PLATINUM2024

Teens For Food Justice, Inc.

Change. Inspire. Grow.

New York, NY   |  http://www.teensforfoodjustice.org/

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Mission

Teens for Food Justice (TFFJ) is a 501c3 nonprofit galvanizing a youth-led movement to ensure that all New Yorkers have access to fresh, healthy food and to end the cycle of health complications dramatically and unequally impacting low-income communities of color. TFFJ works within Title 1 middle and high schools in food deserts, training students to maintain indoor hydroponic farms growing thousands of pounds of produce annually that is served at school lunch and distributed to surrounding communities. Students also learn nutrition, health, and advocacy skills that empower them to lead themselves and others towards healthier futures.

Ruling year info

2012

Chief Executive Officer, Founder

Katherine Soll

Main address

33 W. 60th St. Suite 1211

New York, NY 10023 USA

Show more contact info

EIN

45-3591508

Subject area info

Human services

Agriculture, fishing and forestry

Nutrition

Education

Population served info

Children and youth

Low-income people

Adolescents

Adults

NTEE code info

Youth Community Service Clubs (O51)

Other Food, Agriculture, and Nutrition N.E.C. (K99)

IRS subsection

501(c)(3) Public Charity

IRS filing requirement

This organization is required to file an IRS Form 990 or 990-EZ.

Tax forms

Communication

Blog

Programs and results

What we aim to solve

SOURCE: Self-reported by organization

Teens for Food Justice (TFFJ) is galvanizing a youth-led movement to ensure that all New Yorkers have access to fresh, healthy food and to end the cycle of health complications dramatically and unequally impacting low-income communities of color. TFFJ works within Title 1 middle and high schools in food deserts, training students to maintain indoor hydroponic farms growing thousands of pounds of produce annually that is served at school lunch and distributed to surrounding communities. Students also learn nutrition, health, and advocacy skills that empower them to lead themselves and others towards healthier futures.

Our programs

SOURCE: Self-reported by organization

What are the organization's current programs, how do they measure success, and who do the programs serve?

Teens for Food Justice

Teens For Food Justice works to ensure universal access to affordable, fresh, healthy food through youth-led, community-based solutions. TFFJ students are empowered as 21st century urban farmers, growing large quantities of hydroponic produce inside their schools, and as educator/advocates leading their food-insecure communities towards healthier futures.

Population(s) Served
Adults
Children and youth
Social and economic status

Where we work

Our results

SOURCE: Self-reported by organization

How does this organization measure their results? It's a hard question but an important one.

Pounds of produce grown

This metric is no longer tracked.
Totals By Year
Population(s) Served

Children and youth, Young adults

Related Program

Teens for Food Justice

Type of Metric

Output - describing our activities and reach

Direction of Success

Increasing

Number of individuals completing apprenticeship

This metric is no longer tracked.
Totals By Year
Population(s) Served

Young adults, Children and youth

Related Program

Teens for Food Justice

Type of Metric

Output - describing our activities and reach

Direction of Success

Increasing

Our Sustainable Development Goals

SOURCE: Self-reported by organization

Learn more about Sustainable Development Goals.

Goals & Strategy

SOURCE: Self-reported by organization

Learn about the organization's key goals, strategies, capabilities, and progress.

Charting impact

Four powerful questions that require reflection about what really matters - results.

TFFJ aims to empower the next generation of 21st-century urban farmers to grow large quantities of hydroponic produce inside their schools, and provide them the skills and training to be educators/advocates who lead their food-insecure communities towards healthier futures.

TFFJ teaches students in food insecure communities, where there is often a parallel lack of nutrition and health education. Students build hydroponic farms and learn how to plant, grow, and harvest fresh produce, which is used to teach them about health, nutrition, and food justice. Produce is eaten by the students and their peers in the school-wide cafeteria, and excess is made affordably available to the community. This teaches students about access, advocacy, and how they can lead change in their communities. Student evaluations from TFFJ in-school programs have shown that, after completing the program, 100% of students understand how nutritious food makes a positive difference in their health, 95% feel that they are more of a leader and advocate for food justice and 76% share what they’ve learned with friends and family. The program was designed to boost student and local community health outcomes thanks to increased exposure and access to healthier foods, improved understanding of nutrition and diet-driven health, and students’ enhanced academic and leadership abilities.

TFFJ operates dynamically with a small, hard-working team, a devoted board, and with teachers, parents, students, and administrators in each school partner community. Our hydroponics manager and farm team design and manage the farms, while our program team works within each school to develop after-school apprenticeship and curriculum day learning. Our development and outreach team works to expand TFFJ's voice, support and impact so that every year we can reach a greater number of students. The objectives of the online after school Food Justice Collective are: to increase students’ foundational knowledge and understanding of food justice and community health and health equity, and advocacy; to provide leadership skill-building and development opportunities for middle and high school youth; to cultivate students’ advocacy skills through structured activities and lessons culminating in student-led advocacy/food justice initiatives, projects, campaigns and/or events; and to engage students with their peers, community leaders, and elected officials in these conversations.

