Vivian : BCF Board Member and Co-Founder and Principal, Totem -- Daniel : Managing Director, Investment Banking, Goldman Sachs
What do you love about Brooklyn?
Daniel: It’s really the neighborhood community—we know our neighbors, know our area, we walk everywhere, we visit local parks and have a local routine, and it’s really been a great place for us to start a family.
Vivian: I also love a city with a little grit, and Brooklyn certainly has that. There’s a hometown pride Brooklynites have that never feels parochial because you have this huge city of 2.6 million people that’s bigger than most other cities in the country—you’ve always got these different cultures, beliefs, and personalities that are all coexisting and brushing up against one another every day. All of those stories are authentically Brooklyn, if you will, and I think that diversity is what makes the borough so special and so beautiful.
Why Brooklyn Community Foundation?
Vivian: I worked in the Brooklyn nonprofit world for several years, and there’s a very established philanthropic community mostly based in Manhattan—and I was wondering, where was that organization that would step up and own Brooklyn issues, and really appeal to Brooklynites? I think that is something that sets the Foundation apart—it’s tackling Brooklyn issues and doing it in a Brooklyn way. I think the Foundation is doing an amazing array of work and grantmaking and it just so happens to dovetail with a lot of the areas that both Dan and I feel passionate about. I look forward to learning more about the organization and how we can be the most impactful.
Daniel: Finding an organization like the Foundation that has so many things going on in the local community is a great way for us to be very sensitive and attuned to how we are giving back. It makes it feel like we’re able to have a little bit more impact by supporting an organization that is so focused on issues in our backyard.
Why do you support the Immigrant Rights Fund?
Daniel: One of the things I liked about the Foundation was the formation of the Immigrant Rights Fund. It’s an issue that I feel strongly about and could never really find a way to give comprehensively and have it go to support a bunch of different things because there are so many different avenues that are worthwhile. Many organizations are focused on one narrow spot, but the Immigrant Rights Fund is so broad.
Vivian: I feel strongly that having a community that’s welcoming to immigrants and refugees is extremely important, and we’re very committed to doing what we can to try to embrace and enhance and pursue that. The Immigrant Rights Fund was one of the best places that I found to focus giving in one particular area.
