Crain's New York Business by crains-new-york-business

ASKED & ANSWERED How the MTA can lure riders back to the subway system

CRAINSNEWYORK.COM

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CHASING GIANTS A new competitor in the selfstorage market PAGE 3

MAY 16, 2022

DIV DI IVE IV VERSI SIIT SIT TY & INC TY NCL N CL LUS USI SIIO ON ON Crain’s celebrates the companies and leaders making the workplace more inclusive

Labor crunch and D&I goals

KGABO MAMETJA, BUCK ENNIS, PETER FREED

Plus: Nonprofit partners boost corporate diversity, and employee resource groups take center stage COVERAGE STARTS ON PAGE 11

Meet our D&I Awards finalists: The firms and people who are changing the city’s work culture for the better

ARIANA MOON

JONATHAN SIMON

CHERYL MCKISSACK DANIEL

EMPLOYMENT

Just 8% of workers are in city offices Monday through Friday

In a recent Partnership for New York City survey, 78% of employers said a hybrid schedule will be their go-to policy BY CARA EISENPRESS

y the time summer is over, New York City’s offices likely will be half-full on any given weekday, as hopes of a total return meet the reality of long-term hybrid schedules.

NEWSPAPER

VOL. 38, NO. 19

Only about 49% of Manhattan office workers are expected to be in their seats even after Labor Day, according to the latest survey of 160 major employers by the Partnership for New York City. The projection solidifies the permanence of

38%

OF MANHATTAN workers are at their desk on an average weekday.

lights in parts of the economic recovery that Gov. Kathy Hochul and Mayor Eric Adams have pegged to the return of office workers. Those affirmations include increases in office catering orders, a burst of business travel and See WORKERS on page 34

GOTHAM GIGS

WEARING MANY HATS AT A HARLEM THEATER CO. PAGE 34

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flexible work patterns even as the Covid-19 pandemic settles into the background of the city. Employers replied to the survey between April 21 and May 4. Despite results landlords may see as troubling, there are bright

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CRAIN’S POWER BREAKFAST

Ridership patterns have changed, but remote work is no threat to New York’s recovery, MTA chief says

anno Lieber, chairman and CEO of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, last Wednesday acknowledged the challenge of shifting ridership patterns amid the rise of remote work, but he flatly rejected the idea that the hybrid model is a threat to New York’s economy and how its workers travel. The MTA recorded 3.5 million subway trips May 5—the highest level since before the omicron Covid-19 variant swept through the city in December. The milestone exceeds the previous peak of 3.4 million daily riders in early December, Lieber said, and it nudges the agen-

Club, which featured a Q&A between Lieber and Crain’s Editor-in-Chief Cory Schouten. “If you’re a young, ambitious, hybrid worker hacking away at home a couple of days a week, you want New York more than ever, whether you’re focused on culture, nightlife, parks, restaurants or social opportunities,” Lieber said, adding that the agency aims to phase out a limited telework option for its own office employees.

Budget blow Despite the optimism sparked by the May 5 peak, ridership has fallen below estimates for the year. During the first quarter, according to the MTA, some 301 million people traveled on subways and buses—67 million shy of the MTA’s estimates. That loss translates to a $170 million blow to the agency’s budget. Luring riders back, and attracting new ones, remains crucial to the agency’s financial health. To that end, Lieber stressed that the MTA is assessing new trends to better serve travelers. Ridership is particularly low on Mondays and Fridays due to hybrid work schedules, Lieber said, and the agency is weighing the idea of increasing train volume on weekends and nights to meet a recent

“IT’S CLEAR THAT WE’RE GOING TO HAVE TO ADJUST THE SERVICE MODEL AGAIN” cy past a recent plateau of straphangers. Ridership across the MTA’s systems is currently at roughly 60% of prepandemic levels— double where it was less than a year ago. “I fundamentally don’t buy the argument that hybrid work is a threat to New York City,” Lieber said during a Crain’s-sponsored breakfast event at the New York Athletic

increase in tourism and New Yorkers commuting outside of work. “I believe that in-person matters, but I think we’re all recognizing that there’s going to be some version of hybrid,” Lieber said. “We’re trying to plan our mass transit to adapt to that. It’s clear that we’re going to have to adjust the service model again now, especially nights and weekends, which have been pretty strong.” He stressed that the MTA can no longer rely on farebox revenue, and he urged decision- makers in Albany to come up with new sources of revenue. He stopped short of advocating for specific solutions. “I believe it’s not our job to say, ‘Do this one; don’t do that one.’ But I do believe that we can put our heads together just like they did for the capital program,” he said, noting that state officials introduced a mix of new tax revenues to help

LIEBER

BUCK ENNIS

BY CAROLINE SPIVACK

fund the MTA’s $52 billion 2020– 2024 capital plan. In the longer term, investing in major projects that better connect New Yorkers to transit is key to broadening ridership, he said, including through upgrading subway stations to make them more accessible and with projects such as Gov. Kathy Hochul’s proposed Interbor-

ough Express. Improving bus service, Lieber said, is perhaps the “best available tool” to expand ridership in the short term. “You may or may not trust my crystal ball,” Lieber said, “but I’m telling you we at the MTA are going to be bold to address the realities that we and the region are facing.” ■

FINANCE

Peloton posts huge loss, warns it’s low on cash BY AARON ELSTEIN

THURSDAY, JUNE 16 EXCELLENCE IN DIVERSITY & INCLUSION LUNCHEON Crain’s New York Business is committed to generating positive change in the city’s business community by discussing ways to create or improve corporate diversity and inclusion programs. On June 16, Crain’s will host an awards celebration at which winners will be announced in various categories celebrating D&I initiatives.

MANHATTAN MANOR 201 W. 52nd St. Time: Noon to 2 p.m. CrainsNewYork.com/ 2022D&I

Borrowing millions To buy some time, the Midtown-based outfit said, it signed a binding letter to borrow $750 million from JPMorgan and Goldman Sachs. No terms were disclosed because the loan hasn’t been finalized, but Peloton said in a regulato-

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EVENTS CALLOUT

ime may be running out for Peloton Interactive. The exercise-bike maker has reported a massive quarterly loss and warned it is “thinly capitalized,” or short on cash. Peloton’s stock price fell by 18% early last Tuesday. The fallen star has lost 90% of its value in the past 18 months as people return to their prepandemic exercise habits. “Notwithstanding the stock price,” Chief Executive Barry McCarthy said, he’s “pretty optimistic” about the future. “I don’t mean to sound Pollyannaish,” McCarthy said on a conference call in which he said Peloton aims to generate positive free cash flow in fiscal 2023.

ry filing it will pay a floating rate that would expose it to higher interest expense. The additional debt could be burdensome for a company that already had $2.6 billion in liabilities at the end of last quarter while financial metrics are going off-track. Peloton reported a net loss of $757 million in its fiscal third quarter, compared with a $9 million loss

in the year-earlier period. Sales dropped by 25%, or $300 million, to $960 million. Gross margins fell by almost half, and the company burned through $670 million in cash.

Working to be better An activist shareholder has urged the board to sell Peloton, but voting control remains in the hands

of former CEO John Foley, a co-founder. After the Covid-19 pandemic hit, Peloton grew from 700,000 subscribers to 3 million and struggled to handle the deluge. The company has disclosed “material weakness” in its accounting procedures and said its customer service needs improvement. “We’ll be addressing some of those issues so when you actually call up, our customer service reps are actually able to be helpful,” McCarthy said. His goal, he said, is to transform Peloton from a manufacturer that relies on equipment sales into a digital service provider that generates a lot of subscription revenue. In a letter to shareholders, he said the firm would develop a program in which customers rent bikes and get digital access to trainers for a flat monthly fee. It also will sell bikes through third-party dealers, he said. “Better systems. Better decision-making. Better execution,” he said in the shareholder letter. “We’re working on it.” ■

Vol. 38, No. 19, May 16, 2022—Crain’s New York Business (ISSN 8756-789X) is published weekly, except for no issue on 1/3/22, 7/4/22, 7/18/22, 8/1/22, 8/15/22, 8/29/22 and the last issue in December. Crain Communications Inc., 685 Third Ave., New York, NY 10017. Periodicals postage paid at New York, NY, and additional mailing offices. Postmaster: Send address changes to: Crain’s New York Business, Circulation Department, PO Box 433279, Palm Coast, FL 32143-9681. For subscriber service: call 877-824-9379; fax 313-446-6777. $140.00 per year. (GST No. 13676-0444-RT) ©Entire contents copyright 2022 by Crain Communications Inc. All rights reserved.

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CHASING GIANTS

BUCK ENNIS

LAU’S company now has 14 locations.

SoHo’s Stuf transforms underutilized basements and garages into storage units The startup aims to provide New Yorkers an accessible space in their own neighborhood

The upstart: Stuf

The challenge at the start was persuading landlords to risk ust self-storage facilities feel like dank prisons for their space on an unproven concept. Lau had solid relationpossessions? That’s what Katharine Lau, 33, got to ships with building owners from her Industrious days, though, wondering when she did some spring cleaning at and she was able to win their trust. She knew many were lookthe start of the Covid-19 pandemic. She was looking for fresh ways to monetize their space during the pandeming for a nice place near her South Slope, Brooklyn, home to ic, for example, and seeking new, in-building amenities to restow her books, winter clothes and ski gear, “and there wasn’t tain existing tenants. Stuf addressed both issues. anything that was close enough for a walk, that had good customer reviews, that wasn’t feeling a little bit sketchy,” she said. The reining Goliath: CubeSmart As a former vice president of real estate for coworking firm The publicly traded self-storage giant, based in Malvern, PennIndustrious, Lau knows a secret many New Yorkers sylvania, operates more than 600 locations nationdon’t: There’s a lot of unused space in the basewide, including dozens in the New York area. It ments, garages and similar areas of the city’s commaintains a 92% occupancy rate on its 43.6 million mercial and apartment buildings. Why not convert rentable square feet. It reported a net income of the remnant spaces into inviting, conveniently lo$230.8 million last year on sales of $822.5 million. cated self-storage facilities, she wondered. How to slay the giant She soon persuaded a San Francisco landlord to let her create a 25-unit self-storage facility in his Rather than building or buying its own properties, building’s basement. It was 90% occupied within Stuf takes over unused spaces in office and apartthree months. ment buildings as well as storefronts, malls and “We were, like, ‘OK! We have a business!’ ” Lau parking garages. It typically negotiates a five-year said. She quit her job in 2020 and raised $1.8 million ANNE KADET lease with extension options and pays the landlord in seed financing. 25% to 40% of the revenue. Her nine-employee startup, Stuf, headquartered To create an inviting atmosphere, Stuf spaces are at a SoHo coworking space, now has 14 locations with a com- typically decorated with plants and murals. The newest locabined 70,000 square feet in New York, San Francisco, Los An- tions feature playful music and welcoming scents. Lau’s curgeles and a couple of other cities. rent picks are citrus green tea and Pacific aqua. Adam Demuyakor, founder and managing partner of propStuf doesn’t try to compete on price. Its lockers are often tech VC firm Wilshire Lane Capital, joined as a co-founder, the most expensive in the market. A 9.5-foot-by-5-foot locker and his firm participated in the seed round. in Brooklyn, for example, rents for $349 per month, compared “New York real estate is male-driven, male-dominated, and with $130 to $200 at CubeSmart. The occupancy rate on Stuf then Kat walks in the room,” recalled Demuyakor of his expe- sites open at least six months is 93%. Customers will pay more rience meeting Lau while she was with Industrious. “This is a for a pleasant experience close to home, Lau said. woman who is negotiating with New York City landlords 24/7. Stuf customer Lauren Tarasewicz started renting a lockI felt like she would be running her own company someday.” er—5 feet by 8 feet—at a facility minutes from her home in

Clinton Hill, Brooklyn, last year to store supplies for her hair accessories gift business, Scrunch Support. She said she visits her locker at least once each week and appreciates the convenience. Storage spaces she used in the past felt “dark and spooky,” she said, but Stuf, with its bright design and street-level access, is welcoming. “It feels very special to walk in,” Tarasewicz said.

