FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
PARTNERSHIP FOR NEW YORK CITY

New York, New York
January 11, 2010

press release (PDF 107K)

Partnership for New York City Appoints Dr. Ester Fuchs as Senior Policy Fellow

The Partnership for New York City today announced the appointment of Dr. Ester Fuchs of Columbia University as a Senior Policy Fellow. Dr. Fuchs will serve in this capacity for the duration of a sabbatical from Columbia’s School of International and Public Affairs (SIPA).

Dr. Fuchs is Professor of Public Affairs and Political Science and Director of the Urban Policy Program at SIPA. Before joining Columbia’s faculty, she served as Special Advisor for Governance and Strategic Planning to Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg. In that capacity she was responsible for developing and implementing reform initiatives for City agencies as well as advising on new, innovative and efficient ways to deliver public services.

During her fellowship Dr. Fuchs will work with the Partnership on projects concerning city and state budgets, economic development, education, federal urban policy, and immigration. She will also be working on a book about governing the 21st century city.

"Ester Fuchs is one of New York’s most creative and respected experts on government, politics and the economy,” said Kathryn Wylde, President & CEO of the Partnership. “We expect she will be a terrific asset in helping the Partnership advance the shared interests of business and the city.”

“The business community plays a key role in shaping New York City’s future," said Dr. Fuchs.  "I look forward to working with the Partnership to tackle important challenges, from immigration reform to the fiscal crisis, the continued improvement of public education and maintaining New York’s global competitiveness.”

Dr. Fuchs’ full biography:

Ester R. Fuchs is Professor of Public Affairs and Political Science and Director of the Urban Policy Program and Global Mayors Forum at Columbia University's School of International and Public Affairs. She served as Special Advisor to the Mayor for Governance and Strategic Planning under New York City Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg from 2001-2005. As Special Advisor, she was responsible for developing and implementing reform initiatives for City agencies as well as advising on new, innovative and efficient ways to deliver public services.  Dr. Fuchs coordinated three significant mayoral initiatives: the restructuring the City's delivery of Out-of-School Time (OST) programs to children, youth, and families; the Integrated Human Services System Project (Access New York) to streamline the screening and eligibility determination processes, case management, and policy development and planning functions within and across the 13 human services agencies through the use of technology; and the merger of the Department of Employment with the Department of Small Business Services to align the City's workforce development programs with the needs of the business community. Dr. Fuchs was professor of political science at Barnard College, chair of the Urban Studies Program at Barnard and Columbia Colleges and founding director of the Columbia University Center for Urban Research and Policy.

Dr. Fuchs was the first woman to serve as Chair of the NYC Charter Revision Commission in 2005. She currently serves on the Mayor's Sustainability Advisory Board, New York City Economic Opportunity Commission, the New York City Workforce Investment Board, the New York City Commission on Women's Issues and the Advisory Board for New York City's Out-of-School Time (OST) Initiative. She is appointed to the Committee on Economic Inclusion of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) and is a member of the Boards of the Fund for the City of New York, the Citizens Union, the Museum at Eldridge Street, the Jewish Community Relations Council, the Advisory Committee of The National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse and the International Board of Overseers of The Hebrew University Rothberg International School.

Prof. Fuchs has been the recipient of grants from the NYC Public Advocate Foundation for the Citizen Satisfaction Survey, NYC Economic Development Corporation (EDC) for the comprehensive neighborhood economic development initiative; the Wallace Foundation Learning in Communities Initiative; the Guggenheim Foundation for summer public service internships; the Ford Foundation on Political Participation and the Civic Culture of Moslem Communities in NYC; the Greater London Enterprise to compare governance in London and New York; US Department of Justice on Implementation of the National Voter Registration Act; the National Health and Human Service Employees Union AFL-CIO project on Political Participation in NYC and NYS; a Ford Foundation grant on New Voices in State Fiscal Policy; the US Department of Housing and Urban Development evaluation of the federal homeless policy, the Continuum of Care; and Upper Manhattan Empowerment Zone Technical Assistance Project.

In May of 2008 she received the Distinguished Alumna Award from Queens College and in May of 2007 Columbia University School of International and Public Affairs Award for Outstanding Teaching, and in November 2006 Excellence in Technology Award for "Best IT Collaboration among Agencies," for Access New York, City of New York.  Dr. Fuchs recently completed, "Innovations in City Government: The Case of New York City's Workforce Developments System" for Columbia's University's Case Study Series in Global Public Policy and is the author of Mayors and Money: Fiscal Policy in New York and Chicago. She is a frequent political commentator in print, broadcast and new media. She received a B.A. from Queens College, C.U.N.Y., an M.A. from Brown University, and a Ph.D. in Political Science from the University of Chicago.

The Partnership for New York City (www.pfnyc.org) is a network of business leaders dedicated to enhancing the economy of the five boroughs of New York City and maintaining the city’s position as the center of world commerce, finance and innovation.