The latest from Trinity Church ... The Ford Foundation ... Brooklyn Bar Association Volunteer Lawyers Project

Trinity Church has a new chief philanthropy officer. Neill Coleman will lead the grants and mission investing team for the lower Manhattan church, which awards more than $10 million a year in grants. He previously served as vice president of global communication at The Rockefeller Foundation as well as serving in the federal Department of Health and Human Services during the Obama Administration, a spokeswoman said in an email.

The Ford Foundation reveals how they launched a program for formerly incarcerated people. A lengthy blog post on the foundation’s website explains how President Darren Walker approached staffers three years ago about creating a professional development program for graduates of the Bard Prison Initiative. There was also an NPR story in March about the foundation’s effort to provide higher learning to maximum security inmates.

The gaming community in New York City is uniting to form a nonprofit. The New York Videogame Critics Circle will bring together videogame critics, writers, reporters and bloggers, but it’s not all about fun and games, according to a press release.

Programming will include mentoring, internships, workshops and other support for students at DreamYard Prep School in the Bronx. There will also be computer mentoring for seniors in Chelsea and talks and discussions about jobs in games at panel discussion held at New York Public Library locations, according to the press release.

The Brooklyn Bar Association Volunteer Lawyers Project raised nearly $300,000 at an annual gala held on May 22. A press release states that the event, held at the Brooklyn Academy of Music, was emceed by NBC 4 reporter Melissa Russo. The event honored four attorneys: Jenna E. Browning of Paul Hastings LLP, Jason A. Georges of Hogan Lovells US LLP, Daryl Leon of Proskauer Rose LLP, and Lindsay Colvin Stone of Sheppard, Mullin, Richter & Hampton LLP. The 28-year-old nonprofit provides pro bono legal services to thousands of Brooklyn residents each year, according to the press release.

The Manhattan-based New York Legal Assistance Group has received a $175,000 contract from the city Department of Social Services/Human Resources Administration to provide legal services to veterans, according to the City Record. The department also awarded a three-year, $2 million contract to Help Social Service Corporation for domestic violence services. A third contract for $2.93 million went to the Brooklyn-based Center for Elimination of Violence in the Family for the provision of emergency shelters for domestic violence victims and their families.

Send your press releases, photos, and word of your latest happenings to reporter Zach Williams at zwilliams@nynmedia.com.