The added challenge A shortage of steel and other materials needed to build storage units has gotten in the way of Stuf’s expansion. When the company launched, Lau was buying materials for one location at a time, but she since has switched to a longer-term, bulk-buying strategy. If all goes as planned, Stuf will double its location and unit count by the end of the year, Lau said. The self-storage industry historically has grown through all conditions, she said. When the economy sours, people tend to downsize and put more items in storage. But because Stuf launched during the pandemic, it offers the innovations Lau thinks people likely will seek going forward, such as an online rental agreement with no papers to sign, one-click locker access through a mobile app and transparent pricing with no hidden fees. Perhaps, Lau said, self-storage will finally get the consumer recognition it deserves. “It’s a huge space to watch and historically has just not been sexy or cool,” she said. “Well, I don’t know if it’s sexy, but I think what we’re doing is really cool.” ■ Anne Kadet is the creator of Café Anne, a weekly newsletter with a New York City focus. She previously was the city business and trends columnist for The Wall Street Journal. Have a startup you would like to see featured in a future column? Write to anne.kadet@CrainsNewYork.com. MAY 16, 2022 | CRAIN’S NEW YORK BUSINESS | 3

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WHO OWNS THE BLOCK 1740 BROADWAY

Blackstone surrenders 1950s office tower in ominous sign for struggling Midtown market But brokers say rents below $80 per square foot will tempt tenants BY C.J. HUGHES

Midtown. Blackstone, which controls $280 billion in real estate assets, was forced in March to surrender the keys to its 1740 Broadway office tower after defaulting on a $308 million mortgage issued by an affiliate of Deutsche Bank. Two office tenants that occupy most of the 26-story building at West 56th Street, including the former parent company of Victoria’s Secret, plan to head elsewhere. And those spaces—a total of about 500,000 square feet— have not been re-leased, even after Blackstone invested heavily in updating amenities at the 1950s building, including adding a 5,000-square-foot restaurant, Iris, and a private club. “We are working diligently to find a solution that is in the best interests of all parties involved, including our investors and lender,” said a Blackstone spokeswoman, who added, “We continue to be big believers in New York.” The unusual stumble of course has something to do with the Covid-19 pandemic, which has prompted many firms to allow their employees to work remotely. But other factors also might be in play. Midtown was struggling mightily even before the pandemic, as companies were leaving the older business district for Hudson Yards and other trendy locales, according to Frank Wallach, an executive managing director of Colliers. In that sense, Blackstone’s loss of 1740 Broadway, Wallach says, is really a symptom of an earlier era. “The pandemic complicated an already challenging situation,” said Wallach, who pointed to a Colliers report showing Midtown leased 1.33 million square feet of office last month, up from 1.22 million in March. Hudson Yards and FiDi reported rare decreases. He added that Midtown’s availability rate hit a high of 17.5% in July but now stands at 16.5%. Other milestones might not be as promising. Asking rents for offices in the neighborhood, which is north of 40th Street, declined to $80 per square foot annually, the first time ever that rents in Midtown were lower than those in Midtown South, where the average last month was $82. In other words, the place that was for decades the city’s dominant business hub is now more affordable than blocks that until recently featured quiet former factories and warehouses. But Midtown’s decline is not likely to last, brokers say, because the lure of discounted rents will just be too great. “Are there still challenges ahead? Yes,” Wallach said, referring to plans for stalwarts including IBM, Morgan Stanley and ViacomCBS to vacate space soon. “But Midtown should emerge in a stronger position.” ■

1755 BROADWAY 300 W. 57TH ST. The crinkly spire atop a cast-concrete base here is the Hearst Tower, home to a media firm. In the 1920s, Hearst was intending to put up a tall tower on the site, but the only portion ever built was the 6-story base; the Great Depression stopped the project before it could be completed. That’s the way things stood for decades. But in the early 2000s, Hearst got around to finishing the highrise, and it tapped London-based Foster & Partners to create a flashy addition. Today editors churn out magazines including Elle, Esquire and Harper’s Bazaar in the 46-story, 704,000-squarefoot tower, whose tenant seems to have survived during the pandemic mostly unscathed. No periodicals folded, though Hearst did resort to layoffs, on the business side, last spring.

Commercial-residential hybrids line this corner of Midtown. Among the first to rise was this 43-story, block-long red-granite tower, which Jack Resnick & Sons developed in 1987. Occupying all eight stories of the base is a headquarters of the Universal Music Group, which has leased it through at least 2028. Across 33 stories above is Symphony House, a 482unit rental property where two-bedrooms start at $6,630 per month, according to online listings. The building, on a stretch of Broadway known in the 1940s as Auto Row for all the car showrooms there, once had a Chrysler dealership. Abko Properties, a landlord whose partners included chemical giant Koch Industries, bought it and hundreds of other struggling Chrysler sites in 1979. The next year, Resnick wheeled in and picked up the site for $15.7 million, according to a deed.

1745 BROADWAY This block-width, 53-story tower, which was developed by a team led by The Related Cos. in 2002, offers a combination that’s common to the neighborhood. Some of it is apartments and some offices, a vestige of a time when office space was a more reliable investment. The bottom half houses the headquarters of Random House Books; the publisher’s owner, German media conglomerate Bertelsmann, has a lease on the site at least through 2098, records show. Layered atop the publishing offices, meanwhile, is the 107unit Park Imperial condominium, which offers Hudson River and Central Park views with the address of 230 W. 56th St. The project, which began in the late 1990s, ballooned in cost along the way, from $350 million to $425 million, according to news reports. Some holdout landlords resisted Related’s entreaties, and to this day, one of them appears to control one of the tower’s two retail spaces. The least-expensive unit at the building early this month was a one-bedroom at $1.65 million. The Park Imperial, popular with investors, also offered several rentals, starting with a one-bedroom for $5,500 per month, according to StreetEasy.

1740 BROADWAY Blackstone, a private-equity firm that has snapped up dormitories, apartment buildings and power lines since it began investing in real estate in 1991, bought this 1950s office building in 2014 from Vornado Realty Trust for $601 million, records show. It was somewhat of an unusual play, as offices make up less than 1% of Blackstone’s global portfolio. But the firm gamely renovated the lobby to boost the tower’s amenity offerings, including removing a floor to create a double-height atrium. Still, L Brands, the former parent company of Victoria’s Secret—which occupies 418,000 square feet— plans to relocate to 55 Water St. after a major corporate restructuring and renaming as Bath and Body Works. The other large office tenant, law firm Davis & Gilbert, plans to head a few blocks south to 1675 Broadway. Meanwhile, Blackstone’s loan is in the hands of Green Loan Services, which handles distressed debt. A message left with Green about the status of that effort was not returned.

224 W. 57TH ST. This 11-story angled prewar building, from 1909, was steeped in the neighborhood’s automotive history. Two firms, A.T. Demarest and Peerless Motor Car, both had showrooms and offices here. Switching gears, the building housed Hearst magazine offices from the 1970s to 2006, when Hearst consolidated in its new 300 W. 57th St. spire. Hearst in 2010 sold the site, known as the Argonaut Building, to M1 Real Estate, a Lebanese firm, for $85 million. A renovation—and reorganization of the site into three commercial condos—followed. The Argonaut’s office portion then sold to the Eretz Group for $214 million in 2015. Open Society Foundations, an inequality-focused grant- making group founded by billionaire George Soros, is the sole office tenant today.

200 W. 56TH ST. The massive 1927 building on this site was built as a 1,600-room hotel, and it continues to serve in that capacity, though there are three lodging options today. The best-known one, the Park Central Hotel, whose awning beckons at 870 Seventh Ave., has more than 700 rooms. Then there’s WestHouse, which appears to be a higher-end offering and is accessed at 201 W. 55th St. The 30-story site also features Manhattan’s first timeshare vacation property, The Manhattan Club, which sold fractional memberships. The club, developed by Ian Bruce Eichner—who bought the whole property in 1995 out of bankruptcy for $60 million—faced several disgruntled time-sharers through the years. Some sued Eichner, claiming rooms they sought to use were unavailable because they had been offered to the general public. In 2014 the state attorney general halted sales there over the alleged fraud. The Manhattan Club appears to be a hotel today, with rooms starting at $206 per night.

BUCK ENNIS, GOOGLE MAPS

ne of the country’s most skilled real estate investing companies seems to have met its match in struggling

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ASKED & ANSWERED Advisory Committee to the MTA

INTERVIEW BY CAROLINE SPIVACK

isa Daglian has worn many hats in her career. She has held multiple roles at the New York Metropolitan Transportation Council, worked on economic development in disaster recovery for a not-for-profit and served as press secretary to two Manhattan borough presidents. Currently, she is the executive director of the Permanent Citizens Advisory Committee to the MTA. PCAC was created by the state Legislature to represent riders on the MTA board. The committee’s next big fight, says Daglian, is ensuring the MTA is able to weather a looming financial crisis as ridership remains millions below prepandemic levels, and as concerns about safety on subways and buses persist. With the rise of remote work, how does the MTA lure riders back to the system?

One of the reasons that’s such an important question is because of the way that the MTA gets its money, because they’re funded so largely by ridership revenue. Nobody wants to see cuts to service. But the realization is, there are going to be changes to the dynamics of what does rush hour mean? When are people riding, what are they riding for and how are we going to be able to accommodate our riders? We need to convince the elected officials that [funding the MTA] has to be top of mind for them, and they’re not going to want to invest in a system that’s not safe and that people won’t ride. So it’s

WHO SHE IS Executive director of the Permanent Citizens Advisory Committee to the MTA AGE 59 GREW UP Riverdale, Bronx RESIDES Long Island City, Queens

much that would have raised during the pandemic?

What role does the private sector play in this?

The private sector is our partner. Business leaders being advocates, pushing for investment in the system is going to be huge going forward. They may say something we don’t think of because we are not the business community. There’s a great opportunity to bring everybody together.

Since the Brooklyn subway shooting, there’s been a lot of talk about installing metal detectors in the subways. What’s your take?

EDUCATION Bachelor’s in mass communications, Boston University; MBA, Baruch College

Nobody has explained to me how that would work. Is there going to be staffing at every station? How are you going to know if somebody has a license to carry or not? There’s too many unknowns. It sounds very cumbersome.

BIG DREAMS The PCAC’s rider councils have three non-voting seats on the MTA’s board. Daglian says her “work dream” is to make those voting seats. Her “play dream” is to be a contestant on the Price Is Right. “It will be realized,” she said. TRANSIT PARTY Daglian is thinking about renting a vintage Hudson River rail car for her 60th birthday bash this July.

making sure that safety is a priority too.

If losses to the MTA’s revenue can’t be plugged by riders, how else can the system get funding?

That’s what we’re putting our heads together on now. There have been a number of proposals. Sen. Mike Gianaris has put forth legislation that would increase the state’s contribution. Assemblyman Bobby Carroll has put out legislation that would have [imposed] a $3 package tax. Could you imagine how

The video feeds at the station where the shooting took place failed. What improvements do you think should be made?

An important first step: a total review of the process. But they need to have better cameras. The technology that’s installed in the system needs to keep up with the technology of today. That's really hard when the MTA’s capital program has been playing catch up for decades. Let's use the federal money that’s available to improve the camera system throughout the subways and buses, as well as on Long Island Rail Road and Metro-North systems. This is the perfect opportunity to develop internship programs for the next generation of workers who are going to come in and learn how to develop and repair the systems. ■

BUCK ENNIS

LISA DAGLIAN Permanent Citizens

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SPONSORED CONTENT

ON POLITICS

talking

Cronies proliferate at the top in City Hall as well-meaning experts are stifled below

ESG

WHAT IS DRIVING RAPIDLY RISING INTEREST IN ESG PLANS IN THE MIDDLE MARKET, AND SHOULD MORE MIDSIZE COMPANIES CONSIDER IMPLEMENTING ONE?

Michael Bloomberg and other previous mayors appointed policy experts to lead departments and trusted them to chart direction

ayor Eric Adams has point nationally renowned experts promised a “get stuff to lead the Department of Transdone” mayoralty, a portation. reborn city of accomAdams’ DOT commissioner is a plishment and swagger. No mayor former city councilman, Ydanis Roin modern times has talked a bigger driguez, who aggressively backed game than Adams. his mayoral bid. Loyal forFive months into his mer City Council memtenure, the jury is still out bers now lead the Departon what he will accomment of Buildings and the Department of Cultural plish. In his proposed Affairs. The man who was municipal budget, there the de facto leader of the are signs that he’s at least Brooklyn Democratic Parwilling to generously fund certain social safety-net ty, Frank Carone, is Adprograms. If he has no ams’ chief of staff. great power to lower Career officials within crime in the short term, ROSS BARKAN these departments have he is at least fully aware little power now to advothat New Yorkers want to cate for policy or even feel safe, especially from gun vio- communicate with the public. Adams recently announced a directive lence. But in many other ways, the Ad- with little modern precedent: a ams administration has been lack- “city agency press release tracker,” ing. Few major new programs or where officials from dozens of depolicies have been proposed. Polit- partments must submit releases ical cronies are everywhere, includ- and plans for news conferences or ing those with histories of corrup- other public statements for his dition and bigotry. In his first year, rect approval. No mayor does this Bill de Blasio was already securing because it’s simply not possible to funds for a universal pre-K program review so many requests in a timely that would be rolled out quickly af- manner. Bloomberg and de Blasio terward. No similar ambition for each, when possible, chose to deleAdams exists. gate such tasks to trusted agency Internal policies appear to be sti- heads and advisers. For journalists attempting to fling innovation. Municipal government is a constellation of vast agen- wrangle even basic information cies that have the power, from the Adams administration on individually, to make a great differ- behalf of the public, this policy is alence in the lives of residents. Both ready proving disastrous. Requests, de Blasio and Michael Bloomberg unless sent directly to City Hall, rouappointed, in many cases, policy tinely go unanswered. Crain’s, experts to head these agencies who which rarely struggled to procure were trusted to implement policy basic information from city agenas they saw fit. De Blasio was more cies under the de Blasio and of a micromanager, but both men Bloomberg administrations, has not were content, for example, to ap- received answers on straightforADAMS with comedian Chris Redd

ward requests to the Department of Education and Department of Homeless Services, among others. Effective government can’t operate this way. If credentialed reporters can’t obtain bare facts about DOE’s 3-K initiative or a plan to create more opportunity in schools, what hope does the general public have? Either Adams will realize such a policy will need to be scrapped altogether or he will continue onward with this style of dysfunctional autocracy. Great leaders learn to trust others, particularly those with relevant policy experience. In Adams’ governance, it becomes the worst of all worlds: cronies at the top and well-meaning experts stifled below. Stuff, in turn, does not get done.

