Movement Morning 2019: Where We've Been, What Comes Next

Movement Morning 2019: Where We've Been, What Comes Next

Published May 23, 2019

On Thursday, May 23, 2019, Open Buffalo held our second annual Movement Morning breakfast, a fundraiser to help sustain and expand our work to empower residents with the skills, networks, and capacity to effect lasting social change in their communities. It was an occasion to celebrate the transformative impact of the organization’s last five years, and to look with anticipation to our course forward in making Buffalo a city where all communities thrive. 

Over 100 community members who gathered for this event heard inspirational messages from:

Monique Owens (event emcee) –Empire State Fellow, Office of Governor Andrew Cuomo; community advocate; and 2015 Open Buffalo Emerging Leader

Dayatra Hassan— Holistic Practitioner and Educator, Community Health Network of Buffalo; 2017 Open Buffalo Emerging Leader

India Walton– Executive Director, FB Community Land Trust; community organizer; and 2015 Open Buffalo Emerging Leader

De’Jon Hall— Legislative Fellow, New York State Senate; community organizer; and 2018 Open Buffalo Emerging Leader

Franchelle Parker– Executive Director, Open Buffalo

During the event, Open Buffalo provided a snapshot of our two signature leadership development programs —Emerging Leaders and Democracy Fellows – and took time to embrace our recent accomplishments in advocacy areas of public safety & criminal justice reform, equitable economic standards, and community-controlled development.

After hearing individual testimonies of those who have emerged as true change-makers invested in our mission, Open Buffalo unveiled a new video that captures the vibrancy and momentum of our citywide social justice collaborative over the years.

Many thanks to those who attended, donated, or otherwise supported Movement Morning 2019!

Your contribution and commitment to Open Buffalo’s sustainability enables our work to engage the people closest to the problems in bringing their solutions from ideas to decision-making power.

Extra special thanks to our event sponsors:

  • Chase Bank
  • KeyBank
  • Lawley Insurance
  • Nowakowski/Burns Group at Merrill Lynch
  • Try-it Distributing

Below are some scenes from the event.