Each New Year is a time for fresh starts and new beginnings, and here at LIFT New York we are reveling in novelty. As the new Executive Director for the region, I’m excited to introduce myself to the community here in the Bronx and across the LIFT universe. My name is Anthony Barrows, and I’m excited to join an organization I have long admired. As someone who has dedicated my career to various types of anti-poverty work, including in recent years through applied research, I am especially excited to lead a team that’s rooted in community. My original career was in child welfare, and I’ve always believed in the power of proximity to unlock transformative change.
As someone who grew up in the projects of Boston, I know firsthand what it’s like to need help from government agencies and nonprofits, and I know that a family can truly prosper when they get the right help in the right way. I also know that the opposite can be true – oftentimes the systems that exist to help can compound problems for families when they offer the wrong supports (or not enough of them), or when they denigrate and disempower the families they are meant to serve. As I have said elsewhere, if any one of us deserves help, every one of us deserves help.
LIFT’s commitment to treating people humanely–to being relentlessly member-centered–was a key selling point for my interest in this role and is a key component to our success in promoting the well-being of our members. When we respect people, including respecting their hopes and dreams, they respond and thrive. It’s so much easier to articulate bold goals for your life, and to believe that those goals are achievable, when the people around you are confident in your ability to attain them and committed to helping you pursue them.
As we enter into 2025 with so many changes afoot here in the US and the world, I am mindful of the need for us all to build community and connectedness. I can’t think of a better north star for that work than the values animating LIFT’s new strategic plan: Hope, Money and Love. They’re things we all need to thrive, and could all use a little more of, and I’m eager to help LIFT New York grow across all three.