Harlem Grown, Inc.
Lobbying client
A Harlem nonprofit founded in 2011 by Tony Hillery that turns vacant lots into urban farms, now running 13 sites that grow food and teach nutrition and sustainability to local schoolchildren. It filed 15 lobbying disclosures since 2024, lobbying all 51 council members through Bolton-St. Johns, LLC on budget and procurement matters, and held $6.1 million in active city contracts as of August 2026, part of $6.4 million in contracts since 2011.
- Council members lobbied
- 51 (citywide)
- Filings (since 2024)
- 15
- Lobbying compensation (since 2024)
- $150,500
- Industry (per city contracts)
- Human Services
- City contracts (active)
- $6,120,000 · 1 contract
- Awarded all-time
- $6,374,556 · 14 since 2011, incl. expired
- Paid to date
- $433,731
- Won without a fresh bid
- 3% of contract value · $219,556 · 11 contracts
- Discretionary funding (FY2009-FY2027)
- $512,756 · 38 awards
- Funding history
- Funded 11 years (FY2012–FY2027), including each of the last 3
- Top officer pay (FY2024)
- $305,461 · Howard A Hillery, CEO/Founder
Represented by lobbyist firms
- Bolton-St. Johns, LLC Lobbyist firm
Holds contracts at
- Department of Education City agency
- Department of Parks and Recreation City agency
- Department of Youth and Community Development City agency
What they lobbied on
subjects from their filings
- Budget - AN INDEPENDENT
- Procurement - AN INDEPENDENT
- Resolution - Miscellaneous Issues in NYC
City contracts
Registered city contracts, largest first by current contract value (not amount spent): running now, then registered to start later, then ended. Totals count every registered contract. Each line shows its Checkbook contract ID. The tag on each row is how it was awarded (“no-bid” = non-competitive).
- COMPASS Programs in Public Schools -Elementary Department of Youth and Community Development · CT126020278801049 $6,120,000
- Funds will support gardening programs. Department of Parks and Recreation · CT184620181403828 · ended 2017 $40,556
- Funds to support Harlem Urban Gardening Education Program. Department of Youth and Community Development · CT126020228805495 · ended 2020 $39,500
- Support Harlem Based School Gardens in CD09 Department of Parks and Recreation · CT184620191417138 · ended 2019 $33,500
- NEGOTIATED SERVICES-SERVICES Department of Education · CT104020223032284 · ended 2022 $25,000
- support Educational programming and food subsidy services Department of Parks and Recreation · CT184620191417237 · ended 2019 $25,000
- Funds will support education programming and curriculum dev. Department of Parks and Recreation · CT184620181421157 · ended 2018 $25,000
- support community programing in smaller neighborhood parks Department of Parks and Recreation · CT184620191426092 · ended 2019 $15,000
- FY22 Discretionary Department of Parks and Recreation · CT184620248804197 · ended 2022 $10,000
- Funds will be used to support community programming Department of Parks and Recreation · CT184620248801489 · ended 2021 $10,000
Discretionary funding received
City Council discretionary (member-item) awards, largest first. Covers FY2009-FY2027.
- Parks Equity Initiative CM Salaam · Parks Equity Initiative · DYCD · FY2026 $30,000
- Local DPR · FY2017 $25,000
- Local DPR · FY2018 $25,000
- Speaker's Initiative Speaker's Initiative · DPR · FY2019 $25,000
- Speaker's Initiative Speaker's Initiative · DYCD · FY2020 $25,000
- Speaker's Initiative CM Speaker · Speaker's Initiative · DYCD · FY2026 $25,000
- Speaker's Initiative CM Speaker · Speaker's Initiative · DYCD · FY2027 $25,000
- Parks Equity Initiative Parks Equity Initiative · DPR · FY2018 $23,500
- Public School 318M, Public School 154M, Public School 197M A Greener NYC · DOE · FY2019 $20,000
- A Greener NYC CM Perkins · A Greener NYC · DOE · FY2020 $20,000
- A Greener NYC CM Salaam · A Greener NYC · DYCD · FY2025 $20,000
- Speaker's Initiative CM Speaker · Speaker's Initiative · DYCD · FY2025 $20,000
- Parks Equity Initiative Parks Equity Initiative · DPR · FY2019 $15,000
- Parks Equity Initiative CM Levine · Parks Equity Initiative · DPR · FY2020 $15,000
- Youth Programming - Council District 9 CM Jordan · A Greener NYC · DOE · FY2022 $15,000
- Urban Farms CM Salaam · A Greener NYC · DYCD · FY2026 $15,000
- Food Pantry CD# 9 CM Salaam · Food Pantries · DYCD · FY2026 $15,000
- Boro Boro · DPR · FY2017 $10,556
- Local DSS · FY2012 $10,000
- Parks Equity Initiative Parks Equity Initiative · DPR · FY2017 $10,000
Funded by these council members
City Council members who steered discretionary (member-item) money to this organization, largest first (FY2020 and later, where the sponsoring member is disclosed). Sitting members link to their page.
- Yusef Salaam FY2025-2026 · 4 awards $80,000
- Perkins FY2020-2021 · 6 awards $57,500
- Levine FY2020-2021 · 3 awards $30,000
- Jordan FY2022 · 1 award $15,000
- Ayala FY2020-2021 · 2 awards $10,000
- Shaun Abreu FY2022 · 1 award $10,000
Officer & key-staff pay
Reportable compensation from this organization's IRS Form 990 (Part VII), latest available filing (FY2024). Includes pay from related organizations where reported; an annual figure, not a running total. Source: ProPublica Nonprofit Explorer.
- Howard A Hillery CEO/Founder $305,461
- Nicole Engel Executive Director $270,400
- Charles Maher Chief Operating Officer $201,563
Officer pay over time
Total officer pay changed +178% from FY2021 to FY2024. Top-officer reportable compensation by year (org-paid only), with each year's share of total revenue. Source: ProPublica Nonprofit Explorer 990 filings.
- FY2021 Howard A Hillery · 6.31% of revenue $192,840
- FY2022 Howard A Hillery · 7.12% of revenue $192,422
- FY2023 Howard A Hillery · 13.66% of revenue $301,141
- FY2024 Howard A Hillery · 15.11% of revenue $305,461
Federal awards
Federal awards made directly to this organization in fiscal years 2023 through 2026. Each amount is what the federal government has OBLIGATED on that award as recorded on USAspending.gov as of 2026-08-31 — money committed, not money paid out. These are prime awards only: federal money this
- Department of Agriculture 10.935 Urban Agriculture and Innovative Production Grants Program (UAIP) · Natural Resources Conservation Service · Grant $350,000