A MESSAGE FROM THE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
When trekking on a long and difficult hike, oftentimes one needs to stop, look back at how far they have come and then only can they look ahead, towards the horizon.
This is exactly what ATD Fourth World USA did in 2024: we took the time to look back at sixty years of presence in the country, sixty years of building deep connections and relationships with families experiencing the injustice of poverty. While doing that, we took stock of our strengths and weaknesses: an honest introspection highlighting a vital requirement to strengthen our administrative needs as well as our human and financial resources.
So we took bold steps to redesign our internal operations towards more autonomy and efficiency. From hiring and working with consultants with expertise in nonprofit management to changing accountants and our payroll processing, we transformed our backend processes in order to be compliant again with current norms and regulations. Working closely with the Board, which gained two more members, we strengthened oversight and transparency at administrative and financial levels.
All these changes laid a strong foundation for what came next: the launch of a nation-wide mobilization through the Strategic Renewal Dialogues from September 2024 to April 2025. Connecting with past and present members and supporters of ATD Fourth World in the United States, these Dialogues aimed at putting our brains and hearts together to redefine our identity, mission and programs. The SRDs armed us with the tools - new mission and vision statements, new committees, new program ideas - that we needed to feel confident about our future as an organization. And most importantly, it offered us a renewed feeling of national unity and strengthened our bond across this vast country.
In 2024-2025, local Action Teams in New York and New Mexico continued to build meaningful spaces for the participation of members with direct experience of poverty and discrimination, more specifically in the fields of housing and education. Children programs such as Story Gardens, the Festival of Arts and Learning and Tapori further developed and strengthened rapport between children and facilitators. At the United Nations, delegations of community members with firsthand knowledge of family separation and institutional maltreatment took the floor to share their recommendations in front of policymakers and civil society members.
Below we invite you to read in more detail about our progress and ongoing commitment with families experiencing stigma and discrimination. Your support gives us the fuel to continue on this long but meaningful walk towards a society free from poverty and injustice.
Thank you for walking alongside us.
Monica Jahangir-Chowdhury
Executive Director
ATD Fourth World USA
Strategic Renewal Dialogues
From September 2024 to April 2025, ATD Fourth World USA embarked on a collective journey of reflection, recommitment, and reimagination through the Strategic Renewal Dialogues (SRDs).
Involving 100 members, this process sought to:
Enhance national unity while honoring local needs.
Modernize and propel ATD Fourth World’s work without losing its essence.
Redefine who we are in ways that connect deeply with USA context.
Ensure mutual accountability by improving systems of communication and support.
The SRDs advanced through two phases:
Phase 1 (Fall 2024): Explore topics and generate ideas (ATD Fourth World history, Identity & Impact, Communications, Advocacy & Partnerships, Sustainability (human and financial resources).
Phase 2 (Winter 2025): Develop outcomes and form working committees to advance them
As a result of these two phases, ATD Fourth World now has the new Mission, Vision and Core Values.
MISSION STATEMENT
Founded in a creative grassroots approach, ATD Fourth World USA integrates the expertise of those most marginalized into building supportive communities to counter the culture, institutions, and systems that trap people in persistent poverty.
VISION STATEMENT
ATD Fourth World USA envisions a society free from the stigma, subjugation, and injustice which prolong poverty; and a future where everyone thrives in dignity.
CORE VALUES
Dignity
We place human rights at the center of our approach to poverty eradication. We reject the idea that anyone is useless or disposable.
Most marginalized
We know that meaningful participation and the expertise of those most isolated are required for transformation into a just society.
Presence
We stand in solidarity and mutual understanding, by reaching out and being rooted in communities facing persistent poverty.
Community
We create caring community with people from all backgrounds, relying on each other to leave no one behind and to resist the worst conditions of poverty and exclusion.
Justice
We challenge, within a social justice network, a society that places profit over people and advocate prioritizing human well-being.
Creativity
We integrate art, stories, questions, and reflection to develop innovative tools for mutual transformation.
In Summer and Fall 2025, working committees composed of Activists, Allies, Solidarity Employees and Volunteer Corps members were set up to advance the following desired outcomes:
SRD DESIRED OUTCOMES
Social Justice Networking Committee (SJNC)
Leadership Renewal Committee (LRC)
Fundraising & Communications Committee (FCC)
Recruitment & Retention Committee (RRC)
Systems for National Unity
Fourth World Alliance
National Gathering (preparation committee for April 2026 National Gathering)
Working alongside the National Leadership Team and local action teams, these working committees meet on a regular basis to design, develop and implement key strategies supporting the overall sustainability of ATD Fourth World USA.
SUPPORTING CHILDREN’S POTENTIAL TO THRIVE THROUGH PLAY AND CREATIVITY
Story Garden forms one of our longstanding outreach programs, offering a safe and creative space for children to have fun reading, playing, exploring their creativity and building positive identities. It is also a space where they can build meaningful friendships and connections with facilitators and parents.
In 2024-2025, multiple Story Gardens ran in New Mexico and New York.
