A Fashion Event with Purpose

Threads of Impact NYC is more than a fashion show — it is a cultural fundraiser that weaves together design, climate action, and community-led innovation. In a moment when the world is searching for models of hope, Threads of Impact NYC spotlights the people and practices proving that sustainability-conscious futures are not only possible but already underway.

Hosted by The Sustainability Laboratory, this benefit brings together designers, artisans, climate leaders, and supporters who believe that beauty with integrity and impact belong in the same sentence. Every ticket purchased becomes a thread in a larger tapestry of transformation.

Why Threads of Impact NYC Matters Now

of GLOBAL CARBON EMISSIONS COME FROM FASHION

Threads of Impact NYC reframes what fashion can be: a platform for innovative design, women's economic power, and systems-level climate solutions.

We are living through a global turning point. Climate pressures, ecological degradation, and social inequities are accelerating — but so is the ingenuity of communities building innovative solutions from the ground up.

Threads of Impact NYC exists to amplify these solutions. This event:

Elevates sustainability-conscious design as a cultural force.
Connects New York’s creative community with global ecological restoration projects.
Raises critical funds to scale The Lab’s work across regions where climate resilience is urgently needed.
Celebrates craftsmanship, community, and the power of collective action.

In a world hungry for stories of possibility, Threads of Impact NYC is a stage for exactly that.

How Your Support Fuels Real-World Change

Threads of Impact NYC is a celebration of creativity, culture, and climate action. Funds raised directly support The Sustainability Laboratory’s global programs — initiatives that demonstrate how ecological restoration, economic empowerment, and cultural vitality can reinforce one another. Examples of some of our work include:

Project Olgulului (Southern Kenya)

pilot impacting 30 families on 1,000 acres

A scale-up of The Lab’s flagship initiative, Project Wadi Attir, adapted for a Maasai community at the Olgulului ranch in southern Kenya, adjacent to the Amboseli National Park. This pilot project supports climate-resilient livelihoods, land restoration, women-led micro-enterprises, human-wildlife interface, and holistic community development.

Your support helps implement this work in East Africa, where climate vulnerability and food insecurity are rising, and systems-based solutions are urgently needed.

The Global Sustainability Fellows (GSF) Program

80+ Fellows trained from 20+ countries, now leading sustainability initiatives worldwide.

A transformative educational program that trains emerging sustainability leaders through immersive fieldwork at Lab projects around the world. Fellows learn systems thinking, climate-resilient design, and community-centered innovation — becoming ambassadors for a new paradigm of sustainability.

Project Wadi Attir — Our Flagship Model

200,000+ beneficiaries reached through programs, training, and site activities; 50 jobs created; 900‑head herd producing 15+ dairy products; 25+ medicinal products; 10,000 visitors/year and measurable CO₂ sequestration (3 tons/ha/year).

A pioneering initiative co-created with a Bedouin community in the Negev desert, Israel that integrates restorative dryland agriculture, renewable energy, indigenous knowledge, women’s leadership, and community-owned enterprise. It has become a globally recognized model for sustainable development rooted in local culture.

Threads of Impact NYC is how we expand these programs, deepen their reach, and bring more communities into the global network of long-lasting, systems-based change now to ensure a more resilient future.

A Special Thank You to Our Sponsors and Donors

Threads of Impact NYC is possible because of the visionaries who believe in the power of creativity, community, and sustainability‑conscious development. To our sponsors, donors, and early champions — thank you for standing with us, for investing in possibility, and for helping The Sustainability Laboratory bring transformative projects to life around the world.

Your support strengthens communities, restores ecosystems, expands educational opportunities, and fuels the next chapter of our work. Every contribution — whether a ticket, a sponsorship, or a donation from afar — becomes part of a larger story of hope and action.

Thank you for being part of the tapestry of our journey.

We invite you to join us, celebrate with us, and help us weave a future where culture and climate action move together, communities thrive, and creativity fuels change. Your participation ensures that the work of The Lab continues to grow, scale, and reach the communities who need it most.

Join us. Together, we create impact that lasts.

Threads of Impact NYC is generously supported by:

Shelley Frost Rubin | SJS Charitable Trust

Owl's Brew

Photography generously provided by Steve Eichner
Public Relations support generously provided by Blue Medium

____________________________

The Lab gratefully acknowledges the following contributions to the silent auction:

We are deeply appreciative of all the people helping to make Threads of Impact NYC possible,
including our models and volunteers.

Special thanks to Shelley Frost Rubin, Leah Frederick, and 150W17th for their grace and support in hosting the event.

The Sustainability Laboratory gratefully acknowledges all our donors, supporters, and numerous friends for your generous support of our year-round initiatives and programs:

Joshua Arnow and Elyse Arnow Brill, Mattias Bittner, Per Carstedt and the Göran Carstedt Family Foundation, Anne L. Dean, Joyce Dickerson, The Helene Duldner Foundation, The Moses Feldman Family Foundation, Ivor & Barbara Freeman, Eva and Yoel Haller, David Helpern and Joan Calpin Helpern, Jewish National Fund, Diane and Rick Klingman, Sandra Shahinian Leitner, The Pierre and Tana Matisse Foundation, Tom McMackin, Philip and Leslie Murray, Shelley Frost Rubin, The Lawrence and Carol Saper Foundation.

About The Sustainability Laboratory

The Sustainability Laboratory is a US-based 501 (c) (3) nonprofit, research, development, and educational organization established in 2008 by Dr. Michael Ben-Eli to advance the global sustainability agenda by developing and demonstrating groundbreaking approaches to sustainability practices—expanding prospects and producing positive, life-affirming impacts on people and ecosystems in all parts of the world.

Lab activities are guided by a unique, action-oriented conceptual framework―The Lab’s signature approach―which combines a holistic system-thinking and system-based design strategy; a pioneering theory of change; and a rigorous definition of sustainability and five core sustainability principles. This framework provides the basis for all The Lab’s initiatives: development projects, technology innovations, and education programs alike.

The Lab serves:

Indigenous and pastoral communities facing climate vulnerability
Women and youth seeking pathways to economic empowerment
Local leaders and practitioners building climate-resilient enterprises
Global changemakers and students through immersive education programs
Regions experiencing ecological degradation where new models of land stewardship are urgently needed

Across all our work, we champion a holistic approach — one that recognizes that environmental health, social wellbeing, and economic vitality are interdependent. Our projects are living laboratories that prove what’s possible when communities are empowered with tools, knowledge, and long-term partnership.

The Lab is being developed as a global network of activity hubs based on different ecozones with an intention to cover all major biomes, including urban ecology.

Recognized internationally for its work, The Lab’s comprehensive approach has resulted in a cascade effect of powerful impacts across sectors and issues.

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Threads of Impact NYC 2026 Benefit

A fashion-for-systems-change event supporting The Sustainability Laboratory