THE IBRAHIM ABDUL-MATIN RAINPROOF FELLOWSHIP
New York City has boundless ideas, policies, or projects to address the short- and long-term impacts of heavy rainfall. However, it lacks the investment and recognition in people who can translate across systems—community, government, data, design, culture—and move solutions from insight to durable adoption.
The Ibrahim Abdul-Matin Rainproof Fellowship, hosted by Rebuild by Design, invests in cross-sector leaders whose work advances urban flood resilience and equips them to operate as system integrators—bridging silos, accelerating coordination, and translating innovation into practice at scale.
Named in honor of Ibrahim Abdul-Matin (1977–2023), the Fellowship reflects his core theory of change: that effective environmental action depends on leaders who can galvanize community knowledge and action, work with public institutions to support the people most impacted, and bring a moral imagination to solving NYC’s greatest challenges.
MEET THE INAUGURAL FELLOWS
Climate adaptation requires investing in and building the capacity of individuals who can move between community and government, data and storytelling, policy and practice, design and implementation through institutional recognition and investment. The Rainproof Fellows serve as this connective tissue. Each Fellow brings a different perspective, project, and energy to the greater collective effort of systematically adapting to heavy rainfall. Meet the inaugural Ibrahim Abdul-Matin Rainproof Fellows, Tiffany Baker and Nick Nyhan, who are preparing their communities for increasing flooding and supporting New Yorkers to take action through art, technology, storytelling, and education.
Tiffany Baker | Visual Artist & Oral Historian
Tiffany Baker is a Brooklyn-based visual artist whose Dear Neighbor Project uses public art and oral history to document and respond to flooding in Gowanus. Her work demonstrates how cultural practice can function as climate infrastructure—strengthening community awareness, preparedness, and cohesion in flood-prone neighborhoods. Check out Tiffany’s “Rainproof Gowanus Brooklyn” and “Designing an equitable water future” with Design Trust for Public Space.
Nick Nyhan | Data Entrepreneur & Civic Technologist
Nick Nyhan is a data entrepreneur and civic technologist who founded The City Sponge to address gaps in flood preparedness and recovery information, particularly for renters, who are often forgotten in government-administered post-flood programs. Through digital tools, convenings, and partnerships, his work improves access to actionable knowledge and supports more equitable climate risk governance. Check out Nick’s other flood initiatives, including Flood Chat, Floodline, and Blue Dots NYC.
SUPPORT THE FELLOWSHIP: CARRY IBRAHIM’S LEGACY FORWARD
The Fellowship will build a growing movement of people connected by a shared mission–to Rainproof NYC.
Your gift, of any size, directly supports the work of the fellowship and the fellows. All gifts to support this work will go through Rebuild by Design at New York University, with 100% of the gift applied toward the Fellowship.
Unable to make a monetary contribution? Have other support ideas? Let us know at info@rebuildbydesign.org
WHY THIS FELLOWSHIP?
THE CHALLENGE
New York City is already on the front lines of climate change: increasingly frequent and intense rainfall events are overwhelming century-old sewer infrastructure, flooding homes and transit systems, disrupting economic life, and taking lives.
In the past decade alone, extreme rainstorms—including Hurricanes Ida, Henri, and Ophelia—have exposed deep vulnerabilities in the city’s built environment and governance systems, with climate projections indicating that these impacts will accelerate in both frequency and severity in the years ahead.
In practice, these impacts are not evenly distributed. Extreme rainfall and flooding function as a poverty amplifier in New York City—disrupting work, damaging housing, increasing household debt, and accelerating displacement for low-income residents and renters—making climate adaptation a core economic resilience and anti-poverty strategy.
CLOSING THE GAP
Over the past decade, Rebuild by Design has shifted how cities approach climate resilience—moving from fragmented, project-based responses toward integrated, people-centered, and design-led systems change. Through landmark initiatives such as the Rebuild by Design Hurricane Sandy Design Competition and the ongoing Rainproof NYC initiative, Rebuild has demonstrated that effective adaptation requires capital investment, policy reform, and sustained coordination across institutions and communities.
Yet a persistent gap remains: while plans, pilots, and funding streams proliferate, there are few structured mechanisms to support the leaders capable of navigating institutional complexity, maintaining cross-sector trust, and carrying adaptation work forward over time. These individuals are essential but often unsupported, under-resourced, and vulnerable to burnout. The Fellowship responds directly to this gap by treating leadership capacity as critical infrastructure. The Fellowship is embedded within Rainproof NYC—Rebuild’s citywide framework for addressing increasingly severe rainfall—ensuring alignment with ongoing policy, planning, and implementation efforts.
