NYN Media Podcast: Surveying the nonprofit operating landscape

A progressive mayor and a city administration focused on alleviating poverty and addressing income inequality should combine to create a perfect operating climate for nonprofits focused on human services delivery. Yet, with the Human Services Council reporting that 18 percent of human services agencies are operating at insolvency rates and 60 percent are financially distressed with no cash reserves, the operating climate seems to be anything but perfect.

So what is the problem?

For our inaugural New York Nonprofit Media podcast, we called together Lilliam Barrios-Paoli, Mayor Bill de Blasio’s former deputy mayor of health and human services; Jeremy Kohomban, executive director of Children’s Village, which serves struggling families throughout Southern New York state; Susan Stamler, executive director of United Neighborhood Houses, which represents over 38 settlement houses in New York City; and Lew Zuchman, executive director of SCAN NY, which serves high-risk families in East Harlem and the South Bronx, to weigh in about challenges facing nonprofits in the human services sector. Whether it’s overbearing regulatory and reporting requirements, underfunded government contracts or a forced embrace of business models that emphasize outputs over life-changing outcomes, our panelists encourage the nonprofit sector to leverage the power of its voice to craft solutions and demand respect. Because if these challenges can’t be fixed now, under a seemingly sympathetic administration, then when?

With the start of our podcast series, our CEO Corners, At the Board Table segments and other conversations with nonprofit sector leaders will now primarily be presented in podcast format to allow for more in-depth conversations and to give you the freedom to download and enjoy them at your convenience via iTunes or Stitcher. To recommend a candidate for an NYN Media podcast or CEO Corner, contact Dan Rosenblum at drosenblum@nynmedia.com. We also welcome your feedback via email to: editor@nynmedia.com.

(Note: this podcast was recorded before agreement was reached on the New York City budget.)