"Retaining New York's Young Families"
Replay of the event
Event materials

New York’s enduring appeal to young people remains one of the city’s greatest strengths—and in today’s talent-based economy, it presents a massive opportunity to set the city up for years of future economic success. But to fully capitalize on this opportunity, city policymakers will need to take concrete steps to make sure New York can do far better in holding onto young people as they age into their thirties and start families. Indeed, in recent years, few cities have suffered as large an exodus of young families.

This forum discussed what concrete policies, strategies, and investments are needed to help New York retain and attract families—including ideas for addressing the city's housing crisis, reducing the cost of childcare, and other actions that would make New York more affordable and attractive to families. The latest in our year-long series of policy forums focused on actionable solutions for keeping New York competitive in the post-pandemic economy, this unique policy symposium included:

• A fireside chat with NYCEDC President & CEO Andrew Kimball;
• 3-minute “idea pitches” from the following candidates running for mayor:
  • Former Comptroller Scott Stringer
  • City Council Speaker Adrienne Adams
  • Comptroller Brad Lander
  • Assembly Member Zohran Mamdani
  • State Senator Zellnor Myrie
• Two high-level panel discussions featuring:
  • Grace Bonilla, President and CEO, United Way of New York City
  • Kelly Escobar, Managing Director, Early Childhood, Robin Hood
  • Winston Fisher, Partner, Fisher Brothers; CEO, AREA15
  • ​Kirk Goodrich, President, Monadnock Development
  • Jesse Hertzberg, Venture Capitalist and former CEO of Livestream
  • Melva Miller, Founder, Melva M. Miller & Associates; Former CEO, ABNY
  • Pratap Ranade, CEO and Co-founder, Arena
• Five idea pitches from the Center for an Urban Future;
• And a session in which members of the audience shared their ideas.

This symposium was made possible through generous support from the Fisher Brothers Foundation and Winston C. Fisher. We are also grateful for general support from The Clark Foundation, the Bernard F. and Alva B. Gimbel Foundation, the Altman Foundation, and ongoing support from a number of other philanthropic funders.