Quick Takes ● Soon, again, New York will have new House and State Senate maps. It’s unfair the lone redistricting hearing for the special master’s maps is in the upstate town of Bath, nowhere close to public transportation or major population centers. ● Gov. Kathy Hochul’s pick of Antonio Delgado, a Hudson Valley congressman, for lieutenant governor is a good move for her campaign but will probably cost Democrats a House seat in a very competitive district. National Democrats can’t be pleased. ● The looming overturn of Roe v. Wade will boost Hochul’s campaign in the fall against any Republican she faces. She can run as the prochoice candidate in a state where abortion rights are prized. ■

Ross Barkan is a journalist and author in New York City.

CARL OLIVERI

CPA, CCIFP, CFE Partner, Construction Practice Leader 212.223.5047 coliveri@grassicpas.com Carl Oliveri is a partner and construction practice leader at Grassi. He is a member of the firm’s ESG practice and advises clients on developing and managing effective ESG programs.

While making a positive impact on the environment and being a good corporate citizen are among the best reasons to implement an environmental, social and governance (ESG) plan, an increasing number of middle-market companies are recognizing that it actually makes good business sense too. As more midsize companies adopt sustainable innovation across their business models, those that don’t will be at a significant disadvantage in many areas, from capital raising to employee retention. One of the most common drivers of interest in ESG is the changing attitudes of investors, employees and other stakeholders. Emerging business leaders, in particular, have been vocal about their preference to work for, invest in and do business with companies that protect the environment, support social causes, and promote diversity, equity and inclusion.

Especially in an ultracompetitive marketplace such as the New York metropolitan area, ESG can be a huge differentiator for companies that are demonstrating the positive impact they have in these three areas. For example, many of the contractor and subcontractor clients we work with leverage ESG metrics in their bids, allowing them to stand out among other companies in today’s crowded bidding field. In industries such as construction and manufacturing that are facing major labor shortages, this differentiator can be what attracts and retains the next generation of emerging leaders. In turn, happy employees drive satisfied clients, higher productivity levels and long-term sustainability for the company. While many ESG results such as DEI initiatives, volunteerism and governance policies are evaluated qualitatively, quantitative metrics also reflect direct impact on the company’s bottom line. Reducing a business’s carbon footprint through energy efficiencies, paperless processes and other green initiatives yields significant cost savings, as do the tax credits and government incentives that come with many of these strategies. Add to these benefits the risks that are mitigated through strong governance, internal policies and transparency, and the value is even clearer. With many more companies beginning to track and document their ESG impact, it is no longer enough for a company to simply say it—savvy consumers, clients and stakeholders expect proof. A formal ESG plan lays out the ways in which a business will accomplish ESG goals, and it provides the framework to generate powerful data that can tell a company’s entire ESG story. With the right choice of technology, this data will continue to flow easily into readily accessible reports that provide tangible evidence of improvement.

TODD MAISEL/THE INNER CIRCLE SHOW/AP PHOTO

The long-term impact of an effective ESG program will far outweigh the short-term output of resources, but many middle-market companies may still be on the fence. When we at Grassi advise companies on ESG, we typically begin with a readiness assessment to gauge how prepared they are to adopt an ESG framework or if they need to do more work. Even if a company is not yet ready, it can do plenty to prepare for a formal ESG plan. At a minimum, a company should identify the ESG issues that are most important to its stakeholders, review its supply chain to determine vendors’ commitment to ESG, evaluate its carbon footprint, and get the conversation started with its management team and employees.

May 16, 2022 | CRAIN’S NEW YORK BUSINESS | 7

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chief executive officer K.C. Crain senior executive vice president Chris Crain group publisher Jim Kirk

EDITORIAL

publisher/executive editor

Time to show the math behind funding the much-needed Penn Station overhaul

Frederick P. Gabriel Jr. EDITORIAL editor-in-chief Cory Schouten,

cory.schouten@crainsnewyork.com managing editor Telisha Bryan

Here’s the worrying question: Are we setting ourselves up for a repeat of the Hudson Yards scenario, in which taxpayers had to cough up nearly $400 million to Wall Street bondholders after property-tax and other revenues failed to meet targets? “This plan is fatally flawed,” Layla Law-Gisiko, a Community Board 5 official, told Crain’s. On the other hand, a spokesman for the Empire State Development Corp., which is handling the project, promised “a fair financial structure” will be in place before the plan moves forward. A spokesman for Mayor Eric Adams offered similar reassurances. It’s time for the agencies orchestrating the Penn THE CITY NEEDS MODERN Station OFFICE SPACE WITH CONVENIENT overhaul to show their numbers and PROXIMITY TO MASS TRANSIT explain their math. Penn Station project, including its The rebuilding of Penn Station ultimate price and how much revenue those office buildings will is part of a broader plan to expand railroad capacity and build new generate, as the city’s Indepentunnels underneath the Hudson dent Budget Office noted in a River. The total bill is expected to report last week.

data editor Amanda Glodowski

iserable Penn Station needs an overhaul, and we applaud Gov. Kathy Hochul for getting behind a plan to use tax revenues from 10 new office towers to pay the state’s share of the $40 billion bill. The city needs modern, flexible office space with convenient proximity to mass transit to compete in a hybrid-work environment. We also need a transit experience that isn’t dank and dungeonlike. It looks like a mutually beneficial arrangement. But there are significant unanswered questions about the

digital editor Taylor Nakagawa audience engagement editor Jennifer Samuels art director Carolyn McClain photographer Buck Ennis senior reporters Cara Eisenpress,

Aaron Elstein, Eddie Small reporters Ryan Deffenbaugh, Maya Kaufman,

Brian Pascus, Natalie Sachmechi, Caroline Spivack op-ed editor Jan Parr,

opinion@crainsnewyork.com executive assistant Brittany Brown to contact the newsroom:

editors@crainsnewyork.com BLOOMBERG

www.crainsnewyork.com/staff

reach up to $40 billion, with federal authorities ponying up 50% while New York and New Jersey split the rest. Under Hochul’s plan, most of New York’s share would be paid by tax revenue produced from 20 million square feet of office and retail space developed by Vornado Realty Trust in the area around Penn Station. The project would

be even larger than the 18 million square feet of The Related Cos.’ Hudson Yards. New Jersey does not plan to use tax proceeds from private development to fund its portion. For Hudson Yards, which no longer relies on taxpayer support, the city’s cost ran 40 times higher than expected. Let’s make that a lesson learned, not repeated. ■

City comptroller should use all tools in his arsenal to help human-services sector

ayor Eric Adams and Comptroller Brad Lander have endorsed five recommendations to improve the city’s system for processing contracts and payments to human-services contractors, a sector that employs more than 500,000 people. Although it’s wonderful to see a mayor working with a comptroller, the problem they’ve vowed to fix is more than 30 years old, and prior reform efforts have failed. But the comptroller doesn’t have to simply watch and hope that change will come. He has some powerful, if rarely used, tools to compel change.

A registration problem The problem requires an understanding of something called contract “registration,” the last step in the city’s government contract procurement process. Under the city charter, no contract may be implemented until the city registers it. The city invokes the requirement to deny payments to

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OP-ED

BY MARIANA GUSDORF AND CLAUDE MILLMAN

assistant managing editor Anne Michaud

nonprofits working for the city until the comptroller registers their contracts. Yet most of their contracts—75% in fiscal 2022—are not even submitted for registration until work is well underway. To make ends meet during months or years of delay, nonprofits take out high-interest loans or scramble for funds in other ways. City agencies have little incentive to submit contracts before nonprofits start working, since providing vital services to communities is central to nonprofit organizations’ missions, and they’re willing to start work without pay. Past comptrollers have used their bully pulpit to demand contracting reforms from past mayors, but the law actually gives the comptroller extraordinary power to put some teeth behind such demands. First, the comptroller can use— or threaten to use—his power to pay “equitable claims” under the New York City administrative code. Lander’s office has said that, where “work was performed at the direction of the city and/or the city

accepted services, without a registered contract that would allow the city to pay for the goods or services received,” the comptroller may recognize the organization’s claim “as equitable and proper if it can be determined that the city received a benefit and that the public interest would be served by payment.” To end late-contract registration, the comptroller could announce that at a reasonable point in the future—by next year, say—work performed by nonprofits prior to contract registration will be paid through the comptroller’s power to grant “equitable” claims. The mere threat of granting such claims on a broad scale likely would spur the mayoral agencies to process contracts in a timely way.

Bad habit The comptroller has a second tool, related to the requirement in the city charter that no contract be implemented until a copy has been filed with the comptroller and the contract is registered. Although “implementing” might include paying, it obviously

includes much more. The comptroller could give city agencies a deadline—2024, say—to end the practice of late contract submission, and notify the agencies that after that point, the comptroller won’t allow city agencies to use city resources, such as buildings, equipment and data, to implement contracts that have not been registered. If necessary, the comptroller could use the courts to block agencies from implementing programs without contracts or payments. Nonprofits will continue to face financial burdens until the city kicks its late-contracting habit. And until the problem is solved, the public will face great risks, because when the city relies on a private organization to deliver essential services to New Yorkers before entering into a contract, the city has no contract to enforce if things go wrong. ■ Claude Millman is a partner at Kostelanetz & Fink and a former director of the Mayor’s Office of Contract Services. Mariana Gusdorf is a prelaw paralegal at the firm.

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8 | CRAIN’S NEW YORK BUSINESS | May 16, 2022

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OP-ED

Still time for 2022 to be the year of the homeowner BY ERICA BUCKLEY AND MATTHEW DUNBAR

repandemic, we called out 2020 as the year of the homeowner. After the historic passage of the 2019 Housing Stability and Tenant Protection Act, which focused on renters, the next legislative session had to focus on homeownership. Then Covid-19 hit. Anticipating budget negotiations that would result in support for large-scale equity-building opportunities for low-income and working-class New Yorkers, we were thrilled to see

ation of a community-land-trust acquisition fund with a set-aside of $50 million from the Senate. We thought for sure 2022 would be the year of the homeowner. The final budget said otherwise, however. Unfortunately, the above proposals were not included in the final budget.

Two bills provide the tools There is still time in this legislative session, though, to do something important for homeowners: Pass the CLT Acquisition Fund (S8526) and S8334/A9340, a bill that aims to preserve expiring affordable housing in certain rental-to-condominium conversions. The bills would provide tools to increase homeownership, community control of property and the permanent safeguarding of affordable units that are otherwise subject to loss through expiring contractual

COMMUNITY LAND TRUSTS ENSURE SUBSIDIZED HOUSING STAYS AFFORDABLE innovative proposals to create a new affordable cooperative program with a set-aside of $1 billion from the Assembly, and the cre-

agreements. The CLT Acquisition Fund is necessary to help support the ever-growing CLT movement in New York City. Community land trusts are key to ensuring subsidized housing is safeguarded as permanently affordable, a laudable and tough goal to meet in our legal system. S8334/A9340, meanwhile, aims to do something simple: allow subsidized luxury rental units built using programs such as 421-a to convert to free-market condo ownership in exchange for ensuring the expiring affordable units remain affordable forever. It accomplishes its goal by reducing the onerous 51% threshold needed to convert a market-rate rental to condo to 15% for a small class of buildings that have expiring affordable units to trade for the reduced threshold. In short, S8334/A9340 would create a market incentive for some owners to keep units permanently affordable when they otherwise would be lost. Without extending

public benefits to private, predominantly luxury property owners, the bill could save thousands of affordable units from going market rate while increasing tax revenues by both allowing existing abatements to expire and incentivizing market-rate condo sales that result in millions of dollars in tax revenue.

Common-sense steps We recommend S8334/A9340 go a step further and facilitate the most significant transfer of controversial, temporarily affordable rental units to community-controlled, permanently affordable assets in our highest-cost neighborhoods. Therefore, we offer these common-sense suggestions: • Require that affordable units be transferred to a qualified not-forprofit owner, such as a CLT, dedicated to the long-term ownership, management and stewardship of permanently affordable housing. • Require the sponsor of the condo conversion to set aside an additional reserve to be used for

the maintenance and upkeep of the permanently affordable units. • Widen the category of eligible buildings to include a larger swath of 421-a and inclusionary housing units to allow for the preservation and stewardship of permanently affordable housing. • Create an easy and viable pathway for low-income tenants to exercise a right to purchase after working with the qualified not-forprofit owner on the homeownership process. • Ensure good-cause protections exist for all non-purchasing tenants in the condos owned by sponsors, including tenants who move into a building after the condo plan is declared effective. ■ Erica Buckley is a partner at Nixon Peabody and former chief of the Real Estate Finance Bureau at the New York Attorney General’s Office. Matthew Dunbar is an executive vice president at Habitat for Humanity New York City and Westchester County.

