The Public Good Podcast is joined by Alok Pinto and Taylor from Buffalo DSA to discuss the moment of democratic socialism and its growing influence in American elections.They explore the ideological differences between liberalism and democratic socialism, the importance of class analysis in addressing systemic oppression, and why the Democratic Party has struggled to meet working-class needs. The conversation also highlights the promise and challenges of democratic socialist campaigns—like Zohran Mamdani’s mayoral bid in New York City—and what a working-class movement could mean for the future of our communities.
This week, The Public Good explores how steep shifts in federal immigration policy are affecting Buffalo Niagara’s immigrant communities.
Guests Hagar Hafez, Merveilles Biende Katumba, and Anna Porter from the New York Immigration Coalition discuss how fear and uncertainty ripple through families—and how community, culture, and art can help rebuild trust and connection.
The episode highlights “The Home Within,” a cultural celebration of language and identity taking place October 30 at the Buffalo History Museum, featuring poetry, music, and food that honor immigrant resilience and belonging.
Tune in for a conversation on language access, cultural expression, and the power of art to overcome isolation and foster empathy.
The Public Good explores the importance of local elections and why youth and community engagement are key to shaping Buffalo’s future.
Guests Fatima Nor, Leighton Jones, and LeMoyne Hill — representing LOLA Buffalo, Our City Buffalo, and Great for Life — share their insights on the urgent need for youth representation, more community centers, and community input on major developments like the proposed police training facility in Broadway-Fillmore.
The discussion also dives into the upcoming Board of Education and mayoral elections, the effort to reopen Buffalo’s City Charter, and calls for accessible meetings, term limits, and stronger civic education to ensure residents have a real voice in local government.
From challenging systemic disinvestment to inspiring youth leadership, this conversation is a powerful reminder that change starts with showing up — and that Buffalo’s next chapter depends on empowering its young people to build a more just, equitable, and community-centered city.
Learn More / Get Involved:
LOLA Buffalo: lolabuffalo.org
Our City Buffalo: ourcitybuffalo.com
Join Tiffany Gaines of the Burchfield Penney Art Center, Heather Gring of Frontline Arts Buffalo, Emma Brittain-Hardy of Locust Street Art, and host Dejia James for a conversation on the importance of arts funding and community engagement in Buffalo, New York. Together, they highlight the critical role that the arts play in strengthening community health, fostering youth development, and contributing to economic stability.
The discussion underscores the urgent need for public investment in the arts, with particular attention to frontline organizations built by and for underserved communities. The guests reflect on the impact of federal budget cuts, the importance of sustaining local arts programs, and the necessity of paying artists fairly for their work.
The Igniting Hope Conference builds on a community-driven health equity action plan and brings together diverse voices to confront health disparities that continue to widen under the current federal administration. Guests Samantha Hidalgo of the Buffalo Center for Health Equity and Chantazia Bronson of UB’s Community Health Equity Research Institute share why this conference is more important than ever in these tumultuous political times.
This year’s gathering is dedicated to shaping a strategic plan for health equity across primary care, healthy foods, housing, workforce development, and education and literacy. The work is urgent, as federal cuts and shifting priorities threaten critical services for Western New Yorkers.
The weekend also includes a Community Day on Friday, September 19th at MLK Park, featuring food trucks and a mobile health unit—a chance for neighbors to connect, celebrate, and access resources.
All events are free and open to the public.
une in to learn how Western New York is standing together to demand equity, build power, and chart a healthier future.
Click here for more info on the conference.
This week on The Public Good, we continue our Buffalo in Transition series with a conversation on supporting new Americans—immigrant and refugee communities who have played a major role in Buffalo’s recent population growth and are essential to the city’s future.
Host Dejia James is joined by Bijoux Bihati of Jewish Family Services, Grace Karambizi of the Buffalo Immigrant Leadership Team (BILT), and Regine Ndanga of Partnership for the Public Good. Together, they explore what it means to build a more inclusive and equitable Buffalo—especially in this moment of historic mayoral transition.
The episode highlights the growing diversity of our city and the importance of recognizing the voices, needs, and leadership of new Americans. We also discuss the urgent need for cross-cultural community solidarity to create lasting solutions and a better future for all Buffalo residents.
Listen now and read the accompanying report, "Building Better Services for New Americans."
What if Buffalo’s vacant lots could become thriving spaces for housing, gardens, and community power?
This week on The Public Good, we’re joined by Tim Chen from Grassroots Gardens of WNY, and Tendaji Ya’Ukuu and Star from Eastside Stewards for a conversation rooted in transformation. Inspired by the Buffalo in Transition series, this episode dives into how we can reimagine the city’s abundance of publicly-owned vacant land—through community-driven planning, a bold Clean and Green program, and policy changes that support neighborhood-led development.
