff: Through our professional development (PD) work with the adults who make up NYC systems, Lineage supports them to: 1) acknowledge and help mitigate their (and their peers') compassion fatigue, secondary trauma, and burnout; 2) more deeply understand the critical impact their inner regulation and wellbeing have on young people; 3) cultivate and sustain increased empathy for the young people they work with-who are all too often seen by systems as problems to fix; 4) more skillfully conduct high-stakes relational work with young people experiencing trauma; and 5) learn how/when to employ mindfulness tools at work-to support both themselves and young people. We do all of this by increasing staff's access to strategies and education about the brain, body, and nervous system-including tools to support their inner regulation, and ability to co-regulate when interacting with young people. We trained staff at 5 sites that work with young people inside systems-supporting staff members to work more effectively and empathetically with young people, reducing their secondary trauma and burnout, and building cultures of collective care inside their organizations.”

“Programs for Young People Inside/Impacted by Systems: Our core mindfulness programs are generally held inside systems, facilities, institutions, and schools, with options for remote programs. These classes are typically 1-hour long and run 1-3 times per week, for an average of 3-9 months. Whether participants engage with us for a few classes or several months, we provide them with information and tools for portable personal practices that can continuously support their wellbeing. Whenever possible, we teach young people and system staff side-by-side. Some of the most powerful breakthroughs happen when young people and adult staff step outside of their usual ways of being and practice together. Of note, alumni of all our programs for young people have lifetime access to our Public Trainings, free of charge. 1) We taught our core trauma-sensitive mindfulness programs to young people (12-24) in/impacted by systems at 8 sites across NYC. We taught young people at/in partnership with: Trinity Youth After School (sports, art, educational programs); Rising Ground (agency operating incarceration facilities); Capitol Juvenile Secure Detention Center (a pretrial juvenile jail"); Homes for the Homeless (operates shelters and services for families that are unhoused); NYC DYCD (city agency funding youth programs); Brooklyn Emerging Leaders Academy ("BELA"-an all-girls' charter high school in Bed-Stuy, Brooklyn); Crotona Academy (an "alternate learning center" for students who have been suspended from their home schools); and Leaders High School (an Outward Bound school). The Clinical Director of Rising Ground said this about Lineage's work with incarcerated young people: "One thing that our clinical staff is always trying [is] to have the youth make connections between feelings, thoughts, and actions. [Lineage classes give] young people a chance to practice that process of noticing what's happening for them in the moment. They learn to say, 'What are things that can help me Take a second and stop and think before I act? How do I stop and make a safe decision for myself right now?'...Mindfulness helps them see what's really going on."”

“4c. Programs for Systems Staff: Through our professional development (PD) work with the adults who make up NYC systems, Lineage supports them to: 1) acknowledge and help mitigate their (and their peers') compassion fatigue, secondary trauma, and burnout; 2) more deeply understand the critical impact their inner regulation and wellbeing have on young people; 3) cultivate and sustain increased empathy for the young people they work with-who are all too often seen by systems as problems to fix; 4) more skillfully conduct high-stakes relational work with young people experiencing trauma; and 5) learn how/when to employ mindfulness tools at work-to support both themselves and young people. We do all of this by increasing staff's access to strategies and education about the brain, body, and nervous system-including tools to support their inner regulation, and ability to co-regulate when interacting with young people. We trained staff at 5 sites that work with young people inside systems-supporting staff members to work more effectively and empathetically with young people, reducing their secondary trauma and burnout, and building cultures of collective care inside their organizations. Since 2020, we have seen a significant uptick in demand for our professional development (PD) work. Initially catalyzed by the pandemic, this demand has remained high. As noted by one school administrator, professionals of all stripes are "woefully underprepared" to meet young people's complex needs in this moment. Professional Development (PD) highlights include: A 5-month long professional training for student advisors, administrators and faculty at the City University of New York's ASAP Foster Care Initiative (a university program designed to provide a structured support system for students with a history in foster care by providing access to academic, social, financial and psychosocial support). Professional development workshops/trainings for staff at: John Adams High School (a community school in Queens); Youth Represent (community legal services for young people of color); Kids In Need of Defence ("KIND"-an NGO devoted to the protection of unaccompanied and separated children); and the Interdependence Project (nonprofit educating + supporting mindfulness teachers). Participants in a 2023 training for 60 youth workers at WhedCO were asked how mindfulness and collective care would shift their workplace. They said: "There would not be so much chaos, more positive energy." "It would improve morale." [E]veryone would try harder to support one another and check in with one another in a more meaningful way." "It would keep us open-minded."”