OP-ED

We need updated recycling facilities BY ALICIA HYNDMAN

othing is more important than restoring and protecting the health of our planet, and that starts with stopping plastics and other trash from littering our streets, parks and oceans. We can do that by leveraging new technologies to vastly expand the number of plastics that can be reused. That is why I am sponsoring a bill, A.9495, to allow for the operation of cutting-edge recycling technology to help New York do its part to protect our environment. Under New York’s outdated recycling program, a mere 9% of plastics can be recycled. Sixteen other states are addressing the problem head-on with new technology-based solutions, and it is time for our state to join them. Advanced recycling takes all plastics, breaking them down into their molecular basics and repurposing them for new, sustainable products. Such facilities are already making a significant difference in the 16 states I mentioned, with existing and planned advanced recycling facilities expected to divert at least 7 billion pounds of plastic waste from landfills annually. With the ability to recycle 100% of plastics, advanced facilities would help New York divert 6.5 million more tons of plastic from landfills each year, with some 25,000 tons of plastic being recycled at each new facility. A New York–based firm estimates that advanced recycling could double the amount of plastic

Stronger Together.

packaging we recycle in New York by 2030. That would mean less plastic waste washing up on our shores, fewer plastic bottles and packaging on our streets and reduced emissions created by incineration at our landfills. The environmental benefits of advanced recycling go hand in hand with its economic benefits.

Green economy New York’s current recycling infrastructure is largely dependent on public subsidies, and it costs taxpayers dearly. Advanced recycling centers would be entirely funded through private investment. It’s estimated that the private investment generated by the construction and operation of advanced recycling facilities in New York would amount to more than $500 million in economic activity annually and create thousands of green-collar jobs. The new technology can make recycling far easier for New Yorkers and businesses alike. Too many of the plastic items we’ve been throwing in recycling bins are not currently recyclable—which forces our few statewide recycling centers to sort through the pile. It’s inefficient for the recycling centers and for the local governments that foot the bill. In New York City alone, the cost of recycling approaches $150 million each year. That’s what happens when you allow essential infrastructure to become outdated. ■

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Assemblywoman Alicia Hyndman is a Democrat who represents the 29th District in Queens. May 16, 2022 | CRAIN’S NEW YORK BUSINESS | 9

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REAL ESTATE

Affordable housing production to double under city proposal BY BRIAN PASCUS

ayor Eric Adams’ new $5 billion commitment will nearly double production of affordable housing in the next several years, said Adolfo Carrión Jr., commissioner of the city Department of Housing Preservation and Development. HPD will add more than 20,000 units per year, Carrión said, and perhaps close to 30,000. He said HPD defines housing production as both new construction and preserving existing units. Despite Carrión’s optimistic projection at a City Council hearing last Monday, many housing experts have said the mayor’s affordable housing strategy falls short. Adams pledged late last month to spend $5 billion to build or maintain affordable housing in the next 10 years. However, when he was running for election last year, Adams pledged

to spend $4 billion annually. Housing advocates and some council members argued he’s reneged on that campaign promise. His most recent commitment falls $1.5 billion short of what’s needed this year to confront an affordability crisis in New York, some said. “Everything makes a difference; every increase is useful. But it’s not as much as he promised he was going to do, and it’s not as much as nearly everyone in the housing world thinks is necessary to advance the struggle against homelessness and housing unaffordability,” said Samuel Stein, housing policy analyst at the Community Service Society. The city’s housing production has not kept pace with its population growth, leading to higher rents across the five boroughs. The’ $5 billion would be split between HPD and the New York City Housing Authority, which provides public housing. Under the plan,

HPD would receive $3.6 billion in housing subsidies, while NYCHA would take $1.2 billion to convert homes into federally funded Section 8 units. Carrión said he expects HPD’s housing production will increase significantly, due to the increased spending Adams announced. “We generated about 11,000 units so far this calendar year,” he said. “We expect, while we’ll come up short of our target, to be somewhere in the 16,000-unit range. But where we should be as a city is in excess of 20,000 and potentially closer to 30,000 a year.” He said roughly 35% of HPD production goes toward new construction. Adams had already proposed an additional $142 million in spending for HPD in his executive budget update last month, a 13.7% increase from the total he proposed in February.

Rachel Fee, executive director of the New York Housing Conference, a nonprofit affordable housing policy and advocacy organization, pointed out that prior to authorizing the $5 billion in new capital, Adams had not increased spending on affordable housing production in his February preliminary executive budget. She also said his $500 million per year spending increase is inadequate. Other housing experts pointed out that the $3.6 billion in new HPD spending is likely going to be eaten up by two variables: rising interest rates on debt and increased construction costs. “The two things he’s doing with the money might be necessary, but they aren’t getting us new things,” said Brendan Cheney, director of policy and communications at the New York Housing Conference.

Rising rates and inflation During testimony last Monday, HPD leadership dismissed concerns raised by Justin Brannan, the council’s finance chairman, regarding the impact rising interest rates and inflation are likely to have on the city’s money. Though Carrión acknowl-

edged that he expected the cost of production to “increase naturally,” Kim Darga, acting HPD deputy commissioner, said the agency is closely watching rising interest rates together with operating costs and project costs. “We have not gotten to the point yet that we have had to re-evaluate our term sheets because they are not feasible given the current cost of projects,” Darga said. “But that’s something we expect to monitor over the next year or so.” Carrión brushed aside criticism that the proposed capital spending is inadequate. Rents in the city have risen after inventory dropped nearly 80% from a year ago, and demand for housing has returned to prepandemic levels. Many people have been squeezed out of the market, though: New York’s homeless shelter census reached 45,553 May 8, according to the Department of Homeless Services. “I think that every budget cycle presents an opportunity for us to invest in larger ways,” Carrión said. “Our administration is fully committed to funding production of affordable housing and following the need.” ■

TRANSPORTATION

IBO: Penn Station plan could cost taxpayers BY AARON ELSTEIN

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ew York City taxpayers coughed up nearly $400 million to Wall Street bondholders after property-tax and other revenues at Hudson Yards didn’t meet targets. Gov. Kathy Hochul could be setting up a repeat of that scenario with her plan to use the revenues from 10 new office towers to pay for rebuilding Penn Station. That’s the conclusion of the city’s Independent Budget Office, which in a report last Monday said there are significant unanswered questions about Penn Station, starting with how much the project will cost and how much revenue will be needed. Hochul’s plan “lacks many of the basic and important details needed for a robust analysis,” the IBO said, “and leaves many open questions about the impact on state and city finances.” The IBO warned that taxpayers could be on the hook to cover revenue shortfalls if the new buildings around Penn Station fail to secure enough tenants. It’s a significant risk given the rise of remote work and the fact that Hudson Yards’ shiny new spaces are only a short distance away. A spokesman for the Empire State Development Corp., which is handling the project, said “a fair financial structure” will be in place before securing approval. The city first raised concerns about the governor’s plan in January. A spokesman for Mayor Eric Adams said, “We are working constructively with our state partners to advance a project that transforms

Penn Station and the surrounding area into the world-class transit hub New Yorkers deserve in a fiscally responsible way.”

Sufficient demand? Hudson Yards proved costly to the city, at least at first. The complex didn’t start leasing office space until 2017 because the Great Recession slowed development, but the 7 train line was extended, and other improvements proceeded. Between 2010 and 2015, the city shelled out $359 million in interest payments to institutional investors that had extended $3 billion to finance the construction of Hudson Yards. The city payments were 40 times higher than initially projected, according to a 2019 study by the New School’s Schwartz Center for Economic Policy Analysis, and came on top of $1.4 billion in property-tax breaks and $400 million in cost overruns paid for by the city. Hudson Yards bondholders no longer get support from the city. Some prominent employers moved or pledged to move headquarters there from elsewhere in Manhattan, including BlackRock, KKR and Pfizer. Building another huge office complex nearby could pose a financial risk to Hudson Yards, the IBO said. “The introduction of millions of square feet of new Class A commercial office space brings up questions not only about whether there would be sufficient demand for the new space, due to changing work caused by the pandemic,” the agency said, “but also about the value of existing commercial office space.” ■

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SPECIAL REPORT

DIV DI IVE IV VERSI SIIT SIT TY& INC TY NCL N CL LUS USI SIIO ON ON D&I AWARD WINNERS

FROM THE NEWSROOM

Crain’s will announce the winners of its second annual Excellence in Diversity and Inclusion Awards at a luncheon from noon to 2 p.m. on June 16. The winners are individuals and companies working within the New York City metro area. They were independently selected from 71 applicants in six categories: Diversity Champions Small, Medium and Large; Showing the Way; Emerging Leaders; and Top Diversity & Inclusion Officer. Profiles of the finalists start on page 15. “Diversity” means having people of diverse backgrounds within the workforce in management roles; “inclusive” means those diverse employees have a voice at the company. To register for the event, visit CrainsNewYork.com/2022D&I.

These D&I success stories avoid distractions, excuses IT’S A STORY ALL TOO FAMILIAR for leaders in the diversity, equity and inclusion space. Whether the foil is a global pandemic, rising inflation or the Great Resignation, when crises strike, the first thing to get sidetracked is often a company’s effort to build and maintain a diverse and inclusive workforce. Not for every company, though, as our Diversity & Inclusion Awards finalists and our reporting for this special issue show. In the pages ahead, you can find a playbook of ideas and examples for implementing lasting, profitable investments in people and culture. As our honorees would tell you, it’s no easy work. It requires much more than slogans and half-measures. In our cover story, senior reporter Cara Eisenpress examines what happens when D&I efforts collide with the Great Resignation and a tight labor environment. Successful companies are investing in retention as much as entry-level recruitment, implementing referral systems and even aligning with competitors to bring more diverse talent to their industry. Eisenpress also looks at how employee resource groups have become a core strategy. Meanwhile, reporter Brian Pascus checks in with nonprofits that are pitching in to diversify the city’s workforce. And reporter Natalie Sachmechi profiles Cheryl McKissack Daniel, a trailblazing construction and real estate executive and the recipient of our Lifetime Achievement Award. You’ll also learn what works from the finalists in our D&I awards programs—organizations and individuals shaking up the status quo and delivering results. We hope you’ll join us in person June 16 as we name winners from among the finalists profiled here and celebrate those who are leading by example. Get your tickets at CrainsNewYork .com/2022D&I. Thanks for reading. —Cory Schouten Editor-in-chief

PHOTOGRAPHS BY BUCK ENNIS

ARIANA MOON works to make Greenhouse’s hiring process inclusive.

PETER FREED

RON CONTARSY

BYRON SLOSAR (second from right) founded Hive to help companies achieve diversity goals in a way that integrates with their hiring processes.

D&I OFFICERS and leaders make the workplace more representative.

CHERYL MCKISSACK DANIEL is our Lifetime Achievement honoree. MAY 16, 2022 | CRAIN’S NEW YORK BUSINESS | 11

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DIV DI IVE IV VERSI SIIT SIT TY& INC TY NCL N CL LUS USI SIIO ON ON

Great Resignation adds pressure to

allo at a tow At th cen 21.5 the to g he s ed p A hold whi proc grou ent hav hou “A tion cau the sho B be a repe dici nies wor

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Companies juggle churn in the job market while making sure new hires reflect the nation’s demographics about. Job openings in February this year or continued nine separate programs diwere up 60.8% from February 2020—a sign rected at building talent early in workers’ of tightness in the labor market—though careers. The newest, the Breakthrough Felthings recently have started to cool off for lowship Program, is for college students. Current students in the program work in a workers. Some companies ended up facing a big summer internship, stay connected through their remaining challenge: how to coursework, then manage the churn come on board to a in the job market job after graduawhile making sure tion. Down the that new hires reline, Pfizer plans to flected the nation’s pay for the fellows diversity. to get a relevant Old hiring practices had not always succeeded at creating a graduate degree and then return to the diverse workforce. As a result, human re- company. Ramcess Jean-Louis, chief DEI officer at sources departments and their diversity, equity and inclusion—or DEI—colleagues Pfizer, attributes the growth of such holistic, were charged with innovating their tal- long-term programs to an open-minded ent-development processes, collaborating board and chief executive. “We have the most amazing early-talent with other companies in their industry and team that works directly with execforming new partnerships, particuutive stakeholders,” Jean-Louis larly with outfits that implemented said, adding that the crucial point is technology to smooth the processthe executive buy-in. “It’s the differes for recruiting and incorporating ence between night and day.” employees of underrepresented That level of enthusiasm has backgrounds. helped the programs develop. In Despite the acute hiring chalthree years the Breakthrough Fellenges, many started with the big lowship has started three cohorts of picture. 20 each, Jean-Louis said. The first Pfizer, for example, has launched JEAN-LOUIS

ENTRY-LEVEL RECRUITING ALONE WON’T DELIVER ON BIG EQUITY GOALS

cohorts worked for the summer after their junior year in 2021, and 17 have accepted Pfizer’s offer to join the staff when they graduate. The second cohort, rising seniors, are about to start internships. Recruiting began this month for a third cohort, he said. The company also has stepped up its level of urgency during college recruiting. Now when teams head to the annual National Association of Black Engineers convention, for example, they go with hiring managers ready to make offers on the spot. “We don’t go there to browse,” Jean-Louis said.

