We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Tomas Ramos a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Tomas , thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Was there a defining moment in your professional career? A moment that changed the trajectory of your career?

The COVID-19 pandemic exposed the lack of access to critical resources and services for communities that need them the most in New York City, specifically in the Bronx. At the onset of the pandemic, the Bronx was one of the hardest-hit areas at the time, having the highest rates of cases, deaths and hospitalizations due to systemic inequities that left residents without accurate information about COVID-19 or access to adequate health care or vaccines.

Soon after founding Oyate Group, we launched one of our first initiatives, Bronx Rising Initiative, to join the front lines of the pandemic and vaccinate the hardest-to-reach and most hesitant populations in the borough. We conducted door-to-door vaccine outreach and hosted vaccine pop-ups in public housing, senior centers, schools, community centers and on populous streets. Oyate Group’s Bronx Rising Initiative vaccinated over 40,000 Bronxites in one year, with over two-thirds of individuals self-identifying as Black or Latino, making BRI one of the most successful initiatives in reaching communities with the lowest vaccine rates and highest vaccine hesitancy in New York City.

In addition to our vaccine outreach and health care services at the time, we helped increase ICU bed capacity at Bronx hospitals, distribute grants to local small businesses facing financial hardship and established one of our first youth development programs, the Brandon Hendricks Scholarship. Between 2020 and 2021, we also raised over $5 million to support the Bronx through its recovery from the impacts of the pandemic.

Serving underserved communities isn’t just about addressing their immediate needs; it’s also about empowering them to thrive, and through our different initiatives, we can make a tangible impact on one of the most vulnerable areas of our home city.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

I am the founder, president and CEO of Oyate Group, a nonprofit organization that aims to alleviate cycles of generational poverty through sustainable and holistic solutions that support underserved communities, youth and small businesses. Headquartered in New York City, we close gaps in critical resources and services on a local to a global scale through programs that serve as models of empowerment that community leaders and organizations can follow.

Some of our programs include our annual Brandon Hendricks Scholarship, a $20,000 scholarship for two college-bound students from The Bronx. I established the program in 2020 to honor the legacy of Brandon Hendricks, a rising basketball star with a full-ride scholarship to St. John’s University who lost his life to senseless gun violence only two days after graduating from high school. I personally knew Brandon, so I wanted to make sure he remained a source of inspiration in the community through this scholarship.

Other programs I’ve launched through Oyate Group are Beyond Rising, a paid internship program for undocumented high school and college students in New York City; Rising Restaurateur, a $200,000 microgrant program for Black, Latino, Indigenous, Asian and Pacific Islander restaurant owners; and Mott Haven Rising, a business and neighborhood support program to bolster the area’s economic growth and prosperity.

Our work has also expanded internationally over the years, with on-the-ground programs and initiatives for communities in the Dominican Republic stricken by poverty and natural disasters. We recently launched Oyate Global Rising Scholarship to offer full-ride scholarships and visa assistance for two high school seniors in the Dominican Republic to attend The City College of New York for four years. Oyate Group has also raised and donated over $60,000 for hurricane relief in the Dominican Republic. We’ve also partnered with players of the Major League Baseball Players Association to donate over a thousand backpacks filled with different school supplies to children in their respective hometowns.

The word “Oyate” means “the People” in the Dakota language, and it is emblematic of our larger goal to make our communities resilient, sustainable and successful. I founded Oyate Group as a nonprofit made for and by the people, collaborating with a network of local business leaders, elected officials, education institutions, nonprofits and volunteers who have helped our organization expand its services and reach.

In addition to founding Oyate Group, I sit on the board of the Escuela Comunitaria del Bronx, the first tuition-free, bilingual community school serving the Bronx.

This year, I had the honor of receiving President Joe Biden’s Lifetime Achievement Award, the most prestigious civil award for extraordinary volunteerism that the President of the United States can bestow. I was also recognized in City & State New York’s 2024 Power of Diversity: Latino 100, 2024 Bronx Power 100 and Above & Beyond: Social Services lists.

How about pivoting – can you share the story of a time you’ve had to pivot?

Over four years ago, I ran for Congress in New York’s 15th Congressional District, which has long been the poorest district in the country. At the time, I had already established my community organizing career as the program director for Children’s Arts and Science Workshops at the Bronx River Community Center, where I fought to secure the first technology center in New York City’s public housing, won numerous awards and grants for local community centers and low-income families and developed financial literacy, civic engagement and college and job readiness programming for local youth.

Working at a grassroots level with local families and youth, I had an ear to the ground on issues affecting the South Bronx, such as lack of youth development and civic engagement opportunities, gun violence, unaffordable housing and gentrification – all exacerbated by vicious cycles of poverty. I decided to run for Congress in this district because I believed I could still do more to help my community.

Then, the COVID-19 pandemic began spreading across New York City, and it struck the Bronx. I had to act, so I shifted my focus away from my campaign in March of 2020 to build my own nonprofit, Oyate Group, and enact my vision for a more resilient New York, starting with providing immediate health care, educational and financial resources and services to residents in the Bronx.

Since then, my commitment to ending poverty has only deepened, expanding our services, programs and reach. Through every initiative Oyate Group creates, I aim to boost and maintain the prosperity of communities whose needs go unmet.

Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?

I was born in Washington Heights, New York City, as the crack cocaine epidemic and war on drugs was intensifying in our community. After my father was incarcerated in the late 1980s, my family and I left our home and moved to Pennsylvania. I remember being 12 years old when I had to visit my father in federal prison. After he was released, our family was complete again, and we moved to the Dominican Republic, where my parents still live.

I later returned to the United States with my siblings, finished high school and attended Temple University in Philadelphia, intending to work on Wall Street one day. I then had an eye-opening experience in 2008 after enrolling in a study-abroad program called Semester at Sea, where I visited 13 countries around the world. The experience was a turning point that ignited my passion for social justice, advocacy and progressive ideas.

After graduating from Temple University in 2010, I decided to return to New York City to ensure that New Yorkers living in underserved communities are supported and empowered. Knowing what it was like to feel displaced out of your own home due to poverty, violence and lacking a present father figure, I began to work with local nonprofits in 2016, such as the Bronx River Community Center, to help local families and youth. I also worked with restorative justice agencies to facilitate a diversion program that enables low-level offenders to avoid the legal system and provides them with needed support.

Fast-forward to 2024, I am now the president, CEO and founder of a prominent nonprofit organization dedicated to building holistic and sustainable structures that empower the residents of New York City and beyond.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://oyategroup.org/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/oyategroup/?hl=en
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/oyategroup/
• Twitter: https://x.com/oyategroup?lang=en
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCIaE359tjb_JUL2DZRjkvmw

Image Credits

Buck Ennis – Headshot/Personal Photo
Courtesy of Oyate Group for the rest of the photos