Dr. Jocelynne Rainey, CEO, Brooklyn Org | CEOs You Should Know

Dr. Jocelynne Rainey, CEO, Brooklyn Org | CEOs You Should Know

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Hi, everyone of This is Steve Dallas sign and thank
you for tuning into this week's edition of CEOs. You
should know I am thrilled and excited to be joined
by doctor Rainey, who is the CEO of Brooklyn Org.

Speaker 2 (00:09):
Hi. Thank you for having me.

Speaker 3 (00:11):
Yeah, absolutely, thank you for coming in.

Speaker 1 (00:13):
So why don't we kick off today and jump in
a little bit about yourself. I'd love to hear for
all of our listeners to know a little bit about
your background and really what led you to your current work.

Speaker 4 (00:23):
Yeah, you know, I think that you know, what led
me to my current work is that I've always been
really committed to racial justice, even before that was a thing, right,
like the idea of how do we help people to
be able to access opportunities in a real way. So,
you know, I started out in the nonprofit sector and
work my way up there, and I was there for

(00:45):
many years when it kind of hit me that I.

Speaker 2 (00:48):
Really would love to explore the for profit sector.

Speaker 4 (00:51):
And I went into the for profit sector as an
HR professional, and I did HR for several five hundred
organizations and realized that a lot of the work that
I was doing was really around how do I create
spaces for people of color to feel comfortable at work

(01:12):
again DEI before there was DEI, and really trying to
help companies that come up with strategies and programs that
would help people to feel more belonging in their organizations. Eventually,
after several years doing that, I kind of missed the
mission driven aspect of work and moved to Brooklyn Navy Yard,

(01:34):
where I started in workforce development, using my HR expertise
to connect people who were disconnected from the labor market
back into the labor market. And at that when I
was working there, I really realized how important it was
to be able to connect my personal and my professional
passions together because I was in Brooklyn. I love Brooklyn,

(01:57):
and I was able to do what I thought was
really important, was like, how do I help to close
this enormous wealth gap right and help people to connect
more to opportunities. And I had an amazing time there.
I was there for eight years. I left there as
the chief Administrative Officer, overseeing quite a bit of the
work and working. I worked with two amazing CEOs who

(02:19):
I thought, you know, this is what I want to do.
I want to be a CEO someplace where I can
drive the mission and do work that I'm passionate about
personally and also doing it professionally as well. So with
the help of my last CEO, I decided that I
wanted to move into a role that was focused on
racial justice and being the CEO the head of that

(02:42):
organization to really be able to drive that mission. And
from there I went to an organization called GOSO getting
Out and Staying Out for serving young men who were
formerly incarcerated.

Speaker 2 (02:53):
It was in Harlem. I was there for two years.

Speaker 4 (02:56):
I kind of always knew I wanted to do this
work in Brooklyn. I wasn't looking yet, but this came
along the CEO of Brooklyn Org, which was in Brooklyn
Community Foundation, an organization, a philanthropy, a foundation that is
focused on racial justice, serving nonprofits in my amazing borough

(03:18):
of Brooklyn. So that's how I ended up in this
star line. Yeah, it really did, it really did well.

Speaker 1 (03:24):
Well. Congratulations, thank you, thank you. So obviously very impressive background,
both in the nonprofit space as well as the private sector.

Speaker 3 (03:31):
Right, how have you.

Speaker 1 (03:32):
Seen the industry and the communities evolve over time and
how has that really evolved your perspective on the work
you're doing.

Speaker 4 (03:40):
Yeah, you know, I think that what I've seen is
that you know, right now, we're in a moment of deep,
deep need, and you know, people all over are struggling, right,
even those who feel like, you know what, I have
a little bit more resources than other people. I think that,
you know, we've kind of seen that kind of turn
of our city kind of becoming unaffordable, not for everyone.

