Walentas Family Foundation’s `David Prize’ announces finalists for $1M prize
Areas include child care, education, homeless advocacy, economic development
This week, The David Prize, named in honor of Brooklyn developer and philanthropist David Walentas and sponsored by the Walentas Family Foundation, has announced 22 finalists for the annual $1 million prize for extraordinary individuals who are making New York a better and brighter place, announced its 2021 cohort of finalists.
These finalists were chosen out of approximately 10,000 individuals. The applicants come from every corner of the city, with 92 percent of New York City zip codes represented. Categories include child care reform, immigration and criminal justice, human rights, homelessness and more. This year’s five winners, who will each win $200,000, will be announced in October.
David Walentas, originally from Rochester, New York, came to New York City in 1968 and was one of the main forces in transforming a then-neglected Brooklyn neighborhood, now known as DUMBO, into a thriving innovation hub and one of the city’s top destinations. In 2012, David Walentas and his late wife, Jane, established the Walentas Family Foundation to focus on education, the arts, and civic development in New York City.
The David Prize will recognize people that epitomize the “Only in New York” motto, in that their work approaches a uniquely NYC issue and addresses it with the flair and guts that parallel the city’s spirit.