Buffalo Public Schools suspend students for weeks or even months—at rates higher than any other district in New York State. For the second consecutive year, Community Agenda advocates are urging the Buffalo Board of Education to adopt state-recommended reforms on suspensions to reduce this harmful and disproportionate practice.
This week on The Public Good, Quinn Martha of the New York Civil Liberties Union, Judith Gerber of the Legal Aid Bureau of Buffalo, and Samantha White of the WNY Law Center join us to break down the systemic impact of school suspensions, students’ legal rights, and what real alternatives can look like.
Visit the BPS Suspension Dashboard here.
Black women are approximately three times more likely to die from pregnancy-related causes than White women—a stark disparity. In honor of Black Maternal Health awareness, local leaders, healthcare professionals, and advocates come together to shine a light on the urgent and often overlooked intersection between domestic violence and Black maternal health.
This week on The Public Good, LuAnne Brown, CEO, Buffalo Prenatal Perinatal Network (BPPN), Catharine Miles-Kania, CEO, Family Justice Center, and Dr. J'Leise Sosa, OB-GYN join us to discuss improving outcomes through community-based support, domestic violence and Black maternal health and the clinical perspective on treatment and proper care.
While New York State implemented mental health, drug, and opioid courts to handle modern crises, the implementation of these options has remained patchy and ineffective. Members of the Treatment Not Jail (TNJ) Coalition detail the real experience of people suffering from addiction in our legal system. The system as is does not address the root causes of addiction nor consider the best approaches for rehabilitation from substance abuse. This results in years spent toiling through a system with pending charges and little hope.
This week on The Public Good, Tom Culkin and Laura Robinson of the TNJ Coalition join us to provide updates and insight on the Treatment Court Expansion Act for New York State. Tune in to learn about the statewide advocacy to ensure humane, safe, and fair legal processes for people in New York.
To learn more about our work, visit our website at ppgbuffalo.org. Be sure to sign up for our newsletter and follow us on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter.
Share your ideas for improving our community by emailing us at info@ppgbuffalo.org. Whether it's highlighting community organizations you admire, shedding light on deserving initiatives, or providing feedback on our current episode, we welcome your thoughts. Let us know how you envision positive change in our community!
For decades, election cycles have come down to a two-party "lesser of two evils" dynamic of candidate options. The struggle to produce unifying or politically diverse candidates has many feeling unrepresented and ultimately disillusioned with the state of the current voting system. However, some states and municipalities have decided to implement a new form of voting, Ranked Choice Voting (RCV). RCV allows voters to rank candidates in order of preference, which encourages productive political discourse, and requires candidates to win genuine policy support from voters.
This week on The Public Good, Lori Robinson of the League of Women Voters, David Green of Unite NY, and Connor Whitney from the UB Civic Engagement Team join us on behalf of the WNY Ranked Choice Voting Coalition to discuss an alternative voting system. Tune into the discussion to learn more about implementing Ranked Choice Voting in Buffalo and Erie County.
To learn more about our work, visit our website at ppgbuffalo.org. Be sure to sign up for our newsletter and follow us on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter.
Share your ideas for improving our community by emailing us at info@ppgbuffalo.org. Whether it's highlighting community organizations you admire, shedding light on deserving initiatives, or providing feedback on our current episode, we welcome your thoughts. Let us know how you envision positive change in our community!
The current instability and rapid changes in the United States federal government have raised unprecedented threats and concerns for nonprofits and community groups in Buffalo Niagara. Policy shifts, funding instability, and legal uncertainty place immense strain on organizations and government agencies that serve people most in need of protection and benefits—workers, BIPOC folks, LGBTQ+ individuals, immigrants, and low-income communities. Hard-won progress toward racial equity and justice is now under attack, with decades of progress being rolled back.
This April, Partnership for the Public Good is launching our 1st annual day-long summit, Advocacy in Action and a virtual workshop series Protecting Our People, Communities, and Organizations: Local Action in a Time of National Crisis. These opportunities offer local residents, aspiring community advocates and organizations a chance to take convene and learn how to fight back and protect necessary services and infrastructure for our communities.
Listen to learn about advocacy and how YOU can get activated in your own community to protect democracy and public services.
To learn more about our work, visit our website at ppgbuffalo.org. Be sure to sign up for our newsletter and follow us on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter.
Share your ideas for improving our community by emailing us at info@ppgbuffalo.org. Whether it's highlighting community organizations you admire, shedding light on deserving initiatives, or providing feedback on our current episode, we welcome your thoughts. Let us know how you envision positive change in our community!