Retention as a recruiting solution Natasha Bowman, a human resources consultant with a focus on diversity and inclusion, said that, in general, concentrating only on entry-level recruiting will not deliver on big equity goals, especially in the short term. Retention has to be part of the plan, she said. In fact, Bowman added, one demographic was sometimes missing from the pool of workers seeking new opportunities: “the marginalized employees who couldn’t afford to resign.” In turn, she said, that could shrink the pool of potential hires with diverse backgrounds for other companies. Jean-Louis said years of a DEI focus has

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BUCK ENNIS

n the past year, as Alexis McLaughlin discussed hiring goals with her clients— human resources professionals and diversity-and-inclusion specialists in the finance industry—she began to hear about a central tension inside their firms. Requisitions for open jobs were growing at the same time as the responsibility to increase diversity was looming larger than ever before. “If we are looking at a workforce that’s hollowing out, the question becomes how to prioritize diversity when you are trying to get people into seats,” said McLaughlin, executive vice president of business development at Hive Diversity, a New York recruiting company. “They need to get talent in and make sure it’s diverse.” After George Floyd’s murder by a Minneapolis police officer in 2020, corporations around the country committed publicly to diversity-and-inclusion hiring and retention goals, in order to add balance to their staff, from the entry level all the way up to the C-suite. But last year those goals met a new reality: the so-called Great Resignation. The labor market was recalibrated as workers adjusted to changes prompted by the Covid-19 pandemic. Many left their job for one with better pay or one they felt more passionate

BY CARA EISENPRESS

e to D&I goals

Old rivals and new partners Financial and consulting firms come to Hive for its technology platform, which seeks to smooth the obstacles companies encounter when they try to bring on new hires while keeping diversity at the forefront of the process, McLaughlin said. Because of the churn in the finance industry and resulting setbacks on diversity goals, “clients are open to a deeper level of engagement,” said Byron Slosar, Hive founder and CEO. Hive designed its software so that willing student recruits can show off parts of their background to employers with posted jobs. On the employer side, to mitigate legal risk, hiring teams see diversity-related qualities only at specific points in the process. The firm also explains to clients that, in a competitive labor market, knowing the kind of work community that might appeal to a qualified candidate is essential. “I tell them it’s a tight labor market,” McLaughlin said. “You are selling yourself to the applicant.” Hive coaches students to point out parts of their background or life experiences beyond race or ethnicity, such as whether they are a first-generation college student. Slosar

said its matching technology also helps speed the process of hiring. For Hive, the bigger challenge has been filling its own pipeline: figuring out how to make sure that there are plenty of qualified and interested potential finance workers to be interns and entry-level employees.

A united effort Perhaps surprisingly in the competitive finance industry, part of the solution has been for companies to come together in their recruiting and pipeline efforts. Morgan Stanley announced in November that it was launching the Equity Collective, a group of 23 member organizations in the wealth and asset management sectors that plan to hold educational and awareness-building events in order to show young people why and how to pursue a career in finance. Hive is an executive sponsor, as is the Boys and Girls Club of America. A second coalition is set to launch this summer. This one, headed by Accenture and Hive Diversity, will work on education and outreach to ensure high school and college students of all ethnicities and backgrounds know about careers across consulting and information technology. “It’s not just that you need to know financial modeling as a senior,” Slosar said. “Students need to have the career in [their] imagination.” Increasing the percentage of employees from underrepresented backgrounds has been a slow process, and not all firms or industries have done the serious strategic work needed to make diversity a part of their recruiting and retention efforts. “No one expected in two years for you to have all kinds of Black, brown and Asian CEOs,” Bowman said. “What we did expect was forward progression. What we saw was no movement.” A McKinsey report on diversity and inclusion in the spring of 2020—before Floyd’s murder and the subsequent attention paid to equity—might hint at why the progress has been so slow. It included the results of a survey given to inclusion and diversity professionals not long after pandemic-related shutdowns began. The survey suggested that companies might abandon prepandemic diversity and inclusion goals in order to focus on staying solvent during the crisis. A quarter of those surveyed reported that their organization had put all or most of their diversity initiatives on hold because of the pandemic. ■

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HIVE’S SLOSAR (second from right) and a few job candidates

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allowed Pfizer to develop a diverse makeup at all levels, letting the company progress toward its retention and promotion metrics. At the vice president level or above, the percentage of U.S. minorities increased from 21.5% to 25% between the end of 2020 and the end of last year. It is part of a larger goal to grow representation at that level to 32%, he said, and to double the underrepresented population of Blacks and Hispanics. Another way to speed up hires has taken hold at tech-recruiting firm Greenhouse, which has focused on making the hiring process itself inclusive of a variety of backgrounds, said Ariana Moon, director of talent acquisition. Employee resource groups have also become part of recruiting, Greenhouse’s DEI chief Jamie Adasi said. “A referral program that helps with retention” becomes a win-win, Adasi said, because it serves both the new employee and the current one. “It means having people show up who look like you.” Bowman agreed: “The referral system can be a good ol’ boys’ system, where you keep repeating the same type of people.” Used judiciously, though, it also can give companies the ability to recruit from diverse networks for leadership positions, she said.

YOUTH INC.’S Gilstrap and Farrell launched the Rise Academy program to “create access points.”

Directing an impact

Corporations wanting to support New York’s BIPOC communities team with savvy intermediary groups BY BRIAN PASCUS

uring the Juneteenth celebrations in 2020—just weeks after George Floyd was murdered by a Minneapolis police officer—Tracie Gilstrap decided her organization needed to do more to uplift young people of color. As director of Youth Inc., a philanthropy in New York City that oversees standards, evaluates programs and trains leaders, Gilstrap raises private money and distributes it to 81 nonprofits across the city. Youth Inc. has raised $110 million for nearly 200 organizations since 1994; $16 million of it was collected in the past two years. In the process, she observed that the

In June 2020 Gilstrap worked with Rehana Farrell, executive director of Youth Inc., to form the Rise Academy, a 15-month community and organizational leadership program that teaches grant-making, mentorship, capital investment and nonprofit leadership skills to a select group of young minority professionals. “There’s some research that nonprofit executives who are BIPOC [Black, Indigenous and people of color] don’t have access to the same networks for social and financial capital as their white peers,” Farrell said, “so fundraising is harder. This program is designed not just to help nonprofit leaders going through it but to create access points that they’ve historically been denied.” Youth Inc. used $750,000 from Canaccord Genuity, a multinational global financial firm with a New York City office, and $250,000 from investment firm Goldman Sachs as grant money to seed the program in its first year. Rise Academy launched in July with a cohort of 10. Last year Youth Inc. was awarded an Anthem Award, an offshoot of the Webby Awards that honors individuals, companies and organizations for mission-driven work. “Historically, our role is bridging the business community in New York City with the social-impact sector serving young people,” Farrell said. “We think no one plays that role better than we do.”

“IT WAS TIME TO BREAK THE MYTH THAT LEADERS OF COLOR AREN’T PREPARED” next generation of leaders of color were being left behind by racial-equity gaps and a lack of industry training, for example in fundraising and governance. She made a plan to reach young nonprofit leaders early in their career, when they could effect change in their 20s and 30s and set themselves up for greater success down the line. “I have worked in the sector for over 25 years, and I saw dynamic leaders of color do amazing work with limited resources every day,” Gilstrap said. “I thought it was time to break the myth that leaders of color were not educated enough, prepared or equipped.” As the country continues to face a racial justice reckoning, corporations and philanthropies have partnered to pour money into nonprofits that exclusively serve communities of color. Organizations such as Youth Inc., the New York Community Trust and others serve as intermediaries making sure the financial investments are well used.

Renewed interest The response from corporations to fund diversity, equity and inclusion programs extends to New York Community Trust, a 98-year-old foundation that has been pooling donations from wealthy individuals, families and corporations for decades. The trust delivers the money to nonprofits, charities and universities via competitive grants or donor-advised processes. Groups that have received fundSee IMPACT ON PAGE 14 MAY 16, 2022 | CRAIN’S NEW YORK BUSINESS | 13

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Newly professionalized—with paid assignments— employee resource groups drive DEI engagement Corporate focus on diversity has pulled affiliation groups closer to many firms’ core business strategies BY CARA EISENPRESS

nne Schwartz joined Peloton in 2018 as an engineer and immediately sought out a queer and trans community at the exercise company, which then was a startup just beginning to build out its human resources team. Schwartz, who uses the pronoun they, found that because the company was so new, the search for community turned into a chance to create one. Schwartz wound up starting the firm’s first employee resource groups before volunteering to build up an inclusion strategy meant to forge connections internally and with customers. “It began as a group of 15 people in New York getting lunch,” Schwartz said. By late in 2018, they had formalized the group and the goal: to be “the best place for LGBTQ+ folks to work and for customers to use.” By the time Schwartz left Peloton this spring, the group was one of many that was flourishing, as both workers and customer cyclists thrived in the inclusive community. Employee resource groups have long been commonplace at large New York City companies, but during the past two years the corporate focus on diversity and inclusion has pulled them closer to many firms’ core business strategies, as they did at Peloton. Some employers have taken seriously the task of professionalizing the groups, permitting leaders and members to have a measurable—and compensated—impact on initiatives related to the bottom line. The work, it turns out, is even more impactful in an age of remote corporations, when ensuring that employees feel connected to peers is not so straightforward. The groups are, at their core, a way for employees with similar backgrounds to get to know one another and learn from each other’s experiences, both inside and outside the office. Some groups are based on race and ethnicity; others have to do with

IMPACT FROM PAGE 13

ing in the past year include research centers and schools devoted to combating climate change, hospitals committed to providing health care for diverse populations and legal-services centers for immigrants. “We’ve done some work with those donors who are [advising] the nonprofit recipients on how to best incorporate racial equity, and we’ve done that through workshops that we’ve opened up to our donors,” said Shawn Morehead, vice president of grants at the trust.

Hearing from Black communities Facebook reached out in June 2020 about making a $1 million grant as part of a larger national initiative to fund racial equity initiatives, Morehead said. New York Community Trust added more than $1.2 million in discretionary funds to Facebook’s donation and set up a competitive grant program open to nonprofits serving Black communities in the five boroughs. The Facebook–New York Community

gender identity or sexual orientation; still others are for women or caregivers. At Greenhouse, a recruitment technology company in Union Square, the employee resource groups have become partners with the executive team as supporters of retention and hiring and employee engagement—“all things that impact employees in a big way,” said Jamie Adasi, the firm’s director of DEI. In two years, Greenhouse has doubled the number of ERGs from three to six. More than 70% of employees are involved in an ERG or the DE&I Council, with 100 in leadership positions. Greenhouse builds recruitment and applicant-tracking software for clients and, among other things, trains them to use the software to build diverse workforces. Greenhouse also launched an equity retention program so that those who take part in or lead the groups are no longer volunteers. In the past, participation in ERGs led to overwork for some, who ended up feeling as though they had second jobs, as well as to a lack of continuity when a leader left the organization. (Positions at Greenhouse are now held for one year before rotating to someone else.) Greenhouse has just hired a new DEI team member. In addition to managing the DE&I onboarding program, working on staff education, tracking data and advising to senior leaders, Adasi said, the new person will finesse and maintain the structure of ERGs and their performance indicators and compensation. The company also added two internal communications roles to help share ERG events and lessons with the wider employee population.

Stronger retention One of the main successes of professionalized ERGs has been to help with retention, Adasi said. The affiliation groups give employees of all backgrounds an opportunity to feel more at home where they work. Trust joint fund in October announced 15 different recipients. It gave $100,000 to the to Bridge Street Development Corp., a community organization serving Bedford-Stuyvesant; $200,000 to Project Eats, a closed-circuit community radio and internet network for the neighborhoods of Brownsville, Brooklyn, and Belmont in the Bronx; and $200,000 to Elmcor Youth and Adult Services, a community leadership program for Black teenagers in Corona, Queens. “We really tried to prioritize hearing from Black communities and Black leaders,” Morehead said, adding that her staff considered “what the issues are that are meaningful to them and then giving them the resources to remedy those issues, rather than predetermining them.” The trust and Facebook decided to make the grants with a longer window, knowing that results take time. Rather than a single year, the nonprofits have two years to organize their DEI initiatives. “We are giving them some runway,” Morehead said, “to know that they’ve got the resources to do the work they want to get done.” ■

ADASI shows a meeting of Asian Pacific Islanders and allies.

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Hiring managers say employees from nonwhite backgrounds seek a place where they feel they will belong. One-third of 1,500 global employees surveyed by Greenhouse said that they evaluated prospective employers by whether they presented their ERGs on their external website. Affiliation groups can help make remote-work experiences better for companies. Most ERGs were founded around in-person experiences such as Schwartz’s small lunches, which eventually morphed into more elaborate, 200-person events with musical guests and speakers. When many companies called off most in-person work in 2020, the groups remained an essential source of connection. “There were some cool aspects of going virtual,” Schwartz recalled. With connections among music industry greats and other celebrities, the LGBTQ+ group at Pelo-

ton, for example, was able to bring “awesome talent” to speak virtually.