537 CHILDREN
in 2025
Story Garden in Brownsville Houses, New York. Running for 9 years, this Story Garden welcomes children from the Brownsville Houses public housing complex. The small plazas in this complex of buildings become places where friendships and trust flourish among neighbors. This spirit reaches its peak during the annual Festival of Arts and Learning, a celebration that reminds all that learning, teaching, and sharing space and knowledge are possible for everyone.
Story Garden at the Flagstone Shelter in Brownsville, Brooklyn, New York. Running every other Saturday, this Story Garden is special because it welcomes children and their parents who live at the Flagstone family shelter while waiting for a housing solution. Three to twelve families participate in activities that nurture children's creativity and skills while cherishing family moments. The environment is friendly and welcoming, fostering everyone's ability to thrive.
Gamerco Story Garden in a trailer park in the heart of the Gamerco community in McKinley County has been welcoming the activity since 2018. Parents and grandparents who supported the activity with materials and encouraged their children’s participation.
Gamerco Story Garden, located in a trailer park in the heart of the Gamerco community in McKinley County has been hosting the activity since 2018. This Story Garden reaches families living in particularly isolated conditions, where few activities are available for children. It creates a rare space for connection, creativity, and learning within the community. Parents and grandparents supported the activity with materials and encouraged their children’s participation.
Story Garden at the Gallup Flea Market. Activities ran weekly until August 2025, when the space for the Story Garden was handed back to the community to allow other partner organizations to provide cultural and educational activities. This decision was made to concentrate resources on the Gamerco Story Garden, which works more directly with children living in one of the most disadvantaged areas of McKinley County.
“Story Garden on Wheels,” an itinerant Story Garden that moves around the local area to reach isolated communities in McKinley County and beyond, ran from May to August 2025. This timing was chosen to best facilitate the participation of children in communities furthest from the Flea Market.
TAPORI
In New York, ATD Fourth World NYC has been running a Tapori workshop in a public school in Brownsville, Brooklyn, since 2019. In 2023, the workshop became a “residence,” fully integrated into the curriculum of two classes of 30 students who started in 2nd grade and are now in 4th grade, in their 2nd year of participation.
Through the ATD Fourth World Tapori Residence, children are encouraged to develop critical thinking, creativity, and a strong sense of community. They explore their own neighborhoods while also learning about the realities faced by children in other parts of the world where the network exists. Using crafts, art, games, videos, and music, Tapori creates meaningful spaces where children can reflect, express themselves, and build friendships across borders.
BUILDING INDIVIDUAL CAPACITY AND COMMUNITY
Family accompaniment in New Mexico and New York
The team in New Mexico has been accompanying and supporting families in navigating systems and overcoming the daily challenges of poverty. From picking up food from the food pantry, to supporting an ally as a character witness in court, to helping a young man obtain his state ID, the New Mexico team strives to be an active part of the community.
In New York, the team has been accompanying several long-term members experiencing health difficulties, visiting them in the hospital and supporting their families and children as needed. More recently, the team has been helping a member with administrative issues, supporting him in navigating processes to access his retirement benefits and other rights.
A Participatory Approach to Addressing NYC's Housing Crisis
People with very low incomes and limited resources struggle to live in adequate conditions in New York City. Many members of ATD Fourth World in New York have experienced homelessness or have had difficulty finding stable housing.
In 2024–2025, ATD Fourth World NYC worked toward a better understanding of the experiences of members facing the housing crisis and of strategies to improve access to adequate housing for all. These efforts included a series of interviews, a Fourth World People’s University cycle on housing, and a series of participatory dialogues on the same theme.
These efforts led to the participatory drafting of a position paper, “Building Housing Solutions Through a Collaborative Process,” available in complete or in summary form.
These efforts led to the participatory drafting of a position paper, “Building Housing Solutions Through a Collaborative Process,” available in complete or in summary form.
Stronger Together: Digital Storytelling, Education and Advocacy paper
Stronger Together brings r parents and caregivers to a supportive, safe space to discuss issues affecting education and learning in the community. The objective is to generate grassroots knowledge about education that can inform policymakers and transform systems toward equity and inclusiveness.
Members of Stronger Together learned to use a participatory tool called digital storytelling to share their experiences of education and learning and to take ownership of their stories. This tool provided a platform for storytellers to connect with others who have had similar experiences, and to share their stories publicly—online, at public screenings at the Gallup Public Library, and at an art gallery run by GallupARTS.
Stronger Together also worked with teachers from formal educational settings and educators from non-formal settings to develop recommendations on how families and schools can collaborate for the success of all students. The group formed a learning community using the Merging of Knowledge approach, and over the course of five workshops, co-produced a report titled, “Uniting Families and Schools for the Success of All Students,” reflecting the knowledge of all stakeholders involved.
CHANGING THE NARRATIVE AT THE UNITED NATIONS
United Nations Advocacy
United Nations (UN) advocacy efforts engaged grassroots ATD Fourth World activists through initiatives such as the Social Justice Movie Club, webinars on inequity and poverty, high-level UN meetings, global summits, and the 32nd and 33rd commemorations of the International Day for the Eradication of Poverty.