(04:03):
And I think that what's driven me is that I
realized that if everyone has a seat at the table,
if everyone has the services they need, and that goes
for the folks that work for me as well as
the community that we serve, that we're all going to
have a better experience. Like I'm feeling the crunch of
going into the supermarket and something that costs five dollars,
like a piece of salmon costing ten dollars. I'm making

(04:26):
choices about things that I didn't make choices about, right,
whether or not I go out to eat twice a
week or three times a week. And I think that,
you know, over my entire career, what has always driven
me is like the human experience, right, and what can
I do in my small space to help to improve
that experience? And that has been both in the nonprofit

(04:48):
and the for profit sector, because I've always worked in
roles where there were line employees that I wanted to
make sure had as great an experience in the organization
or the company as I'm having a the organization or
the company.

Speaker 1 (05:01):
I love that that's a great perspective to have. So
let's have in a little bit about Brooklyn Org. I
know you have a new strategic plan in place to
be able to really help with the evolution of the organization.
Can you share with our listeners a little bit about
that vision and what are some of the specific goals
you have ahead.

Speaker 4 (05:16):
Yeah, So you know, Brooklyn Org is a foundation, It's
a philanthropy and I really like to say that upfront
because we're really trying to with our new strategic plan,
but also with our rebrand, is really trying to show
how philanthropy can be done differently, how philanthropy can really
listen to the people on the ground, the.

Speaker 2 (05:36):
Folks that are impacted, the folks that are actually.

Speaker 4 (05:39):
Doing the work, and the folks that are interested in
improving the lives of others who are our donors as well.
So our rebrand and our strategic plan has really been
about creating a movement where everyone comes to the table
at every level. So you know, what we're looking at
is how can we We're already doing a good job
at participatory grant makes where you know, the folks who

(06:01):
are the most impacted are making the decisions on where
funding goes. Right Like, I can't make those decisions, you know,
I need people who actually have experienced it to say
this is what's important. And we also do that with
our donors. Our donors can help us make decisions on
where funding goes. But I think that what we're really
evolving to, and we're already doing that work, is that,

(06:22):
you know, we want everyone to feel like they can
be philanthropic. I feel like philanthropy, long before I got
into a foundation, has always been important to me. And
of course, you know, as a nonprofit leader, I've never
been able to be you know, one of the high
wealth donors, right, but I've been able to give my
time and some of my treasure to the things that
I care about. And we're really working towards making sure

(06:46):
that everyone feels like I can support my neighbors, whether
that be a membership that's a year long at one
hundred dollars a year, or whether that be being on
one of our participatory grant making programs, whether that be volunteering,
or whether that be actually donating.

Speaker 2 (07:03):
Right like and supporting the work that we do every day.

Speaker 4 (07:06):
We want everyone to feel like they can help their neighbors,
they can be part of this movement, and that there's
no barriers to that, or there's no stigmas if you're
not able to participate as a very wealthy individual. And
we've seen a lot of success with that and we
just want to do more of that.

Speaker 1 (07:23):
I love that, yeah, because I think a lot of
people think of philanthropy as writing six.

Speaker 2 (07:26):
Paces were rich folks.

Speaker 3 (07:27):
Exactly. Everybody participates.

Speaker 1 (07:29):
So it kind of goes back to that motto and
that mindset you have of bringing everybody to the table
and taking that message into the Philipthroopyes.

Speaker 4 (07:36):
And it takes and it takes away from you know,
being able to be visionary, right because someone who is
not able to give at a high level might have
more perspective on what people are actually dealing with every day, right,
So we want to include those voices so they can say, hey,
this is what actually like, we have principles, this is
what actually happens in the school or you know what, Hey,
this is really what people who are dealing with drug

(07:58):
misusolite need, and so we want everyone to feel like
they can be part of that and like their voices matter.
And I will say that even our high wealth donors
they feel the same way. They're really excited to hear
from community members about where.

Speaker 1 (08:11):
Their wealth should go one hundred percent and it probably
gives them that reassurance that it's being used.

Speaker 2 (08:15):
The right way for the right people exactly.

Speaker 3 (08:18):
That's awesome.

Speaker 1 (08:18):
So obviously you talked about visionary and helping really evolve
Brooklyn org right.

Speaker 3 (08:23):
I'm sure that along the way there might have been.

Speaker 1 (08:26):
Some challenges or some obstacles you've had to overcome within
the new position. Can you share with us what some
of those challenges were and how you were able to
come or how you plan to overcome them.