Remote colleagues connect “Many of the events felt similarly impactful and special,” Schwartz said, including one in which an outside organization facilitated a program around personal storytelling. The program helped team members bond with one another “regardless of whether we were in person or not,” Schwartz said. Greenhouse, which already had several office locations and is now a fully distributed workplace, also found that virtual spaces helped employees all over the world get to know their colleagues. “Having a space to go virtually where you can build connection and belonging,” Adasi said, “made it easier to bring people together across different regions.” ■

STATS AT THE TOP Managers from underrepresented backgrounds at New York City companies that release their demographic data Non-white executive/senior-level officials and managers Non-white first-year/mid-level officials and managers

100% 90% 80% 70%

70% 60%

59%

54%

50%

53% 45%

52% 45%

42%

40%

47% 41%

41% 31% 33%

30%

38%

28% 26% 27%

26% 20%

20%

16%

10% 0 Visa

Pfizer

AIG

BlackRock MetLife

Pepsi American CitiGroup Morgan Express Stanley

IPG

SOURCE: Crain’s analysis of 2020 EEO-1 reports

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Diversity Champions

SMALL FIRMS This award recognizes organizations with fewer than 100 employees that have committed to a diverse workforce and have programs or initiatives advancing diversity in the workplace

FRAGOMEN, DEL REY, BERNSEN & LOEWY

HOLWELL SHUSTER & GOLDBERG

As a global immigration firm, Fragomen, Del Rey, Bernsen & Loewy routinely operates with diverse populations. As such, the organization strives to recruit and retain a workforce that reflects the global diversity of its clients and practice. Female attorneys make up 55% of Fragomen’s global partnership and 70% of its associates worldwide. In the U.S. 30% of partners and 45% of associates are people of color. Notably, the firm doubled its number of Black attorneys in the past five years. In 2021 Fragomen developed the Special Training and Employability Program in India, focused on candidates with disabilities. The program provides them with career development training, followed by full-time employment opportunities. The firm works with the Asian Pacific American Law Students Association, South Asian Law Students Association, OUTLaw (LGBTQIA+ and allies), Women of Color Collective and the Latin American Law Students Association.

Commercial litigation law firm Holwell Shuster & Goldberg has embedded the ideals of diversity, equity and inclusion throughout its external and internal activities. With its strong commitment to pro bono causes, HSG has, for example, partnered with both the American Civil Liberties Union of Louisiana to bring litigation addressing discriminatory police conduct in predominantly Black communities, and the American Friends Service Committee to assert the rights of detained immigrants. In addition, the practice has committed to contribute at least $250,000 in three years to external anti-racist initiatives. HSG recently launched internal affinity groups for LGBTQIA+ individuals, women and first-generation professionals, and instituted an Asian Equality Task Force. The firm invests in pipeline programs such as the New York City Bar’s Thurgood Marshall Summer Law Internship and participates in events held by national affinity groups. In 2021 nine of the firm’s 11 associate hires were diverse individuals.

BY DEBORAH NASON

NIKI JONES AGENCY The Niki Jones Agency, a full-service marketing agency, noticed that small minority- and women-owned businesses and businesses owned by veterans disabled in service were unable to compete for large government contracts as prime, or lead, contractors. Instead, these businesses were stuck in a cycle of subcontracting, stymied by insurance requirements, lack of prime experience and, crucially, performance benchmarks they could not meet alone. To address this challenge, the agency took the initiative to build an alliance of strategic partners-industry experts to team up with these small companies to collectively put together a competitive bid, meet all requirements and provide strong, relevant work examples. This approach to public bidding has met with success in securing federal, New York City, county and municipal contracts for the minority businesses, enabling them to serve as primes. In addition, this approach has resulted in a 400% increase in these collective bid submissions in industries such as transportation and construction.

MAYOR’S OFFICE OF MEDIA AND ENTERTAINMENT

CANNACLUSIVE

The mayor’s Office of Media and Entertainment has been casting a wide net across creative sectors, businesses, schools and boroughs to enhance diversity in the city’s creative economy. In the past five years, the office’s training and development initiatives have engaged with more than 100 companies, reaching more than 6,000 diverse participants a year. Some of the programs include: ● Television-film: Production assistant and post-production training, aspiring writers mentoring program ● Theater: Stagecraft boot camp ● Digital media: Podcasting certification, animation training ● Music: Career education and internship placement In addition, the office partnered with MediaMKRS, Reel Works, local government and the City University of New York to train and credential students in technical and workplace readiness skills. The CUNY students worked with media companies Disney, HBO, CNN and NBC Universal, and 73% of graduates were hired within 30 days.

Marketing firm Cannaclusive, responding to the lack of diversity in the cannabis industry, is determined to ensure that cannabis consumers who are from various racial and ethnic backgrounds are seen as valued allies in the fight for legalization and destigmatization. In addition to helping industry clients market to these consumers, Cannaclusive works to support companies owned by people from various racial and ethnic backgrounds and highlight diversity-building activities among cannabis and hemp companies. Some of the initiatives include a free image gallery for marketers to provide better representation of diverse consumers; the Accountability List, which offers information on cannabis and hemp companies’ diversity actions, such as social equity statements, hiring plans and history of racism; and InclusiveBase, a comprehensive database of Black- and brown-owned companies in the cannabis industry Cannaclusive works with the Student Marijuana Alliance for Research and Transparency to introduce college students to careers in the industry.

Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft LLP | www.cadwalader.com

We congratulate our colleague Aisha Greene, a “Top Diversity & Inclusion Officer” finalist, our “Diversity Champions” co-finalists, and all organizations and individuals featured in Crain’s New York Business’s “Excellence in Diversity and Inclusion Awards.”

AISHA GREENE, Director of Attorney Development & Training

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Diversity Champions

MEDIUM FIRMS This award recognizes organizations with 100 to 250 employees that have committed to a diverse workforce and have programs or initiatives advancing diversity in the workplace

BY DEBORAH NASON

JRT REALTY GROUP

THE FLOATING HOSPITAL

SAVILLS

TREPP

“It’s not about creating advantages for some; it’s about removing barriers for others,” said Jodi Pulice, founder and CEO of JRT Realty, the largest certified minority- and women-owned business enterprise commercial real estate firm in the U.S. The firm has been awarded the Top Diversity Owned Business Award and the Minority/Woman Business of the Year award by the National Minority Business Council, which recognized JRT’s efforts to grant the highest number of partnership and subcontracting assignments to other minority- and women-owned vendors. To create even more opportunities for these vendors, JRT recently formed MWBE Unite, a one-stop shop to connect credentialed MWBE businesses and diverse individuals with commercial real estate organizations that must meet billion-dollar supplier diversity obligations. Services will include strategic program management, commercial real estate supplier and workforce diversity, social impact construction, development and management, property technologies and environment, and social and governance advisory. Pulice will be the organization’s CEO.

The Floating Hospital, a citywide charity hospital, has embraced diversity, equity and inclusion as an imperative since its founding in 1866. Its Queens flagship clinic, emblematically, is in an area of exceptional racial-ethnic diversity. Likewise, some 62% of the organization’s directors or senior managers are people who identify as having racial and ethnic backgrounds, and 77% of those positions are held by women. Of the employees hired in 2021, 84% were non-Caucasian. In its continued efforts to recruit and retain a diverse workforce, the Floating Hospital recruits candidates with multiple language abilities to reflect its international context. Among staff members, 23 languages are spoken, along with American Sign Language. The Floating Hospital has historically offered opportunities within its immediate community of underserved people and has recently instituted an initiative for recruiting and advancing underserved youth. Young people who attend the hospital’s summer camp or education programs can then enlist in a counselor-in-training program, which leads to internships and employment with the hospital.

Diversity, equity and inclusion is a priority for Mitchell E. Rudin, CEO of Savills North America, a commercial real estate brokerage. One way Rudin symbolized this commitment was by combining the positions of chief strategy officer and chief diversity officer at the firm, demonstrating that driving revenue and diversity, equity and inclusion are interdependent. Rudin has also thrown his support behind the Black Broker Initiative, meeting with leaders of other firms, trade organizations and DEI professionals to build a hub for talent recruitment and a broker-focused community. Savills has paid particular attention to building a diverse pipeline. In 2020 the firm launched the Junior Broker Development Program, a companywide 15-month program focused on mentoring and supporting people of color and women in commercial real estate. A cohort of associates shadow the firm’s top executives and, in turn, build a strong professional network. Also in 2020, Savills launched two employee resource groups, Black Excellence United and the Women’s Initiatives Network.

In 2020 Trepp, an information provider to financial and real estate markets, launched its Multicultural Employee Resource Group with a big mission: to implement diversity and inclusion initiatives, incorporating all employees’ diverse mindsets. It’s well on its way, with about 50% of its employees having participated in its activities so far. The resource group focuses on four areas: professional development, recruitment, events and communications. Its programming has included: ● An interviewing workshop to provide managers and team leaders with practical tools to minimize bias in the hiring process ● Fireside chats to discuss sensitive topics, such as gender and race discrimination in the workplace, diversity and inclusion, and Black Lives Matter ● Policy updates of Trepp’s parental leave policy to support transgender employees, adoptive parents and employees who are part of same-sex couples ● A panel discussion featuring female executives speaking on career success, barriers, mentorship and unconscious bias

“IT’S NOT ABOUT CREATING ADVANTAGES FOR SOME; IT’S ABOUT REMOVING BARRIERS FOR OTHERS”

ROUNDABOUT THEATRE COMPANY

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“We acknowledge our responsibility for perpetuating and, now, correcting injustices in our industry and for building an American theater that thrives on diversity,” said Todd Haimes, artistic director and CEO of the Roundabout Theatre Company. In 2019 the organization embraced this responsibility by undertaking an organizational change focusing on its stages, offices, board and community. This effort included a companywide assessment, leading to the creation of a strategic plan to address equity, diversity, inclusion, and anti-racism. Two initiatives that resulted included the Refocus Project, which highlights plays by playwrights of color, and the Reverb Festival, an online festival of new works by artists with disabilities. To bolster its diversity-related recruitment and retention, Roundabout created professional development and mentor opportunities for staff of various racial and ethnic backgrounds, maintained and expanded staff affinity groups, streamlined interview questions for job candidates, reframed job descriptions using competencies rather than checkboxes, and removed degree requirements unless absolutely necessary.

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“WE ACKNOWLEDGE RESPONSIBILITY FOR PERPETUATING AND, NOW, CORRECTING INJUSTICES IN OUR INDUSTRY”

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Diversity Champions CADWALADER, WICKERSHAM & TAFT Wall Street law firm Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft offers far-reaching diversity activities to its nearly 800 employees. Programming is overseen by the Cadwalader Center for Diversity and Inclusion, which has launched initiatives, such as the educational Civil Rights Series program, that encourage conversation around civil rights issues. Cadwalader provides training programs to support diverse attorneys in their career development, including Basic Training, which teaches second-year attorneys communication skills and how to deal with difficult situations; Business Development Boot Camp, which coaches midlevel women attorneys on how to develop, prepare and deliver a client pitch; and Base Camp, which provides leadership training to midlevel high-performing associates. These programs help diverse attorneys become eligible for the Sponsorship Program, which pairs protégés with senior partners to continue building skills and networking. The firm’s six affinity networks include resource groups for parents and first-generation law students.

TRAINING PROGRAMS AT KEY CAREER STAGES SUPPORT DIVERSE ATTORNEYS

LARGE FIRMS This award recognizes organizations with more than 250 employees that have committed to a diverse workforce and have programs or initiatives advancing diversity in the workplace

BY DEBORAH NASON

HORIZON MEDIA

NEW YORK-PRESBYTERIAN

Aspiring to be an “agency of belonging,” Horizon Media approaches diversity, equity and inclusion challenges throughout the enterprise. Some DEI focus areas include internal and external communication, training and development, inclusive culture, equitable talent practices, accountability and measurement, and vendor engagement. Horizon has supported diverse vendors, especially through its Project Embrace, which strives to invest clients’ media dollars with diverse-owned-and-targeted suppliers. Its tactics include a Supplier Diversity and Inclusion Code of Conduct, which commits to providing a level playing field for underrepresented suppliers, and mandatory vendor nondiscrimination training. Internally, the learning and development team offers education on unconscious bias, microaggression, allyship and psychological safety. Horizon supports five employee resource groups: Asian/Asian American, Black/ African American, LGBTQ+, Hispanic/ Latinx, and parents and caretakers. These groups offer mentorship programs, advocate for employee needs and consult on business initiatives. Externally, the agency launched the #StopAsianHate public service announcement campaign across North America and hosted Minority Media Week.

New York-Presbyterian’s Diversity and Inclusion Task Force spans the medical center, with representatives from various functions and campuses working on multiple subcommittees such as veterans, LGBTQ+, supplier diversity and talent management. Other programs include an unconscious bias curriculum for staff; the Dialogues in Diversity series, which examines topics such as gender identity, neurodiversity, addiction and veterans’ issues; and an employee career-management program that aims to specifically help women and people of color in the organization. New York-Presbyterian established an inclusion group on each campus that focuses on the multiple dimensions people identify with, rather than single-interest, employee-resource groups. The groups’ goal is to enable employees to discuss and manage diversity and inclusion issues that matter to them on their own campus. The Dalio Center for Health Justice was recently established to research and address structural inequities in health care and create programming for the communities NYP serves.

HACKENSACK MERIDIAN HEALTH Guided by its inaugural assessment of diversity efforts across workforce, recruitment, talent management programs, supplier diversity, philanthropy and leadership accountability, Hackensack Meridian Health recently developed a comprehensive, strategic plan on diversity, equity and inclusion. A number of related initiatives have been introduced recently, including DEI Academy, which provides staff with new skills such as leading diverse teams; unconscious bias training courses; a diversity job fair and Women of Color Conference; an annual Day of Understanding, designed to foster an environment that embraces different perspectives and values the contributions of each individual; the Listening to Understand campaign, intended to proactively engage team members in discussions about race, racism and racial equity; and cultural competence training (in-person and online) on topics such as generational diversity, bullying and violence, and unconscious bias. Hackensack recruits from more than 15,500 community-based organizations that support women, LGBTQIA+, veterans and other underrepresented groups.

