Brooklyn Arts Council

City-funded organization

Brooklyn Arts Council is a Brooklyn-based nonprofit that supports artists and arts organizations through grants, in and after-school arts education programs, professional development, and cultural heritage programming, per its own site. Its city contract history since 2007 falls into two categories: Department of Education arts-education services contracts (the underlying awards competitively bid via RFP, with the current $144,000 contract a renewal, not re-bid) and Department of Cultural Affairs grants supporting grantees' missions and cultural events (awarded as grants, not competitively bid). It has been awarded $19.6 million across 66 registered city contracts since 2007, of which 86% of contract value ($16.9 million across 57 contracts) was won without a fresh competitive bid, per Checkbook NYC's methodology. It has also received $16.8 million in City Council discretionary funding since FY2009 across 710 awards, including recurring SU-CASA awards through DCLA, and has been funded every year since FY2009 (19 years running). Its FY2023 Form 990 lists Executive Director Rasu Jilani's compensation at $136,523.

Industry (per city contracts)
Standardized Services
City contracts (active)
$144,000 · 1 contract
Awarded all-time
$19,602,265 · 66 since 2007, incl. expired
Paid to date
$17,796,290
Won without a fresh bid
86% of contract value · $16,876,265 · 57 contracts
Discretionary funding (FY2009-FY2027)
$16,755,494 · 710 awards
Funding history
Funded every year since FY2009 (19 years running)
Top officer pay (FY2023)
$136,523 · Rasu Jilani, Executive Director

Holds contracts at

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).

Discretionary funding received

City Council discretionary (member-item) awards, largest first. Covers FY2009-FY2027.

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.

Officer & key-staff pay

Reportable compensation from this organization's IRS Form 990 (Part VII), latest available filing (FY2023). Includes pay from related organizations where reported; an annual figure, not a running total. Source: ProPublica Nonprofit Explorer.

Officer pay over time

Total officer pay changed -59% from FY2020 to FY2023. Top-officer reportable compensation by year (org-paid only), with each year's share of total revenue. Source: ProPublica Nonprofit Explorer 990 filings.

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

Sources