Speaker 4 (08:35):
Yeah, I think, you know, I started this role kind
of in the midst of COVID. You know, COVID was
still you know, everyone was still working from home and
really trying to figure out how do we make sure
that we're here for the community while we're still taking
care of the people who are doing the work within
our organization and that they feel safe and ready to

(08:57):
come back and kind of serve. I will say that
was really difficult. I will also say that you know,
there are people sign up for a certain leader right
when you get a job. You're like, oh, I really
like that person and I believe in their vision and yeah,
and so I'm.

Speaker 2 (09:14):
Coming in new there's people didn't sign up for my
leadership right.

Speaker 4 (09:17):
They were like, yeah, I get it, but that's not
exactly what I signed up for.

Speaker 2 (09:22):
So I think that that was part of it. What
I will say is and.

Speaker 4 (09:27):
You know, other challenges around like understanding you know, a
foundation is a very sophisticated and complicated financial model. Sure,
so really having to take a lot of time away
from you know the thing that's really important, which is
one raising and relationship building to really understand the day
to day operations. What I will say that how I
how how I overcame it is that one is that

(09:49):
I have an amazing board, and you know, that board
really felt like they hired the person that they believed in.

Speaker 2 (09:58):
So you know, they'll pull my.

Speaker 4 (09:59):
Skirttail and tell me, you know what, you know, you're
not doing everything perfectly, but they're also like, we believe
in you, and that believing in me has allowed me
to really be able to move at a much better
pace than you know, being questioned every moment.

Speaker 2 (10:14):
I feel like we're a real team yep.

Speaker 4 (10:16):
And you know, having a board that also walks the
walk and cares deeply about Brooklyn and cares deeply about
their neighbors has been really helpful. The other thing that
I've been doing on the this is year three sure has.

Speaker 2 (10:32):
Been I built an amazing team.

Speaker 4 (10:34):
Like the team that we have who is supporting Brooklyn
Org is a passionate team.

Speaker 2 (10:40):
They they get it, they care about Brooklyn.

Speaker 4 (10:44):
They're also exceptional at their work in regards to the
product that we create and we put out as well.
So I have a team of people that I have
really purposely interviewed and chosen who are actually so much
smarter than me at the things that they're responding and
I and also spend a lot of time with them,

(11:04):
and they believe in the vision and the mission, and
you know, they believe in my leadership, which I am
just very very grateful for.

Speaker 3 (11:12):
That's awesome.

Speaker 1 (11:13):
It's two important things to have right that that aligned vision,
that align mission, that you're fighting for, but also a
team around you that's going to support you. Because no
one could do everything by themselves. No one can do
art to have that community of support exactly.

Speaker 4 (11:25):
You know, there were things at my last role that
I felt like, why can I get that done? And
I'm getting it done here and I honestly believe or
I know that is because of the team that just have.
They have extraordinary skills and extraordinary passion for the work.

Speaker 3 (11:40):
Awesome.

Speaker 1 (11:40):
You mentioned this earlier, but before joining Brooklyn Org, you
led getting out and Staying out and you focused on
the workplace development and job placement for Justice Involved Youth.
Tell us a little bit about your time there and
how you carry what you learned there into your current
leadership role.

Speaker 2 (11:56):
I love that. So my time there was amazing. You know.

Speaker 4 (11:59):
I think as a black woman who was pretty much
raised in Brooklyn with you know, two sons who are
adults and a husband, and you know, knowing that, knowing
that experience as a black male in New York City,
I think that I thought I knew more than I know.
And I think one of the things that I learned
very early on is like, you know, as a leader,
you have to be open to knowing what you don't know,

(12:21):
and what I discovered is that I don't know the
experience of these young people. I thought that, you know,
I was gonna come in and I'm gonna tell everyone
how wonderful they are, and they're gonna just get jobs.

Speaker 2 (12:31):
But there was so much.

Speaker 4 (12:32):
More for me to learn from the team in regards
to the trauma that they've experienced, the supports that they need,
and so I think that it gave me an insight
and a voice as an advocate in a way that
I never had before that has really helped me in
this role, right, like really being able to talk about
like the struggles of the participants themselves that are in

(12:53):
some of these programming and why it is important to
support programs and to think about outcomes differently. I think
the other thing is that even though I had worked
at the Navy Yard and I was pretty highly positioned,
the Navy Yard didn't do as much fundraising because we
are an industrial park and so there was you know,
a collection of rents.

