Gordon Campbell

I don't have to tell you how expensive it is to live in New York City. Most New Yorkers live in households that make around $50,000 per year, significantly lower than the Self-Sufficiency Standard, which is the amount it takes to for a family to meet...

Most Huffington Post readers don't have to worry about their children going to bed with hunger pangs. But as Governor Cuomo reminded us in his State of the State address, the numbers of children going hungry have never been higher in New York. Right now one in six...

Dear members of the Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction,

I write to you to ask that you protect those programs that millions of vulnerable New York City residents and Americans rely on for their very survival.

United Way of New York City works with community-based organizations, government, businesses,...

As we approach the tenth anniversary of the September 11, 2001 attacks and the dark days that followed, we cannot forget the inexplicable tragedy suffered that day, but we are also reminded of the extraordinary compassion displayed by individuals and communities across the country and the role organized philanthropy played...

Recently I had the opportunity to talk with representatives from eight food pantries serving diverse communities in all five boroughs of New York City. I wanted to hear from them, firsthand, about the challenges they face in responding to the growing numbers of New Yorkers who are turning to them...

This is the time of year when everyone's minds turn to taxes and their finances. But even in the world's wealthiest nation and the greatest city in America, financial security remains a serious problem. Here in New York, one in four people do not have enough money to...

Hunger is a serious problem in America, but the remedy is not simply providing calories. One terrible consequence of high unemployment levels from our country's economic downturn is that one in four American children now live in a household that has run out of food. In 2009

Cathie Black has her hands full in her new position as Chancellor of New York City Schools. Education is a challenging subject for anyone involved and people across the city and state are offering a deluge of ideas on education reform and listing hundreds of daunting problems in our public...

Signs of economic recovery are beginning to show throughout the country. For example, the National Bureau of Economic Research says that the recession that began in December 2007 ended in June 2009, and that the economy has been in recovery ever since. However, for many Americans every day is still...

New York City has an obesity problem and it's hurting our children. Almost 40% of New York City public school children in kindergarten through eighth grade are overweight or obese. Obesity rates are substantially higher in low-income neighborhoods like Harlem and Corona, Queens where the percentages of obese...

As students across the country return to school after their summer vacations, it is an opportune time to take stock of the educational opportunities afforded to our children. A new film by the director of Al Gore's An Inconvenient Truth examines America's public education crisis by following the interlocking stories...

The 2009 National Assessment of Education Progress (NAEP), considered to be a common yardstick for measuring academic progress across the country, exposes some troubling facts about the academic progress of America's low-income students. Among fourth graders, the report found 83 percent of low-income children were not considered to...

A nonprofit board of directors can make or break an organization, particularly in times of economic stress or at organizational transition points. Even during "normal" periods, the board is ultimately responsible for an organization's financial stewardship, level of transparency, accountability and risk management, overall mission, strategic direction, and performance.

The...

It's no secret that nonprofits provide important services that improve the lives of individuals, families, and communities. From large social service and cultural organizations to small community health centers and food pantries, we occupy a unique position in our economy and society at large. As a result, the sector was...

With nearly 1.5 million nonprofits operating in the U.S. today, choosing the right ones to support can often be a difficult process. Potential donors want to maximize the impact of their dollars by finding the most effective and successful organizations.

Charity evaluators are a valuable resource for these donors, offering...

The devastating earthquake that struck Haiti has slowly faded from the headlines, but the images of the tragedy and its aftermath remain with us. We remember the destruction and inexplicable loss of life, the grief-stricken faces in provisional and overcrowded hospitals, and the exhausted but heroic aid workers.

The...

I brought in this New Year with an especially loud cheer. We finally put behind us a decade that saw the nation's income inequality gap and the poverty rate increase.

The next ten years, I hope, will be better than the last for New Yorkers, especially those in our...

Last week, the U.S. Department of Agriculture released its annual report on 'food insecurity' in America. What it showed is astounding. Forty-nine million Americans do not have dependable access to adequate food. That's nearly 15 percent -- or one of every 7 Americans -- who struggle to get enough...

The New York City public school system is the largest urban school district in the nation. With nearly 80,000 teachers serving 1.1 million students in 1,400 schools, it is truly a dynamic setting from which meaningful lessons can be gleaned. Mayoral control of the school system has shown that dramatic...

I've dedicated more than half of my professional life to public service in New York City. In that time I've served four different mayors, led the City's initial response to the onslaught of HIV/AIDS, battled rising homelessness in our shelters and assisted victims of 9/11 in the immediate aftermath of...