So far, TFFJ has 4 hydroponic farms, although closed due to the covid-19 pandemic, they are all fully functional, able to grow produce, and hosting the after-school apprenticeship program. Hundreds of students every year have learned, eaten, and taken their knowledge into their communities. We are currently working on expanding to two more farm sites in schools located in food-insecure communities.
When schools closed in mid-March, requiring TFFJ to shut down our school-based farms, we quickly began working as a convener between local commercial hydroponic growers and the food-insecure communities served by our farm sites, shifting from growing to sourcing high-quality produce and other healthy, nutritious foods, most needed by our schools’ communities, and distributing them free and affordably through partnerships with other CBOs. Between March and August, TFFJ facilitated the weekly supply of 600 pounds of fresh produce to our school partner communities, supplementing the grab-and-go food options primarily available to residents through COVID relief feeding programs.
In Fall 2020, TFFJ launched weekly and biweekly food distributions in four school partner communities: Kingsbridge, the Bronx; Brownsville, Brooklyn; Far Rockaway, Queens; and Lincoln Center/Hell’s Kitchen, Manhattan. Together, these four distributions benefit up to 1,000 New York City households weekly. Through this work, we not only continue to provide fresh, healthy food to the residents of our partner communities who struggle constantly with healthy food access and for whom food insecurity has spiked in the pandemic; we are building relationships with food providers that can be sustained after the COVID crisis, thereby establishing stronger networks and communication links within the emergency food systems in these neighborhoods that will yield benefits for years to come.
TFFJ also remains committed to continuing to support our students who have been adjusting to a remote learning environment for the past year. In response, we adapted our educational programming to a virtual format, allowing us to engage 474 students in remote STEM learning, food justice advocacy research, outreach, and problem-solving, and in growing food hydroponically at home both during the curricular and after school day. A hallmark event was our June 2020 virtual Youth Food Justice Leadership Conference, designed by a team of four TFFJ student interns, with assistance from student members of the CUNY Food Justice Leadership Fellowship Program, Youth Food Advocates, Rockaway Youth Task Force, and the DOE Office of Sustainability, which drew 100 viewers from four boroughs in a discussion, moderated by Keith Carr, City Harvest’s Manager of Policy and Government Affairs, on the critical need for a food secure NYC.

How we listen

SOURCE: Self-reported by organization

Seeking feedback from people served makes programs more responsive and effective. Here’s how this organization is listening.

done We demonstrated a willingness to learn more by reviewing resources about feedback practice.
done We shared information about our current feedback practices.
  • How is your organization using feedback from the people you serve?

    To identify bright spots and enhance positive service experiences, To make fundamental changes to our programs and/or operations, To inform the development of new programs/projects, To strengthen relationships with the people we serve, To understand people's needs and how we can help them achieve their goals

  • Which of the following feedback practices does your organization routinely carry out?

    We collect feedback from the people we serve at least annually, We take steps to get feedback from marginalized or under-represented people, We aim to collect feedback from as many people we serve as possible, We act on the feedback we receive

  • What challenges does the organization face when collecting feedback?

    We don't have any major challenges to collecting feedback

Financials

Teens For Food Justice, Inc.
Fiscal year: Jul 01 - Jun 30
Financial documents
2022 2021
done  Yes, financials were audited by an independent accountant. info

Revenue vs. expenses:  breakdown

SOURCE: IRS Form 990 info
NET GAIN/LOSS:    in 
Note: When component data are not available, the graph displays the total Revenue and/or Expense values.

Liquidity in 2023 info

SOURCE: IRS Form 990

13.63

Average of 18.78 over 8 years

Months of cash in 2023 info

SOURCE: IRS Form 990

0.8

Average of 8.8 over 8 years

Fringe rate in 2023 info

SOURCE: IRS Form 990

14%

Average of 15% over 8 years

Funding sources info

Source: IRS Form 990

Assets & liabilities info

Source: IRS Form 990

Financial data

SOURCE: IRS Form 990

Teens For Food Justice, Inc.

Revenue & expenses

Fiscal Year: Jul 01 - Jun 30

SOURCE: IRS Form 990 info

Fiscal year ending: cloud_download Download Data

Teens For Food Justice, Inc.