Speaker 2 (13:11):
Right.

Speaker 4 (13:12):
So with that, what I learned from from Goso is
that being a you know, being a fundraiser and being
a CEO is a really it's not an easy job,
and that there are a lot of obstacles to funding
from the city that you have to think about, which

(13:33):
I didn't know before. So now I think that what
I have is like a clear perspective of what the
nonprofits that we actually fund are going through, and I'm
able to be a bridge between them and donors to
talk about like it seems like they're like they're a
three million dollar nonprofit, but you're not realizing that they're
waiting for a million dollars right, or you don't realize

(13:54):
what it really takes to run that organization.

Speaker 2 (13:56):
Now I do. I did not know that before I
was a CEO.

Speaker 4 (14:00):
I had no idea of the barriers and obstacles that
CEOs went through every single day. And lastly, I feel
like what I always tell this story that you know,
I think I did everything that goes so right that
I did. I think that my heart was in the
right place. The work that I was doing I was
really proud of. But again, you don't know what you

(14:21):
don't know. And I think that I also brought with
me a better understanding of the relationship between a CEO
and their bored and I think that that's part of
the reason why, you know, my relationship with my board.
I mean, they're sophisticated, amazing board. But I also think
that I have approached it differently and and I understand
that I'm not just a worker bee. I'm also a
convenier and someone has to make sure that everyone is

(14:44):
aware of our programming, our strategies, and so yeah, I
learned a lot in that role.

Speaker 3 (14:50):
That's awesome.

Speaker 1 (14:50):
Those are great learnings, so valuable information that you're able
to take into your next step of your journey.

Speaker 3 (14:56):
Well, congratulations are in order.

Speaker 1 (14:57):
I know you were recognized as one of the Network
Journals twenty five Influential Black Women in Business.

Speaker 3 (15:03):
A congratulations, thanks you.

Speaker 1 (15:04):
What does it mean to you to receive this kind
of recognition and how do you use your platform to
inspire others?

Speaker 4 (15:10):
Yeah, I love the idea because I think that part
of my role in life is inspiring others, but also
developing others as well and making sure that, like if
I'm as a woman, as a black woman, if I'm
not you know, bringing people along, if I'm not lifting
them up or elevating them, then I'm doing a disservice, right,
because I'm better if you're better. So I think of

(15:32):
these of these awards in that way, right, like, as
an opportunity to elevate me and my work.

Speaker 2 (15:37):
And I always tell my team and folks, I think.

Speaker 4 (15:40):
That the most important thing is that I'm elevating the
work before I elevate myself, so that when you talk
about the work that I do, that it's real, right.
But I also believe that those kinds of acknowledgments are
really important to making to making sure that I'm more credible, right.
That it adds credibility, regardless of how important it is,

(16:04):
and I think that's really important if I'm going to
help to bring other people along, that I have credibility.
So it is it's an honor to be recognized now
way because it's not easy. You know, you're you're like, oh,
you're number one hundred of this, but there are hundreds
of people who are doing this work and doing it well.
So I feel really honored and privileged to be recognized

(16:26):
in those ways.

Speaker 3 (16:27):
Congratulations, Thank you. I think you hit it spot on right.

Speaker 1 (16:30):
That credibility for your team that you mentioned earlier, credibility
for the donors, credibility for the people that are volunteering.
So congrats, that's awesome to see.

Speaker 2 (16:38):
Thank you.

Speaker 1 (16:39):
I know one of the focus is of the organization
is to end in inequity in Brooklyn. Right, What do
you believe is the most pressing challenge right now in
the borough and how do you guys plan to solve that?

Speaker 4 (16:49):
Yeah, I think that affordability is definitely, to me, the
most pressing challenge, right. I think that that kind of
is the.

Speaker 2 (16:59):
Starting point of all the other issues.

Speaker 4 (17:01):
I think that housing insecurity is huge, and mental health issues.

Speaker 2 (17:06):
You know, I see.

