POSITIVE CHANGE, BLOCK BY BLOCK
Dear Friend,As ioby heads into our fifteenth year, we reflect on what we’ve built together in communities from Brooklyn to Memphis, San Juan to Sacramento.One of ioby’s founding values is “Small is Big.” In times of crisis, and in times where our challenges feel monumental, our neighbors are working together to make small repairs to our civic fabric. It’s work that often goes unseen, but it’s central to ioby’s mission, and it is cause for hope.In the past fourteen years, ioby has supported local leaders to raise over $18.6 million for 3,474 projects that actively repair our communities, bring neighbors closer together, and build civic strength. In 2022, 65% of the leaders we served identified as BIPOC, and more than 46% were part of small, unincorporated groups who otherwise lack access to critical resources. I’m excited to share this work with you in our 2022 Giving Report!As I shared last year, I will be transitioning from leading ioby to a new founder-in-residence role in August of 2023. While founding and growing this organization has been the greatest work of my life, what I’m most proud of is the practice we’ve built around deep listening. Our trust and understanding of the leaders we serve—their experiences, their challenges, their relationships, and their deep love of the places they live—all drive what we build together and how we show up for our neighbors. This practice has shaped our fundraising coaching, tools, fiscal sponsorship, match programs, and the resources we offer. And in the coming year, it will provide our true north as we build and launch our new, fully revamped ioby.org.What we offer is simple, but it’s taken years of deep listening and trust to shape, and the work is never finished. Here’s what I’ve learned: Our neighborhoods are places of abundance. If we let our neighbors lead, they will do so with ingenuity, courage, and love.This work is energized by the passionate community of changemakers we serve, and it’s fueled by your support. Thank you for your continued investment in our mission, in our communities, and in our shared vision of a future where residents are leading critical change in every community!With immense gratitude,
Erin Barnes
Co-Founder & CEO
ioby
2022 Project Highlights
Sacramento Poderosas
Mural Project
Dr. Rhonda Ríos Kravitz | Sacramento CA
This public art project, which raised over $11,000, celebrates Poderosas (powerful Chicana women) who have been trailblazers in the Sacramento area and across the nation. Through their work, the Poderosas represented in the mural have made history, conquered barriers, and contributed to the health, well-being, and advancement of Latinx communities. The mural will be a visual and public expression of cultural values, ethnic pride, and neighborhood identity, in addition to being a celebration of social and political struggles.
Umoja Farmz Farming Skillshare
Jaris Owens | Lorain OH
Umoja Farmz, a community garden in Lorain County, Ohio raised $1,700 to facilitate a workshop with Clevelander Maurice Smalls. Maurice shared skills, resources, and farming methods with local residents who were interested in starting their own gardens. The workshop encouraged members of the community to rebuild their relationship to food and engage with the local soil. Participants were given the opportunity to learn from a local organic gardening expert and encouraged to invest in local food systems.
Teen Climate Justice Program
Anna Tsomo, Sixth Street Community Center | New York NY
The Teen Climate Justice Program is an extracurricular program in NYC where teens engage around climate justice issues, develop teen-led projects and solutions, and build community power. Their grassroots organizing lens is anti-racist, anti-capitalist, and decolonial. The project raised $3,000 in order to facilitate over 10 workshops with youth on topics ranging from guerilla gardening to food justice. As many young adults grapple with looming questions about what their futures will look like, this project provides tools and resources to take direct action against environmental injustice.
For Us By Us: Uplifting the Black Autism Community
Josselyn Okorodudu | Cincinnati OH
Cincinnati-based Our Tribe is a grassroots initiative building a movement that accelerates equitable outcomes for Black people with autism and their families. Our Tribe raised $1,500 through ioby to further support programming efforts as they work to provide families with the support and resources they need. Their co-founders believe in the importance of having Black people with autism involved at all levels of civic participation from leadership to strategic
Annual Gluszek Christmas
Food Drive
Dylan Gluszek | Midlothian IL
Over the past 6 years, Dylan Gluszek has raised nearly $5,000 through ioby to donate 50,000 pounds of food to his local food pantry in Midlothian, Illinois. His goal has always been simple: collect as much food as possible for the local community. The project started when he was just a freshman in high school, but the amount raised has increased every year!
ALL-TIME IMPACT
$18,650,374
TOTAL RAISED NATIONWIDE