As of February 2024 around 42% of New Yorkers across the state are enrolled in a Medicaid or Essential Plan. While some funding is state tax dollars, impending threats of an $880 billion cut to federal Medicaid spending over 10 years by the current administration will create a significant hole in NYS resources to serve the community.
With federal cuts and the risk of eliminating entire public health systems, Jasmine Westbrook of the Healthcare Education Project/1199 SEIU joins us to discuss their fight to save lives.
Tune in to learn about the statewide federal advocacy led by the Healthcare Education Project to protect medicaid and public health in New York.
Get Involved:
The New York Alliance for Healthcare Justice is fighting to end the Medicaid funding crisis in New York. Continuing to underfund Medicaid not only means severe cuts in mental health services while children and seniors on Medicaid experience difficulty accessing needed health care service.
To learn more about our work, visit our website at ppgbuffalo.org. Be sure to sign up for our newsletter and follow us on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter.
Share your ideas for improving our community by emailing us at info@ppgbuffalo.org. Whether it's highlighting community organizations you admire, shedding light on deserving initiatives, or providing feedback on our current episode, we welcome your thoughts. Let us know how you envision positive change in our community!
With unending sudden changes in federal mandates, immigration has been a central point of tension in our current political sphere. Recent changes include rescinding the "Sensitive Location Policy" which maintains certain spaces as safe spaces, such as schools and places of worship, from immigration enforcement. Due to a targeting of perceived "others," the community is left to fear for their safety.
On this episode of The Public Good, Anna Porter with the New York Immigration Coalition joins us to educate on knowing your rights with immigration enforcement. There are many federal changes happening on a weekly basis creating unease and fear in communities. Tune into the discussion to learn about what you can do and how to keep each other safe.
To learn more about our work, visit our website at ppgbuffalo.org. Be sure to sign up for our newsletter and follow us on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter.
Share your ideas for improving our community by emailing us at info@ppgbuffalo.org. Whether it's highlighting community organizations you admire, shedding light on deserving initiatives, or providing feedback on our current episode, we welcome your thoughts. Let us know how you envision positive change in our community!
More and more children need help with developmental benchmarks between the ages of 0-5 years old, while doctors, therapists, and providers are unable to meet the current need and have waitlists from 6-months up to a year.
White children are 5x more likely to receive early intervention screenings and services up to 24 months than Black and Brown children. Early childhood intervention providers rates of service were last adjusted and set by New York State in 1994, over 30 years ago. These statistics are the reason Liftoff WNY is fighting for more support from New York State for early childhood intervention systems to service our communities.
On this episode of The Public Good, Megan Battista of Liftoff WNY joins us to discuss the current state of early childhood intervention systems in New York State. Tune into learn about the statewide advocacy to support our early childhood intervention system and create better outcomes for children in New York.
To learn more about our work, visit our website at ppgbuffalo.org. Be sure to sign up for our newsletter and follow us on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter.
Share your ideas for improving our community by emailing us at info@ppgbuffalo.org. Whether it's highlighting community organizations you admire, shedding light on deserving initiatives, or providing feedback on our current episode, we welcome your thoughts. Let us know how you envision positive change in our community!
What does it mean to be in a ever-present state of crisis? Many across the political spectrum denote this point in history as a confluence of crises points.
On this episode of The Public Good, Dr. Rinaldo Walcott, Chair of the Department of Africana and American Studies at the University at Buffalo joins us to discuss the role of Black Studies and the history of Black people as a critical tool in confronting crisis and organizing for a better collective future.
Dr. Walcott leads UB's Humanities Institute Annual Conference 2025: Black Studies and the Crises of Our Times, this week on March 12th-14th, free and open to the public. "Black Studies and the Crises of Our Times responds broadly to the impact of the field since its formal establishment over 50 years ago. This multi-day conference, organized by the Department of Africana and American Studies in conjunction with the Humanities Institute, will articulate why we need Black Studies more than ever for both its national critique and its global articulations of political community."
Tune in to the podcast to hear a preview of discussions from the conference and register and join!
To learn more about our work, visit our website at ppgbuffalo.org. Be sure to sign up for our newsletter and follow us on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter.
Share your ideas for improving our community by emailing us at info@ppgbuffalo.org. Whether it's highlighting community organizations you admire, shedding light on deserving initiatives, or providing feedback on our current episode, we welcome your thoughts. Let us know how you envision positive change in our community!
Cities like Albany and Syracuse have opted into Good Cause Eviction, a tenants' rights and protections law. Why has Buffalo hesitated?