This investment establishes a replicable model for strengthening human capacity within urban climate governance, leverages Rebuild’s proven institutional platform, and positions the Fellowship for sustained philanthropic and public-sector support.
a rainproof nyc day of action
To celebrate the launch of the Fellowship, we invited Ibrahim’s friends and family to join us for a Rainproof NYC Day of Action, Ibrahim-style! We rolled up our sleeves and spent a Sunday in Flatbush, Brooklyn, clearing catch basins and learning about the many ways we can make our neighborhoods more rain-ready. DEP brought out its “claw truck” to demonstrate the difference between “cleaning” and “clearing” catch basins, while Brooklyn Level Up showed us how its sidewalk stencils reveal themselves in the rain. Trash Talk NYC also demonstrated how to aerate tree beds to improve soil absorption and help our streets better manage stormwater.
It was a day full of new connections, shared learning, and a common mission–to Rainproof NYC!
Big shout-out to our event partners: Brooklyn Level Up, Trash Talk NYC, DEP, The City Sponge, The Dear Neighbor Project, Green City Force, DSNY, and the Fellowship Advisory Committee. Their collaboration showcased what Rainproof NYC in action is all about: everyone has a role to play, and we need to do so together.
Want to host a catch basin cleanup in your neighborhood? Get in touch with us! We’ll walk you through everything you need to know.
ABOUT IBRAHIM ABDUL-MATIN (1977–2023)
Ibrahim Abdul-Matin brought love, passion, and a sense of humor to working on environmental policy. He worked across the public, private, and civic sectors on several affairs including sustainability, technology, community engagement, sports, and new media to influence many realms of society. Part environmentalist and part community organizer, his book, Green Deen: What Islam Teaches about Protecting the Planet, draws on research, scripture and interviews with Muslims to trace Islam’s profound dedication to humankind’s collective role as stewards of the Earth. And that people of all beliefs can appreciate the gifts and contributions that Islam and Muslims bring to the environmental movement.
Ibrahim had a career in service, including as the sustainability policy advisor to Mayor Michael Bloomberg and Director of Community Affairs at the NYC Department of Environmental Protection during Mayor Bill de Blasio’s administration. As a young person, Ibrahim served as Director of Youth Programs for the Prospect Park Alliance, an Outward Bound instructor, and co-founded NYC’s first public high school for future climate leaders – the Brooklyn Academy for Science and the Environment. While at the Movement Strategy Center, he co-authored the seminal book, “Future 500,” an anthology of movement leaders and organizations that blended youth organizing and technology. He received numerous awards, including the National Urban Fellow (2008), Green for All Fellow (2009), and was named one of the 40 Under 40 Rising Stars in New York City Politics from City & State Magazine (2015), and NCAA Scholar-Athlete of the Year (1998) for his decorated career as a Division 1 Linebacker. Abdul-Matin held a BA from the University of Rhode Island and an MPA from CUNY (City University of New York) Baruch College. Ibrahim passed away in 2023 and leaves behind 3 sons – Ismael, Yousuf, and Mustafa – his greatest loves, his most beloved legacy.
Learn more about his legacy here.
Read Ibrahim’s contribution “Green Before Gray” to our “An Anthology of Ideas After Hurricane Ida”>>
MEET THE FELLOWSHIP Advisory Committee
Fatima Ashraf
Tiffany Baker
The Dear Neighbor Project
Nisha Baliga
Johanna Chao Kreilick
Amy Chester
Rebuild by Design
Tonya Gayle
Green City Force
Rifal Imam
Rebuild by Design
Vlada Kenniff
Johanna Lawton
Rebuild by Design
Betsy MacLean
Team Wonder
Sharon Myrie
Nick Nyhan
The City Sponge; Floodline
Lisbeth Shepherd
Green City Force; MIT Urban Risk Lab
GET INVOLVED IN RAINPROOF NYC
We each have a role to play in Rainproof.
Rainproof NYC is where all stakeholders learn from each other and act collectively to tackle increasingly heavy rainfall and flash floods.The growing Rainproof NYC network brings together community groups, city officials, technical experts, policy advocates, private sector partners, educators, and more to understand and address flooding in NYC.
Ways you can get involved include:
- Staying updated on new pilot projects, events, and funding opportunities.
- Collaborating with the Rainproof NYC Network.
- Joining a Rainproof Event.
- Learning from other cities in our Rainproof Series.
- Participating or Piloting Rainproof NYC Projects.
- Sharing Rainproof Resources & Expertise.