Speaker 4 (17:07):
Things now in my community, in the community where I
am downtown Brooklyn working, I see on the subways so
many manifestations of this issue around affordability, right, Because what's
happening is that if people can't afford to take care
of themselves and then to be caretakers for their family

(17:28):
when they're dealing with things like mental health, if they're
returning citizens from the partural system, these are the things
that lead to people doing, I guess, doing things that
may not we may think of. It's like, oh, I
get on the bus and so many people get on
without paying, right, But honestly they probably can't afford to pay.

(17:49):
So I think that affordability for housing, groceries.

Speaker 2 (17:53):
You know, day to day needs.

Speaker 4 (17:56):
Is something that is really kind of the the catalysts
to so many other issues that are happening in Brooklyn,
like not caring about if your street is clean. The
way that I think about this and what we're doing
is we're really trying to share with our stakeholders, our networks,
our donors, like how nonprofits are filling these gaps.

Speaker 2 (18:19):
And how important they are to.

Speaker 4 (18:23):
Making sure that people are thriving and that they're able
to participate in the American dream in a more meaningful way,
and why it's important for them to participate in the
American dream.

Speaker 2 (18:33):
So we have.

Speaker 4 (18:34):
Nonprofits that we support that are doing things like what
Ghost is doing in Brooklyn right, like making sure that
people returning home have the skills that they need. They're
actually building relationships with employers to get make sure that
they get jobs. Right. We have organizations that we have
one organization that I'm just so in love with that

(18:55):
is refurbishing computers from Fortune five hundred companies and giving
them to families because they know that families who have
a computer at home have better outcomes right academically and
with employment. Right, Like if you have to go to
the library to apply for a job versus if you're
able to do it at home. There's going to be
a huge difference in that. Organizations that are making sure

(19:16):
that young people get new books right, that they're like
they're starting to read, and all of these things, to me,
because I truly believe there's no racial justice without economic justice, right,
are going to help people to be able to thrive
and also to be able to be successful. Education organizations,
cultural organizations, arts and culture organizations that are exposing young

(19:37):
people to arts and culture in a real way. And
so all of these things are going to help with
the affordability piece because people are going to be connected
to the workforce in a better way. Right, it's going
to give them more opportunities going forward, because we're not
only keeping one demographic down by not serving them. What

(19:57):
we're doing is we're losing talent. So I think that
that's how we think about it. We don't do that,
but we want to encourage donors to fund us so
we can fund them, and we just want to do
more of that because nonprofits, to me, are going to
be the way that we're going to make safer streets.
This is how we're going to be safety policing is
not going to do it. The nonprofits that we support

(20:19):
are going to do it. So that's how we're trying
to do the work.

Speaker 3 (20:22):
That's awesome. You guys are doing incredible work, so should
be very very proud of that.

Speaker 2 (20:25):
Thank you.

Speaker 1 (20:26):
So looking ahead, what is on the horizon? What is
the future of Brooklyn Org And what are you most
excited about.

Speaker 4 (20:32):
Yeah, well, I'm most excited about we have so many
new friends and supporters over the last three years since
we rebranded, We've done a lot of work around building
real relationship with Brooklyn Nights, and I think that the
what's on the horizon is that one is that we
are moving towards being a real model of philanthropy and
so maybe other community foundations will think about doing this

(20:55):
work in a similar fashion.

Speaker 2 (20:57):
So I'm really.

Speaker 4 (20:58):
Excited about being able to take what we're doing doing
for this almost three million people, like the large the
most people in the city, and kind of see how
that kind of stretches out beyond Brooklyn to other communities
as well, where people are feeling like if I support
a community foundation, then I am actually supporting my neighbors

(21:18):
and finding a.

Speaker 2 (21:19):
Lot of different ways to do that.

Speaker 4 (21:22):
We have a huge volunteer day that we did last
year for the first time across the whole borough. It's
one day, a small commitment, but it's also a way
for people to get introduced to the nonprofits, like intimately
introduced not through us, but with them. So that doing
that this year and kind of a date I do,
but it is in April, and I don't have the

(21:43):
exact date. I think it's in the twenties, but but
we do have a date for that already set and
it's and you know, families came out and they were
getting it's and it's curated again my amazing staff.