On this episode of The Public Good, PUSH Buffalo and Buffalo DSA join us to debunk Good Cause Eviction and demand Buffalo opt-in to this current New York State legislation.
Good Cause Eviction was passed in New York State in April 2024 to protect tenants in unregulated rental housing units in New York City, cities in upstate jurisdictions could opt in to this law by choice.
The law protects renters from price gouging, rent hikes, retaliatory evictions, and more. The law maintains “good causes” as grounds for legal evictions.
To learn more about our work, visit our website at ppgbuffalo.org. Be sure to sign up for our newsletter and follow us on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter.
Share your ideas for improving our community by emailing us at info@ppgbuffalo.org. Whether it's highlighting community organizations you admire, shedding light on deserving initiatives, or providing feedback on our current episode, we welcome your thoughts. Let us know how you envision positive change in our community!
The 2025 Community Agenda is here! On this episode of the Public Good, Our Executive Director, Andrea Ó Súilleabháin details the origins of the community agenda with a core of true democratic people-centered advocacy.
Each year, Partnership for the Public Good invites our 370+ partner organizations to propose local and state policy changes that advance equality, sustainability, and cultural vibrancy in Buffalo Niagara. The partners take a vote, and the top ten proposals become the Community Agenda – PPG’s focus for the coming year. The 2025 Community Agenda reaches across integral socioeconomic impact areas such as highway removal, community benefits for economic development subsidies, ending unfair punitive practices in educational settings, funding the arts, and more!
The 2025 Community Agenda of the top TEN policy change priorities are:
1. Fully Restore Olmsted's Humboldt Parkway and Delaware Park by Removing the Kensington and Scajaquada Expressways
2. Pilot a Community Responder Team in Erie County
3. Public Good for Public Dollars: Pass a Community Benefits Agreement Law for Erie County
4. End Unfair Suspensions in Buffalo Public Schools
5. Adopt Ranked Choice Voting in the City of Buffalo
6. Pass Good Cause Eviction Protections to Ensure Housing Stability for Buffalo Renters
7. Treatment Not Jail: Expand Access to and Modernize Treatment Courts in Buffalo
8. Fully Implement Proactive Rental Inspections in the City of Buffalo
9. Fulfill the City of Buffalo’s Annual Commitment to Fund the Arts
10. Pass the Working Families Tax Credit to Help Families Thrive in New York State
To learn more about our work, visit our website at ppgbuffalo.org. Be sure to sign up for our newsletter and follow us on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter.
Share your ideas for improving our community by emailing us at info@ppgbuffalo.org. Whether it's highlighting community organizations you admire, shedding light on deserving initiatives, or providing feedback on our current episode, we welcome your thoughts. Let us know how you envision positive change in our community!
We continue to examine the criminal justice system this week through the lens of sentencing reform. Currently, Communities Not Cages seeks to right the wrongs of the lingering effects of the War on Drugs and crack down on crime in the late 80s and through the 90s by offering incarcerated people a chance at restoration and freedom.
The Marvin Mayfield Act, the Earned Time Act and the Second Look Act remove the incentive for judges to hand down lengthy sentences, create opportunity to have a resentencing hearing while facing endless time in prison and reward rehabilitation and provide personal growth opportunities for those thrown into the system.
On this episode of The Public Good, we are joined by Thomas Gant, Felicia Cruz, and Lamar Scott of Communities Not Cages as they advocate for these three integral bills to change the lives of hundreds of incarcerated people across New York State.
Through the decades our society has faced crisis after crisis: The Crack Epidemic, 2008 Financial Crisis, the Opioid Crisis, COVID-19 and innumerable events have directly impact the economic, social and emotional health of everyday people.
The criminal justice system in New York State sought to create a pathway in the court system to address mental health and substance abuse issues proliferating case after case, through the creation of Treatment Courts. However, the implementation of these court systems have not been uniform across municipalities. As a result, people are forced into unfair plea agreements and unsustainable treatment programs.
On this episode of The Public Good, Sophie Feal of Legal Aid Bureau of Western New York of the Holistic Representation Unit, discusses advocacy efforts to standardized harm reduction principles and create wider accessibility of treatment courts in New York State. Tune in to join the discussion!
To learn more about our work, visit our website at ppgbuffalo.org. Be sure to sign up for our newsletter and follow us on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter.
Share your ideas for improving our community by emailing us at info@ppgbuffalo.org. Whether it's highlighting community organizations you admire, shedding light on deserving initiatives, or providing feedback on our current episode, we welcome your thoughts. Let us know how you envision positive change in our community!