The word movement carries many meanings. Movement references physical changes in position, traveling goods, social organizing, even medical shorthands.
At CitizensNYC, movement happens on the ground, budding from those closest to the challenges impacting vulnerable communities. The one-year Elliott Fellowship, named for our founder, Osborn Elliott, provides $15,000 in support of leaders who have outgrown our grant eligibility threshold through flexible funding and mentorship opportunities to influence the next generation of changemakers.
Of our inaugural cohort of Elliott Fellows, Laci Chisholm, founder and CEO of Fit4Dance, believes that movement begins with dance. Founded in 2014, Fit4Dance strived to provide an affordable, accessible dance studio where women, especially women of color, could improve their health outcomes through creative movement. At its most literal, movement became medicine.
For decades, researchers have pointed to the profound impact of regular movement—reducing the risk of chronic disease, improving cardiovascular health, and mitigating the effects of chronic stress. But movement extends far beyond Laci’s studio. Fit4Dance moves its community to collect menstrual products for incarcerated women, prepare hygiene kits for those experiencing homelessness, and deliver school supplies and holiday gifts to underserved children and families. Laci explains, “Dance may be the medium, but we’re doing so much more than that in the community through it.”
Laci’s genuine commitment to her community shines brilliantly through her influence as a CitizensNYC fellow. Throughout her time as an Elliott Fellow, she has independently facilitated a “Social Media 101” workshop, reviewed hundreds of grants, and served as a trusted advisor to the CitizensNYC grantee network.
And for Laci, our Fellowship has created an opportunity for heartfelt reflection. “Sometimes, you don’t realize the impact that you’re having on people because you’re just so entrenched in the work,” she takes a beat, “but believe people are learning from this, and it is making a difference.” The Fellowship has given her the space to see that impact more clearly, and to recognize how her own leadership can help others grow.
Movement, after all, is about more than motion, it’s about momentum. Laci’s journey shows what happens when grassroots leaders are given the resources, trust, and room to keep growing: their impact moves beyond a single program, a single organization, or a single neighborhood. Through the Elliott Fellowship, leaders like Laci are carrying what they’ve learned forward, strengthening the next generation of changemakers and building a more connected, resilient New York. One community at a time.