Balance sheet

Fiscal Year: Jul 01 - Jun 30

SOURCE: IRS Form 990 info

The balance sheet gives a snapshot of the financial health of an organization at a particular point in time. An organization's total assets should generally exceed its total liabilities, or it cannot survive long, but the types of assets and liabilities must also be considered. For instance, an organization's current assets (cash, receivables, securities, etc.) should be sufficient to cover its current liabilities (payables, deferred revenue, current year loan, and note payments). Otherwise, the organization may face solvency problems. On the other hand, an organization whose cash and equivalents greatly exceed its current liabilities might not be putting its money to best use.

Fiscal year ending: cloud_download Download Data

Operations

The people, governance practices, and partners that make the organization tick.

Documents
Form 1023/1024 is not available for this organization

Chief Executive Officer, Founder

Katherine Soll

A lifelong New Yorker and mother of two, with experience in the for-profit sector in management and marketing, Kathy Soll believes all New Yorkers should be committed to ending hunger, food insecurity and poor nutrition in one of the world's greatest cities and that connecting youth to this mission and each other is a critical part of achieving that goal. Teens for Food Justice was built on the concept that hands-on volunteering and helping others builds character and creates a unique level-playing field where people of all backgrounds can contribute equally through hard work and commitment, something hard to find in an increasingly polarized, stratified world. She also believes that service is a powerful tool for tapping young people's talents, resources, and abilities, helping them flourish and work productively with others, and that youth who help solve social problems become more positive, engaged, hopeful adults who remain active throughout their lives on behalf of social change.

Number of employees

Source: IRS Form 990

Teens For Food Justice, Inc.

Officers, directors, trustees, and key employees

SOURCE: IRS Form 990

Compensation
Other
Related
Show data for fiscal year
Compensation data
Download up to 5 most recent years of officer and director compensation data for this organization

Teens For Food Justice, Inc.

Highest paid employees

SOURCE: IRS Form 990

Compensation
Other
Related
Show data for fiscal year
Compensation data
Download up to 5 most recent years of highest paid employee data for this organization

Teens For Food Justice, Inc.

Board of directors
as of 02/06/2024
SOURCE: Self-reported by organization
Board of directors data
Download the most recent year of board of directors data for this organization
Board chair

Tara Smith Swibel

Triptyk Studios

Katherine Soll

Teens for Food Justice, Inc.

Tara Smith Swibel

Triptyk Studios

Chana Chenfeld

Teens for Food Justice, powered by Students for Service

Valerie Soll

FIT Textile Studies Graduate Program

Bridget Alameda

PriceWaterhouseCoopers

Kevin Beardsley

Nasdaq

Randy Stern

Sternvest Ltd

Alejandro Munoz-Suarez

Gracious Hospitality

Henry Gordon-Smith

Agritecture

Teresa Tsou

Pipcorn

Katie Seawell

Bowery Farming

Ramel Bradley

AppHarvest

Board leadership practices

SOURCE: Self-reported by organization

GuideStar worked with BoardSource, the national leader in nonprofit board leadership and governance, to create this section.

  • Board orientation and education
    Does the board conduct a formal orientation for new board members and require all board members to sign a written agreement regarding their roles, responsibilities, and expectations? Yes
  • CEO oversight
    Has the board conducted a formal, written assessment of the chief executive within the past year ? Yes
  • Ethics and transparency
    Have the board and senior staff reviewed the conflict-of-interest policy and completed and signed disclosure statements in the past year? Yes
  • Board composition
    Does the board ensure an inclusive board member recruitment process that results in diversity of thought and leadership? Yes
  • Board performance
    Has the board conducted a formal, written self-assessment of its performance within the past three years? Yes

Organizational demographics

SOURCE: Self-reported; last updated 2/6/2024

Who works and leads organizations that serve our diverse communities? Candid partnered with CHANGE Philanthropy on this demographic section.

Leadership

The organization's leader identifies as:

Race & ethnicity
White/Caucasian/European
Gender identity
Female, Not transgender
Sexual orientation
Heterosexual or Straight
Disability status
Person without a disability

Race & ethnicity

Gender identity

Transgender Identity

Sexual orientation

No data

Disability

No data

Equity strategies

Last updated: 05/05/2021

GuideStar partnered with Equity in the Center - an organization that works to shift mindsets, practices, and systems to increase racial equity - to create this section. Learn more

Data
  • We analyze disaggregated data and root causes of race disparities that impact the organization's programs, portfolios, and the populations served.
  • We disaggregate data to adjust programming goals to keep pace with changing needs of the communities we support.
  • We employ non-traditional ways of gathering feedback on programs and trainings, which may include interviews, roundtables, and external reviews with/by community stakeholders.
Policies and processes
  • We seek individuals from various race backgrounds for board and executive director/CEO positions within our organization.
  • We help senior leadership understand how to be inclusive leaders with learning approaches that emphasize reflection, iteration, and adaptability.