Speaker 2 (21:54):
It's amazing.

Speaker 4 (21:55):
It's curated so spectacularly and just like simply and the
structure and it's like two hours of your time and
you're going to be learning a lot about a nonprofit
and you're actually going to get in there and do
the work as well. And I think the other thing
is like how do we We're trying to expand again
our supporters, right, Like we don't want people to think

(22:15):
like everyone doesn't have to give us, you know, a
huge amount, but how do we bring you in And
we're seeing that already happen, but it is on the horizon.
Is to expand that even more and get more people
involved in this movement to really support our neighbors.

Speaker 1 (22:31):
That's great, that's awesome, Thank yous, some work. Excited to
see the future and what's next. So for anyone that's
tuning in that maybe wants to jump into the nonprofit
space or interested in a future career and that, what
advice would you give them? What words of wisdom do
you wish you knew right before you took that plunge.

Speaker 4 (22:50):
I think one is like you know what, just I
think the most important thing is that you have to
be passionate about something. Whenever I interview someone, it's like,
not just that you want to lead an organization, lead something,
or be involved in something you're passionate about. Like whenever
I interview someone, I asked them what are you what
are you passionate about in?

Speaker 2 (23:07):
And not what keeps you up at night?

Speaker 4 (23:09):
Right, because that's gonna motivate you to do this work
across the board, right. And so you have to have
something that you're passionate about and you have to care deeply.
I think that the other thing is, like you know,
really think about how to dream, dream about what you
want the world to look like if you're thinking about
nonprofit and again, never be afraid to have you always

(23:30):
have to be open to learning. Like I feel like
I'm a I'm always learning and that I can learn
from everyone. And if I think I have all the answers,
then I'm not gonna move. And I feel like it's
okay to say I don't know, Like, you know, I
don't know what that is. Tell me what it is. Yeah,
And I remember when I was a younger leader. I
was you know, if you said something I didn't understand
and I would just sit there and pretend I knew it.

Speaker 2 (23:51):
Like, you're not gonna learn that way, like if you
want to grow.

Speaker 4 (23:55):
I was just telling my husband that I'm like, but yeah.

Speaker 2 (23:58):
You have to be curious.

Speaker 4 (23:59):
Curiosity is really important because there's just so much that
we don't know.

Speaker 3 (24:04):
That's amazing advice. Thank you for that.

Speaker 1 (24:06):
Thank you as we covered a lot very impressive background.
Love the work that you guys are doing in Brooklyn, Org.
Is there anything that you feel like we might have
missed before we wrap up?

Speaker 2 (24:15):
No, I would just say the one thing is that
you know Brooklyn Org. Again. We believe that it's a
model for philanthropy.

Speaker 4 (24:22):
We believe that it's a model for our entire nation,
and we hope that people will think about getting involved
if they care about communities. It's so much diversity and
so many issue areas that are people in Brooklyn are
impacted by. So if anyone is interested in getting involved,
and I asked them to please check out and even
if you're not interested in getting involved, check out our website.

(24:44):
I'm so proud of it. It's rebranded. It's amazing. Brooklyn
dot org. Brooklyn Org is Brooklyn dot org, which is.

Speaker 3 (24:49):
Amazing, easy to remember.

Speaker 4 (24:51):
Yeah, and also if you follow us on IG, I
just think that the information there is is it's just.

Speaker 2 (24:58):
Stellar and it's fun.

Speaker 4 (24:59):
We do a a lot of fun things in Brooklyn.
On Instagram it is Brooklyn Ork perfect yep, Brooklyn Ork yep,
BK Brooklyn Ork yep perfect.

Speaker 3 (25:08):
Thank you well, doctor Reenie. Thank you so much for
coming in.

Speaker 1 (25:10):
Thank you so much for sharing your story and more importantly,
for all the work that you're doing for the Borough
of Brooklyn and beyond.

Speaker 3 (25:16):
Thank you for having me awesome.

Speaker 1 (25:18):
Thank you everybody for tuning in to the next week
for next week's edition of CEOs.

Speaker 3 (25:21):
You Should Know