AHRC NASSAU At AHRC Nassau, a nonprofit that serves people with disabilities, 68% of its workforce comes from various racial and ethnic backgrounds. As such, it confronts daily issues of equity and disability discrimination. The organization’s diversity, equity and inclusion committee celebrates the caregiving staff and encourages a culture of inclusivity and respect through its organized activities. These include Lunch and Learn events on subjects such as culture and belonging, roots of systemic racism, LGBTQIA+, disability discrimination, and women in the workplace. These events are complemented by a monthly DEI conversation hour. On a national level, AHRC Nassau and the Arc of the United States is set to co-host a full-day virtual conference: Beyond the Comfort Zone: Understanding and Eradicating Injustice, Racism and Inequality in the Field of Developmental Disabilities. Topics will include wage parity, career ladders for workers from diverse racial and ethnic backgrounds, neurodiversity in the workplace, access and barriers in health care, and decreasing government funding.

THIS ORGANIZATION CONFRONTS ISSUES OF EQUITY AND DISABILITY DISCRIMINATION

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Top Diversity and Inclusion Officers NYC Health + Hospitals

Dr. Natalia Cineas, chief nurse executive for NYC Health + Hospitals, works to reduce health disparities among minority communities in the largest public health care system in the country. Under her leadership, the organization is CINEAS investing nearly $4.2 million to radically restructure and standardize its educational systems to ensure equitable patient outcomes. As co-chair of the system’s Equity and Access Council, Cineas defines strategic workplace diversity and inclusion priorities across the entire network of care centers. To this end, she’s established an Equity Work Group that gives staff a voice to express support for new programs and identify areas that need improvement. Cineas spearheaded a partnership with the City University of New York to create a pipeline for diverse talent and created a series of Health Equity Forums to address urgent issues of race and equity in nursing practice and education. She’s a founding member of the Greater New York City chapter of the National Black Nurse Association. She has been widely recognized for her work. She shares her expertise with many organizations, including the Advocacy Committee of the New York City American Heart Association Board and the Reducing Health Disparities group of the Joint Commission Technical Advisory Panel.

UNDER HER LEADERSHIP, THE ORGANIZATION IS RADICALLY RESTRUCTURING TO ENSURE EQUITABLE PATIENT OUTCOMES

KIMBERLY HARDY, McKissack & McKissack/ New Terminal 1 at JFK

Kimberly Hardy, senior vice president at McKissack & McKissack, a Blackowned design and construction firm, leads a supplier diversity program for the $9.5 billion New Terminal 1 project at John HARDY F. Kennedy International Airport. The new 23-gate terminal, set to break ground later in the spring, will partner with local minority-owned businesses and bring jobs to marginalized communities in Queens. So far, Hardy has overseen $50 million in spending in partnership with more than 70 minority-, womenand service-disabled-veteran-owned businesses before construction. “The New Terminal 1 Team at JFK is committed to collaborating with neighborhood-based organizations that promote job development, particularly second-chance employment,” said Dr. Gerrard Bushell, executive chair of the New Terminal 1. “We thank Kim Hardy for leading the charge.” Hardy has been recognized as a Woman of Excellence by the New York Women’s Chamber of Commerce. She is a member of the Council for Black Business Enterprises and the Greater Harlem Chamber of Commerce. Hardy previously promoted equity and inclusion through her public-sector work as a deputy commissioner at the New York City Commission on Human Rights, the Department of Housing and Preservation and Development, and the Department of Small Business Services.

AISHA GREENE

NIKKI LAMBA

As Apollo Global Management’s head of leadership development and diversity, Jonathan Simon works toward building a more inclusive Wall Street. Within his first six months at Apollo, Simon launched AltFinance, SIMON a 10-year, $90 million program designed to diversify the alternative investment industry, strengthen the talent pipeline, and provide career opportunities for students attending historically black colleges and universities. Simon also led HBCUNet, an online job portal connecting HBCU students and alumni to careers at Apollo and its funds’ portfolio companies. He spotted an opportunity to build on the success of Apollo’s VetNet, an existing initiative that assists veteran candidates entering the private sector, and adapted it to focus on HBCU talent. This year Apollo launched a supplier diversity program with the goal of achieving more than $1 billion in spending across its private-equity portfolio by 2024. Simon helped launch the Apollo Opportunity Foundation, which has committed to investing more than $100 million in the next decade in nonprofits that seek to advance educational access, workforce development and economic empowerment. Simon previously led diversity and equity initiatives at Citibank in its institutional business and managed student talent acquisition on the Advancing Black Leaders team at JPMorgan Chase.

Aisha Greene, director of attorney development and training, works to make sure women and people of color at Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft have everything they need to thrive. Greene has been guided in her work by GREENE industrywide studies that show women and people of color who leave their firms often cite a lack of training and support. Based on this evidence, she’s implemented robust early-career development programs and a sponsorship initiative in which high-performing women and minority attorneys are assigned a senior partner sponsor. The program has had a powerful impact: Since 2016, more than half of internal partner promotions have been awarded to women or minority candidates. That figure was just 6% in the prior period. She works to promote an inclusive environment at the firm. She developed an allyship video and anti-racism tool kit; managed the firm’s Civil Rights Series, a program that facilitates conversation and education about civil rights issues; and organized Juneteenth celebration events for all of the firm’s employees. Greene’s impact extends beyond the firm: She also oversees the firm’s robust and multifaceted pro bono initiatives, and this year she helped launch a formal supplier diversity program to support women- and minority-owned businesses.

As DDB Worldwide’s first global chief diversity, equity and inclusion officer, Nikki Lamba has led conversations around inclusion and representation across all levels of the company. Under Lamba’s leadership, a LAMBA third of DDB’s U.S. hires last year were people of color and more than half were female. Lamba, who has made mentoring women in leadership roles a priority, managed the Phyllis India Project, a yearlong mentorship program for building a community of women leaders, and the Female Creative Coaching Circle, a manager-nominated program for top female creative leaders. In addition, Lamba oversees the Diversity Development Bursary, which offers coaching opportunities for high-performing individuals from underrepresented groups across Europe, the Middle East and Africa. Lamba launched a quarterly diversity and inclusion newsletter that showcases initiatives, upcoming events and resources to ensure equity remains at the forefront of the conversation. “Nikki has brought a lens that is crucial to not only our day-to-day business, but creative product,” CEO Marty O’Halloran said. Lamba was appointed to the board of the Omnicom Asian Leaders Circle and was a judge for the Anthem Awards, a new program from the Webby Awards designed to honor mission-driven social impact work around the world.

Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft

DDB

“NIKKI HAS BROUGHT A LENS THAT IS CRUCIAL TO NOT ONLY OUR DAYTO-DAY BUT TO OUR CREATIVE PRODUCT”

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JONATHAN SIMON,

Apollo Global Management

PETER FREED

NATALIA CINEAS,

This award recognizes individuals whose primary job is promoting diversity within their organization and who have successfully steered the diversity agenda, including in the wider community BY JO CONSTANTZ

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This award recognizes emerging leaders at a New York City company or organization that has promoted programs or initiatives advancing diversity and inclusion

BY JO CONSTANTZ

S. MITRA KALITA

RITA KAKATI-SHAH

FRANCILIA WILKINS RAHIM

S. Mitra Kalita launched Epicenter-NYC, a newsletter that served communities of color desperate for information in the depths of the pandemic, while still a senior vice president at CNN. Since January 2021, the publication has helped nearly 15,000 New Yorkers—mostly KALITA people of color— gain access to vaccines. Kalita made sure diverse communities were able to access information on their terms, assembling volunteers to text and call those in need. She hosted livestreams and appeared on the Brian Lehrer Show on WNYC weekly to discuss vaccine access and answer callers’ questions. While helping individuals navigate deeply personal Covid-era challenges, Kalita has sought to make policy changes on a much larger scale. She distilled insights from what she had witnessed on the ground into articles aimed toward policymakers and employers for the Epicenter-NYC site, Fortune and Time. Through her reporting, she called on CVS and Walgreens to be consistent in their delivery of second doses and to refrain from asking immigrants for identification, which had deterred many in the community from getting the shot. These days Epicenter-NYC is a sustainable media company with four newsletters, a weekly podcast and livestream, and frequent in-person community engagement events.

Rita Kakati-Shah is the founder and CEO of Uma Group, a diversity and inclusion consultancy with clients across industries and countries. Through her work, Kakati-Shah has led diversity and inclusion training for more than 200,000 employees, individuals and KAKATI-SHAH students worldwide. She has given keynote talks and guest lectures at more than 500 corporate, policy and academic institutions across 15 countries. Earlier this year Kakati-Shah was honored with the President’s Lifetime Achievement Award from President Joe Biden, in recognition of her efforts to volunteer, mentor and serve her local (New York) and global community. She recently published a book summing up her expertise: The Goddess of Go-Getting: Your Guide to Confidence, Leadership, and Workplace Success. “Rita leads with candor and integrity,” said Andri Paphitis, an operations associate at Uma, “from empowering youth, women and minorities to changing mindsets and policies at the very highest levels.” Kakati-Shah is an adviser to many boards in the U.S. and abroad, including the King’s Business School in London, Democracy Without Borders in India and the St. George’s Society of New York. She began her professional career at Goldman Sachs in London, where she was awarded the Excellence in Citizenship and Diversity Award.

Francilia Wilkins Rahim founded R.F. Wilkins Consultants when she was 23 and has built the company into one of the top 0.1% of African American women-owned firms in the country by revenue. Last year the firm won a partnership with the New York City Department of Small Business WILKINS RAHIM Services and the city-managed nonprofit New York City Economic Development Corp. to build the nation’s first African American women-owned accelerator for businesses by people from various racial and ethnic backgrounds. The 40,000-squarefoot center at the Brooklyn Navy Yard will scale more than 500 businesses annually and create more than 400 jobs citywide. Since the pandemic, she launched the Black Business Collaborative, an organization that produced research and held discussions with city agencies and the mayor’s office to advocate for equitable consideration for contracting opportunities. This led to new inclusion policies for Black-owned businesses. In 2019 Wilkins Rahim’s firm was tasked with ensuring minority and local inclusion across the $17 billion John F. Kennedy International Airport redevelopment project. So far, it has engaged more than 300 diverse firms. Wilkins Rahim is Google’s digital coach in New York City. She provides technical assistance and mentoring to entrepreneurs on developing products and services, marketing, social media, business technology and access to capital, among other topics.

Epicenter-NYC

KALITA MADE SURE COMMUNITIES WERE ABLE TO ACCESS INFORMATION ON THEIR OWN TERMS, ASSEMBLING VOLUNTEERS TO TEXT AND CALL

Uma Group LLC

R.F. Wilkins Consultants

VILMA LINARES VAUGHN

ADEOLA ADEJOBI

1199SEIU Training and Employment Funds Vilma Linares Vaughn is the deputy executive editor of the Training and Employment Fund for Local 1199 of the Service Employees International Union. The program works with the Bronx Healthcare Learning Collaborative to provide access LINARES VAUGHN to education and training to boost the number of Spanish-speaking health care professionals in the Bronx. While 60% of the patients in the Bronx are Spanish-speaking, only 10% of the borough’s health care professionals speak Spanish. Under Linares Vaughn’s leadership, the program seeks to improve patient care and strengthen residents’ economic outlook. To expand older workers’ access to educational opportunities, Linares Vaughn has developed a digital training program to make the best use of cellphones and to teach computer skills such as hosting Zoom meetings. Linares Vaughn has led listening sessions, organized diversity and inclusion training for staff, and helped the organization re-evaluate hiring practices and organizational culture. She’s also led the development of workshops to strengthen resiliency and mitigate burnout experienced by many health care workers during the pandemic. In the past several years, Linares Vaughn raised more than $1 million in partnership with the New York Yankees. The team donated two suites and hundreds of stadium tickets to honor individuals and organizations’ contributions to the Collaborative.

Avant-Garde Network

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Emerging Leaders

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Adeola Adejobi’s experience as the only Black attorney at a large New York City law firm inspired her to found the Avant-Garde Network, an organization that engages people of color across industries and countries through conferences and other events. In 2019 she launched the inADEJOBI augural Diversity in Commercial Real Estate conference to address the low percentages of people of color in the field. The event drew more than 600 attendees and several high-profile speakers and sponsors. The following year, when the Avant-Garde Network transitioned to a digital platform in response to the pandemic, the organization expanded its audience both in terms of numbers and geographic reach. The annual Diversity in Commercial Real Estate conference is now the largest of its kind in the nation and is expected to attract 1,000 participants this year. In 2018 Adejobi created Women of Color and Capital, a networking organization and conference series that addresses challenges all women, particularly women of color, face in accessing capital. More than 5,000 participants have attended the flagship conference in the past four years, and with more than 15,000 members, the organization continues to reach thousands of women annually through in-person and virtual events.

