The grant, announced by the trust’s Westchester Advisory Board, will provide NPW with $40,000 each year to lead a coalition of nonprofit, government, business and community stakeholders in researching and developing a roadmap to reform Westchester County’s nonprofit contracting system. The coalition will identify and address contracting processes that have weakened nonprofit capacity, reduced organizational effectiveness and created barriers to the timely and efficient delivery of services to county residents.

The New York Community Trust’s Westchester Cumulus Fund and Frank E. Wigg Charitable Fund contributed to the grant.

“Nonprofits partner with Westchester County government to deliver essential services that benefit residents of all ages, backgrounds and income levels. We are grateful to The New York Community Trust and its partners for recognizing that an efficient, accountable contracting system is essential to strong communities and a healthy economy,” said Jan Fisher, executive director of Nonprofit Westchester. “For too long, outdated contracting practices, delayed procurement and inconsistent payments have undermined the operational infrastructure nonprofits need to recruit and retain staff, invest in technology and critical systems, provide fair and competitive compensation and deliver the highest-quality services possible. This grant will enable us to build on our strong partnership with Westchester County to replace piecemeal improvements with data-driven reforms that will create a consistent, predictable and streamlined countywide contracting system.”

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While this new grant focuses on driving local county-level contracting overhauls, NPW continues to champion parallel state-level legislative corrections. NPW recently applauded the New York State Legislature for passing a landmark package of contracting reform bills sponsored by Westchester’s State Senator Shelley Mayer and Assemblymember Amy Paulin. Those bills aim to establish clear agency timelines, expand access to bridge financing, and mandate upfront advance payments to stabilize the sector statewide.