News
Osborne’s 2026 Annual Benefit
The Osborne community came together last night to celebrate our impact and raise over $1.1 million to support people and families in New York affected by the criminal legal system.
Osborne held its Annual Benefit at Tribeca 360° on Tuesday October 27, gathering more than 350 partners, donors, and leaders to celebrate the impact of Osborne’s work and its commitment to transforming the criminal legal system.
We were proud to honor five leaders in a variety of roles who are building affordable housing, bringing the transformative power of the arts inside prisons, and deepening public understanding of the criminal legal system.
The 2026 honorees were RuthAnne Visknauskas, who received the Community Impact Award; Will Blodgett, recipient of the Partner in Innovation Award; Jermaine Archer, whom we honored with our first-ever Rise Award; and Chris Hayes and Kate Shaw, also the first to receive a new award: Voices for Justice. Elijah Rodriguez, a member of Osborne’s Youth Action team who helped get the Protect In-Person Visits bill passed this year, served as the announcer for the evening.
In his opening remarks, Osborne President and CEO Jon Monsalve acknowledged a number of milestones Osborne marks in 2026, including 10 years of policy and advocacy through the Osborne Center for Justice Across Generations, 25 years of workforce development program, and 40 years of FamilyWorks, the first comprehensive parenting program for men in a state prison.
“Help us keep more people out of jail and prison, create more pathways to meaningful work and more housing, and support more people inside to repair harm and more families and children—who are serving time alongside them,” he urged the crowd.
The Community Impact Award, presented by Osborne Board Chair Mathew Wambua, went to RuthAnne Visknauskas, Commissioner and CEO New York State Homes and Community Renewal. She emphasized the importance of housing in supporting successful reentry, including HCR and Osborne partnerships such as Marcus Garvey Supportive Housing and the soon-to-be completed Chelsea Beacon.
“Stable housing is foundational,” she said. “When you have a safe and secure place to stay, every other piece can happen: health, employment, supportive relationships. Those things fall into place.”
Continuing on that theme was the second honoree, Will Blodgett, CEO of affordable housing developer Tredway. “Invest in people. Invest in affordable housing. Everybody is worthy of investment,” he said as he received the 2026 Partner in Innovation award for building housing that opens doors to opportunity in communities across the country.
The award was presented by Laurie Tisch, founder of the Laurie M. Tisch Illumination Fund and Blodgett’s mother-in-law. She tied Blodgett’s lifelong commitment to affordable housing to his upbringing on Chicago’s South Side, where he saw friends and their families struggle.
Honoring the words of Osborne’s namesake Thomas Mott Osborne, Lawrence Bartley, publisher of The Marshall Project’s News Inside, presented the inaugural Rise Award to his friend and colleague Jermaine Archer. Both men took “every Osborne program offered inside” and became devoted family men and community leaders after incarceration.
For Archer, the first formerly incarcerated leader of Rehabilitation Through the Arts, Osborne’s parenting support ultimately strengthened his bond with his daughter Kaylea, who “grew up in [Osborne’s] Family Center” and stood as he praised her his “Songbird.”
NYU’s Melissa Murray called for a world “where justice heals instead of harms” in presenting the Voices of Justice Award to Kate Shaw, also a law professor and co-host of the popular podcast “Strict Scrutiny,” and MS Now’s Chris Hayes, whose 2017 book on democracy and policing, “A Colony in a Nation,” was a bestseller.
Noting that she and Hayes are longtime Osborne supporters, Shaw said: “It’s an extraordinary organization – the wisdom, intelligence and effectiveness of the operation and the righteousness of everyone involved.”
Joining her onstage, Hayes thanked his father for being present and for “the families we grew up in, the settings we were in, the opportunities that we were afforded.”
“We know there’s an enormous bonfire of human potential and human flourishing that is being burned by our society for no reason,” he added. “Our life’s work … is to put that bonfire out.”
Osborne also debuted a new video (watch below) highlighting our support at pivotal moments in people’s involvement with the criminal legal system: keeping people out of clogged courts, supporting mothers who are parenting their children from prison, and reentry housing and work opportunities after release. Tilly, Nadya, and Nathan generously shared their stories, illustrating the challenges people face and the difference support can make.
We also honored the late Frederik R-L. Osborne for six decades of service on the board, during which he helped guide the organization’s growth while carrying forward his grandfather’s pioneering commitment to prison reform. We continue that legacy by supporting families affected by incarceration across New York state.
The event raised more than $1.1 million—and counting—to advance Osborne’s mission of transforming the lives of people affected by the criminal legal system. With our community’s support, we will continue developing innovative approaches, expanding opportunities, and helping people build brighter futures. Thank you for your generosity!
If you missed the event, visit our donation page to support our work.
HOST COMMITTEE
Douglas Apple, 1811 Consulting, LLC
Jamie Crooks, Fairmark Partners, LLP
Liz Gaynes, President Emeritus of the Osborne Association
Rick Gropper, Camber Property Group
Andrea Kretchmer, Xenolith Partners
Anne Strassner
Michael Wax, Citadel
LEADERS
Andy & Andrea Potash & The Distinguished Social Ventures Fund
BEACONS
Beachwold Residential
Rachael Bedard, MD & Gideon Z. Friedman
Chris Hayes & Kate Shaw
ILLUMINATORS
Anonymous (4)
Brookfield Asset Management
RoeCo Holdings LLC
Treeline Companies
LANTERNS
The Will & Carolyn Tisch Blodgett Foundation
Chicago Title
Federated National Land
Fried, Frank, Harris, Shriver & Jacobson LLP
Adam Hellegers & Stefanie Lieberman
Merchants Capital
Alison Novak & Aaron Yowell
Laurie M. Tisch Illumination Fund
Trinity Church NYC
Michael Wax, Citadel
Wells Fargo
TORCHBEARERS
AFL-CIO Housing Investment Trust
Anonymous (3)
Douglas Apple, 1811 Consulting, LLC
Ariel Property Advisors
The Arker Companies
BellRow Title Agency
Ana M. Bermúdez
BFC Partners
BlankRome
BRP Companies
Broadway Builders
Bruno Frustaci Contracting, Inc
Michael Callaghan
Clifton Budd & DeMaria, LLP
Coach America
The Community Preservation Corporation
ConEdison
Douglaston Development
Rick Gropper, Camber Property Group
Joy Construction Corp.
L+M Development Partners
NFP, an Aon company
Nixon Peabody LLP
Paths
Pembroke Companies
Ponce Bank
Sedreddine & Whoriskey, LLP
Standard Communities
S. Donald Sussman
The Emily Tisch Sussman Fund
Lizzie & Jonathan Tisch
Zara & David Tisch
Page Travelstead & Josh Keay
Urban Atelier Group
Katrina vanden Heuvel
Maggie & Aaron Wolk
SUPPORTERS
Ariel Aufgang
Benchmark Title Agency, LLC
CAMBA Housing Ventures, Inc.
Cannon Heyman & Weiss, LLP
CBIZ
CGMR Compliance Partners
Mark W. Connelly
Jamie Crooks, Fairmark Partners, LLP
Friedman Kaplan Seiler Adelman & Robbins LLP
Genesis Companies
Gotham Organization
Hirschen Singer & Epstein LLP
Kalel Companies
Bryan Kelly
The Law Office of Gary Kaufman, PLLC
Lettire Construction Corp.
Magnusson Architecture & Planning
Mega Contracting Group
Mission Title Agency
Premiere Business Innovations, Inc.
RDC Real Estate Partners
SBV RE Investments LLC
SVN Affordable
VHB
Dori & Bill Walton
The Zelnick/Belzberg Charitable Trust