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Join us to celebrate seven years of the Forefront Fellowship at the first-ever Forefront Party.

Forefront nurtures the next generation of leaders to build a brighter New York City. Over the past seven years, we’ve trained 200+ emerging leaders, at no cost to participants, and incubated new projects on some of our city’s most challenging issues, from housing to immigration, food justice to waste. Now, we’re turning to our community to help us sustain Forefront for the next seven years, and beyond.

Join us on April 3 to toast the Forefront Fellows, dance, and power the next wave of community-building, boundary-pushing projects to come.

This is a ticketed event curated by Forefront alumni, open to all. Hosted at Atelier Eva, designed by Forefront alum Alp Bozkurt, the celebration will feature interactive visuals by alum Emma Silverblatt’s post-, cake by alum Jenneh Kaikai’s Pelah Kitchen, music by DJ Tara, flash tattoos by Berkay and more to be announced!

Event Photos

Guest & Accessibility Policies

This event is open to all Fellows, their guests and friends of the Forum with the purchase of a ticket. Your contribution helps support our Forefront Program.  

If you have any questions, or to learn more, please reach out to our Director of Member Engagement, Miranda Bellizia, miranda@urbandesignforum.org.

We strive to host inclusive, accessible events that enable all individuals to engage fully.

• The venue will have an ADA-accessible entrance.
• This event will have microphones and speakers.
• If you’re not feeling well, please stay home. Face masks are encouraged, particularly if you have been recently exposed to colds, flus, or other illness. If you have been exposed to someone who tested positive for COVID-19 in the past 10 days, a high-quality, well-fitting face covering is required at all times.
• Please refrain from wearing strong fragrances to accommodate guests with allergies or environmental sensitivities.
• If you have additional needs, we will do our best to accommodate. Please contact rsvp@urbandesignforum.org.

Thank You to Our Sponsors

Support

We’re grateful to our community for supporting this vital program. If you’d like to join our party sponsors, reach out to Director of Member Engagement, Miranda Bellizia to learn more about sponsorship benefits or submit your sponsorship here. If you can’t make the event but would still like to show support, we hope you will consider making a donation.

Host Committee

We thank the host committee for all of their help organizing this year’s event: Alp Bozkurt, Astrid Mayak, Betsy Daniel, Catherine Ponte, Daphne Lundi, Ebony Wiggins, Emma Silverblatt, Gabriella Malavé, Ishita Gaur, Jennifer Grosso, Rebecca Macklis and Veronica Rivas Plaza.

About the Forefront Fellowship

Over the past seven years, the Forefront Fellowship has trained 200+ emerging leaders in design, planning, and community leadership, nurturing the next generation of leaders within the public and private sectors in New York City and around the world. Through Forefront, the Forum has seeded their independent projects tackling some of the most important issues our city faces, including homelessness, food equity, heat mitigation and waste systems. The Forum has launched the Forefront Residency, an investment in alumni to continue their work after the Fellowship with micro-grants, mentorship and networking.

Graphic by Veronica Rivas Plaza; Photos by Cameron Blaylock