Firewall with Bradley Tusk Betting on New Yorkers: The David Prize
Nov 13, 2025
In this engaging discussion, Erika Augustine leads The David Prize, which awards $200K grants to inspire innovation in NYC. She emphasizes relationship-driven philanthropy that fosters long-term change. Joining her is Erika Sasson, a former prosecutor turned restorative justice advocate, who shares transformative ideas about addressing harm through community and apologies instead of lengthy prison sentences. They explore the implications of AI in sentencing, or lack thereof, prioritizing human connection in justice processes and detailing grassroots efforts to revitalize NYC's communal spaces.
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Fund People Not KPIs
- Run open, no-strings grants to unlock long-horizon ideas that care about a city.
- Fund people, not outputs, to let teams take risks and pursue quieter, long-term impact.
Give Time To See Hard Things Work
- Removing strict output metrics changes risk tolerance, time horizon, and who you fund.
- That freedom helps find impact that is quieter, slower, and harder to measure but vital over decades.
From Federal Prosecutor To Restorative Justice
- Erika Sasson left federal prosecution because courtrooms excluded the voices most affected by harm.
- She studied Native peacemaking and restorative justice to bring victims and perpetrators into the conversation.