In 2024 and 2025, ATD Fourth World team organized webinars for various UN Commissions on the topic of legal identity, the intersection of violence, poverty, gender and racism, and a rights-based approach to social and economic policy justice. The theme of our webinars was "Keeping the promise of the Copenhagen Declaration by Achieving Legal Identity for All, or one of the webinars we contributed was entitled, “Keeping the promise of the Copenhagen Declaration by Achieving Legal Identity for All,” or We presented webinars for the United Nation’s 63rd Commission for Social Development (CSocD63), “Keeping the promise of the Copenhagen Declaration by Achieving Legal Identity for All.”
Keeping the promise of the Copenhagen Declaration by Achieving Legal Identity for All
United Nations's 63rd Commission for Social Development (CSocD63)
International Day for the Eradication of Poverty
On the 2024 International Day for the Eradication of Poverty, people united—Activists with lived experiences of poverty, diverse communities, United Nations agencies, and civil society representatives—to reflect on the necessary steps to create a society that upholds dignity by "Ending Social and Institutional Maltreatment." Activist speakers from the global North and South shared personal experiences and also solutions to ending social and institutional maltreatment.
In 2025, the focus was “Ensuring Respect and Effective Support for Families.” An all-woman panel of Activists from the global South and North shared their perspectives from their age group. A young mother spoke about the difficulty accessing childcare, a midwife spoke about accessing healthcare, and a woman spoke of State family separation and the stress it creates for all family members.
Social Justice Move Club
The Social Justice Movie Club was created in 2024 as a way to bring international priorities worked on at the UN to the local grassroots level so people could see how they resonate in their everyday lives. Every month, Activists, allies, and members of UN agencies and Civil Society organizations gather in NYC to share snacks, watch a movie, and have an informal conversation on the topic shown. This safe, welcoming space allowed honest conversations on racism, white privilege, poverty, injustice, and inequity. In 2025, we incorporated a free book raffle as part of Movie Club for people to explore the topics further.
ARCHIVES
During its 60 year presence in the United States, ATD Fourth World kept its records to secure the history of the people who together built this movement. In recent years, the reports and writings, photo negatives, videos and artwork, from the different teams, were gathered in Chicago. There they were organized and described.
On October 16, 2024, the archives were moved to the Joseph Wresinski Archives and Research Centre. This ATD Fourth World center is included in the UNESCO ‘Memory of the World’ Registry, in recognition of the unique history it preserves. In this center, the archives are stored in optimal conditions and remain accessible within the context of ATD Fourth World history internationally.
Administration
Major administrative changes were made to improve our financial, administrative and operational processes. By relying more intentionally on external expert services for specialized administrative functions, we are able to focus our time and energy where it matters most—on the ground, alongside communities. This shift allows us to work more effectively and sustainably, ensuring that our efforts continue to be driven by the voices and priorities of those most affected by poverty.
Fractional Services, More Than Giving: A Senior Finance and Operational Lead as well as two administrative assistants were hired to support our national work
Switch to a Professional Employer Organization, JustWorks: Helps administer our payroll services, offers HR tools and helps manage benefits and HR policies (such as PTO and sick leaves) for our employees.
Switch to a new expense and bill pay system, Ramp and new bookkeepers, HSBP: These system changes allow us to have clear expense tracking and approval systems, maintain strong bookkeeping practices, and ensure we are audit-ready.
Financials
Leadership & Teams
NATIONAL EXECUTIVE TEAM
Monica Jahangir-Chowdhury
Executive Director
Marina Mingot
Deputy Director & New York Team
Peggy Simmons
Adjunct to the National Executive Team (June 2025), Strategic Facilitation Director, Assistant Communications Director (2025)*
Emily Sarmiento
Finance and Operations Fractional Lead
Diana Skelton
Advisor to the National Executive Team
BOARD
Janet Nelson Chair
Christian Josz Vice-Chair
Abdul Jabbar Ghayoor Treasurer
Yasmine Raouf Secretary
Laurent Ferrari
Dierdre Steib Mauss
Faith Lemon
Jane Hsiao (2024)*
USA TEAM MEMBERS
Jane Hsiao
Finance Manager (2024)*
Emily Sarmiento
Finance and Operations Fractional Lead
Hyacinth Egner
HR Coordinator and Archives Manager (2025)*
Katelyn Cheon
Communications Director
Dierdre Mauss
National Communications Team
Laura Jijon
National Communications Team (2025)*
Maryann Broxton
Main Representative at the United Nations
Alvaro Iniesta
New York Office Director
Jacqueline Leduc
Community Outreach Coordinator and Urban Planner
New York Leadership Team (June 2025)*
Inga Ruiz Valladares
New Mexico office Co-Director (July 2025)*
Nathalie Artignan
New Mexico office Co-Director
Colin Moore
New Mexico Community Outreach Coordinator (2024-August 2025)*
National Communications Team
Alycia Burnside
New Mexico Community Outreach Coordinator (2024-August 2025)*
New York City Community Outreach Coordinator
*Indicates the end of missions.