ADJOBI CREATED WOMEN OF COLOR AND CAPITAL TO ADDRESS CHALLENGES OF CAPITAL ACCESS FOR ALL WOMEN

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Showing the Way CORPORATION FOR SUPPORTIVE HOUSING When the nonprofit Corporation for Supportive Housing placed racial equity at the center of its work in 2018, substantial introspection followed. Its leadership has conducted assessments, created an internal working group and established a framework to better fulfill its mission as an anti-racist organization. As a result, the organization has changed its hiring practices to attract and recruit applicants of color, including people with a lived experience of homelessness and those with nontraditional educational backgrounds. For full economic transparency, salary ranges and information about benefits are now provided on job postings and the website. These changes have paid off. In the past three years the Corporation for Supportive Housing has seen an increase in people of color in senior leadership, as well as in supervisor and manager positions. A recent assessment found that people from various racial and ethnic backgrounds accounted for more than 75% of staff who joined the organization in the past year. Externally, the nonprofit has prioritized partnerships with developers from various racial and ethnic backgrounds, distributing more than $60 million in loans in 2021 alone. In 2020 it launched an index measuring racial disparity in public systems, and it has since worked with more than seven jurisdictions to integrate the findings into recommendations for policy change.

This award recognizes real-life examples of diversity and inclusion practices that have produced a positive change within an organization’s corporate culture BY JO CONSTANTZ

CRUX INTELLIGENCE

AKRF

NORTON ROSE FULBRIGHT

SHAWMUT

Crux Intelligence, an artificial intelligence company, is working to close the gender gap in the technology industry. At the company, led by Kathy Leake, an accomplished entrepreneur, 37% of the staff are women— well above the average in the tech industry, where women represent less than a quarter of employees and less than 3% of CEOs. At Crux Intelligence, women hold key positions as engineers, coders, data scientists, lead product designers, and machine learning and artificial intelligence experts. To aid retention, the company works to maintain a culture that is inclusive, transparent and supportive. Leaders meet regularly with employees and prioritize mentorship and the promotion of staff members’ accomplishments—both within the organization and externally. Neha Prabhugaonkar, the company’s head of data science, recently secured a patent for a natural language processing capability. The firm is drafting a press release to promote her accomplishments outside the company. “I love working here,” Prabhugaonkar said, “because there are so many examples of incredible women achieving incredible things in technology and in the field of artificial intelligence.”

Environmental planning and engineering consulting firm AKRF continues to diversify its staff at all levels. More than 40% of the staff are women, and almost a third are minorities. Half of its board of directors are women, three of whom are women of color. Karen Franz, the firm’s CEO, was recently named to City & State’s Pride Power 100 list as an LGBTQ-identifying business leader. Since August 2020 AKRF has been working with Dax-Devlon Ross and Emely Martinez from the social impact consultant DAX-DEV to establish an internal diversity, equity and inclusion committee and associated working groups. One of the committee’s initiatives was to create a firmwide calendar to honor days of cultural, religious and ethnic significance. AKRF added an annual paid-time-off day for each employee to honor a day of personal significance. The firm is working to build an internship program for candidates from underrepresented minority groups and has reached out to the New York City Department of Design and Construction to participate in its science, technology, engineering, art and mathematics initiative. This program establishes an inclusive pipeline for New York City’s youth in the architecture, engineering and construction industries.

International law firm Norton Rose Fulbright formed a racial equity council in 2020 with a mission to improve the experience of Black lawyers and personnel throughout the firm. To this end, Norton Rose Fulbright has increased the number of Black attorneys at the firm by making the recruitment of Black talent a priority and has worked to advance equity in promotion opportunities. It’s created a sponsorship program to serve as a career accelerator for Black nonpartner lawyers and worked to connect Black staff members across the firm’s offices through events that promote fellowship and a sense of belonging. As part of its pipeline, Norton Rose Fulbright partners with multiple universities to provide resources, and it mentors students at the University of Texas School of Law. Last year the firm had 13 summer associates across offices that identified as Black, a significant increase over prior years. The firm extended an offer to 12 of those students, and all 12 accepted.

Construction management firm Shawmut created a diversity leadership council in 2014 that has partnered with Deloitte to build awareness of unconscious bias; improve managerial, promotion and mentorship systems; and use data to establish accountability.

THE ORGANIZATION HAS CHANGED HIRING PRACTICES TO ATTRACT PEOPLE WITH A LIVED EXPERIENCE OF HOMELESSNESS

In addition to its internal efforts, the firm donated more than $300,000 in proceeds from its 2021 Run Against Racism charity event to the Anti-Defamation League, the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, and the Tahirih Justice Center.

One-third of the firm’s workforce and a quarter of its senior management team are women, a significant improvement over prior years and well above the construction industry average of about 10%. The company has launched a diversity recruitment strategy, implementing extensive unconscious bias training and partnering with historically Black colleges and universities. It has put into practice a review system that helps to ensure equitable promotions and raises. Shawmut is working externally to diversify its suppliers, partnering to support women- and minority-owned businesses. In New York, the team has doubled its hiring of underrepresented businesses and has reached a rate of 15%. Some recent projects have been completed with 100% women-owned subcontractors, with women-led building and design teams. Shawmut is a longstanding partner of ACE Mentor Program of Greater New York, an after-school program designed to attract high school students to careers in architecture, construction and engineering. Shawmut is also a longstanding partner of Summer Search and the Posse Foundation, both focused on student mentoring and leadership development.

THE FIRM’S WORKFORCE AND SENIOR MANAGEMENT TEAM INCLUDE WOMEN IN NUMBERS WELL ABOVE THE CONSTRUCTION INDUSTRY AVERAGE

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Cheryl McKissack Daniel Diversity & Inclusion Lifetime Achievement BY NATALIE SACHMECHI

ast year, Cheryl McKissack Daniel, president and CEO of construction firm McKissack & McKissack, submitted plans for a Midtown development site, along with developer Don Peebles of the Peebles Corp., Craig Livingston of Exact Capital and Steve Witkoff of the Witkoff Group. If completed, Affirmation Tower would be the first project in the city built by a majority-Black team. Since then, the city has scrapped its proposal request for the site by the Javits Center, but the team’s bid for the project has still pushed the quest for diversity in the city’s real estate community forward. “We feel it’s going to come back around, but [the project] has certainly created the idea that we need to expand in this area,” McKissack Daniel said. Her goal of advancing the growth of Black real estate professionals doesn’t start or stop with one tower.

Her family’s construction firm has been pushing boundaries since it was founded in 1905 by the grandsons of a slave, who learned the construction trade from his owner. Two generations later, in 1922, the firm earned the first architectural licenses for African Americans in Tennessee. Today, McKissack & McKissack is the oldest minority-owned construction firm in the country. But McKissack Daniel doesn’t allow anyone to tokenize her or her firm. “I’ve been blessed with too mch of a legacy. I have 30 years’ experience in this space,” she said. “Someone may think they want to make me a token in their head, but I’m not going to allow it.” Several years ago, a developer for a client wanted to use her firm for its minority- and women-owned business status, and because it had a relationship with the client. “When we’re getting ready to consummate the deal,” she recalled, “the developer made a comment of ‘I didn’t know you actually did the work.’” She ended up walking away from that deal.

To promote the involvement of minority-owned businesses in the industry, her firm has begun offering compliance services to make sure clients meet their MWBE goals. “We actually bring in our construction experts to break down packages and make recommendations on the best fit for MWBE contractors to a particular job,” she said. JFK’s $7 billion Terminal 1 project, where McKissack is the lead program consultant, is the largest airport project in the country, she said, and it has a goal of 30% MWBE involvement. “In this process, we’re going to have to take our existing MWBEs, exhaust the market in NYC and go outside of New York to look for more,” she said. It’s also important that members of the Black real estate community stick together, she said. “We’re stronger together and that’s how everyone tends to work. I have rarely seen competition among this group.” Her friendship with Peebles dates back four decades to when they, along with McKissack Daniel’s twin sister, Deryl, were students at Howard University, a historically Black university in Washington, D.C. Peebles had just purchased a condo. “We’re 19 or 20 years old, thinking, ‘Who wants to buy anything? We’re in a dormitory,’” she said. “He’s always been an inspiration and he’s always been inten-

“SOMEONE MAY THINK THEY WANT TO MAKE ME A TOKEN IN THEIR HEAD, BUT I’M NOT GOING TO ALLOW IT”

A community effort In her experience, clients want minority- and women-owned business enterprises to sit in a subcontracting role as opposed to forging opportunities so that MWBEs can be prime contractors.

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tional about developing and he’s forged some really good relationships,” she added. “A lot of the real estate community believe in what he represents.”

Then and now McKissack Daniel eventually went to work for her family’s firm, which was based in Nashville, Tennessee. “If you can imagine the South in the 1980s, that’s what I was dealing with. We did a lot of work with Black institutions and some work with Nashville, but we weren’t getting our fair share,” she said. Her mother sued the city of Nashville, claiming it failed to include any women or Black people in the request for proposal for a large airport project. “People did not like the fact that she stood up and fought for a whole community. In the end, it ended up working out for her,” McKissack Daniel said. “There were people who ultimately de-

TAKING THE LEAD

need to hire diverse cided that what she was candidates, but doing was the right sometimes I have to thing, like environmenremind people,” she tal and social goversaid. nance right now.” “It’s the fact that McKissack & McKisswe give everyone an ack was recently awardJFK TERMINAL equal opportunity is ed a contract in part1 construction where McKissack what creates the difnership with Turner is the lead program ference,” she added. Construction and the consultant McKissack Daniel Velez Organization to recalled an architecbuild the interiors of ture firm that had the trading floors for blind resumés from the new JPMorgan potential interns—no Chase corporate headYEARS OLD family names, ethnicities or quarters at 270 Park construction firm addresses—and as a Ave. now also offers compliance help result, it hired more “That only happens so clients can meet people of color than when the leader of an their MWBE goals it ever had before. organization like Jamie “I think New York Dimon says, ‘Diversity is still one of the most and inclusion is improgressive cities you can work portant to me,’” she said. She makes it a point to hire as in,” she said. “There’s some covert activity that may be working diversely as she can. “We have leaders that are not against MWBEs, but the overt diverse who, because they work at continues to forge a path for more McKissack, understand that they and more inclusion.” ■

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Celebrate the Champions of Diversity & Inclusion. LUNCHEON & LIVE UNVEILING OF THE 2022 D&I AWARD WINNERS

THURSDAY, JUNE 16 | 12-2 PM MANHATTAN MANOR RESERVE YOUR SPOT

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Crain’s Annual Excellence in Diversity and Inclusion Awards toasts New York City individuals and businesses that are leading by example and holding themselves and others accountable for diversity and inclusion initiatives. GOLD SPONSOR

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THE FIRST RECORDED INSTANCE of the term “marketing” dates to the 1560s. In the 460 years since then, marketing has taken many forms, with traveling salesmanship and mail-order catalogs giving way to message-laden packaging, billboards, radio and TV ads, and social media campaigns. Most recently, digitization has allowed marketing practitioners and their cousins— advertising and public relations pros—to leverage data in their attempts at attraction and persuasion. It’s an evolution that speaks to an evergreen business need: letting the world know an enterprise exists and can deliver what consumers need or at least want. Lately, of course, consumers have come to expect the businesses they engage with to show a commitment to social and environmental responsibility. It generally falls to advertising, marketing and PR professionals to demonstrate organizational fealty to those ideals. Industry leaders in the New York area have proved they are more than up to the task, driving messaging around sustainability prerogatives and product offerings with equal aplomb. In selecting the 45 individuals for this 2022 list of Notable Leaders in Advertising, Marketing and Public Relations, Crain’s aimed to highlight the professionals who are exceptionally skilled at grasping the zeitgeist and crafting of such messages. The talented individuals who made the cut work in an array of industries and represent the best the industry has to offer. Crain’s is proud to present them to its readers. The list of honorees includes only those executives for whom nominations were submitted and accepted after an editorial review. Their profiles were drawn from submitted nomination materials. To qualify for the list, executives had to be employed in a senior level position in New York City or the surrounding counties for at least 10 years in a marketing, advertising or PR role, either in-house or at an agency. The honorees were selected for their professional achievement as well as their involvement in mentorship and philanthropic and community activities. Read on to discover how these publicity mavens propel businesses and shape the world.

MICHAEL BOONSHOFT Public relations lead, U.S. and Canada | Cushman & Wakefield

As public relations lead for the U.S. and Canada at the commercial real estate services firm Cushman & Wakefield, Michael Boonshoft is responsible for proactive media relations, crisis communications and reputation management in that region. Boonshoft has developed external strategies for major deals and transactions, and he works to ensure compliance with global brand standards and social media policies. He led Cushman’s pandemic media response team for the Americas, developing and implementing public relations strategies for employees’ return to office. He was recognized as a Top 100 Cushman & Wakefield Performer in 2020. He is a member of the firm’s New York tristate leadership team.

BRIAN BOURQUE Senior vice president of marketing | SmartAsset

As senior vice president of marketing at the financial technology company SmartAsset, Brian Bourque manages a team of marketing professionals, designers, conversion optimization experts and campaign managers. Bourque is responsible for SmartAsset’s lead generation and performance marketing efforts, wherein consumers are matched with financial advisers. By collaborating with the product and data science teams, he and his team have contributed to a vast increase in the number of consumer-adviser pairings and helped identify higher intent tactics and channels. Bourque previously served in marketing roles at Mindspark Interactive Network.

KIMBERLY BROOKS Public relations director | Mintz Levin

Kimberly Brooks manages the development and implementation of initiatives across the wide range of industries–health care, technology, real estate and retail–served by the law firm Mintz Levin. As public relations director, Brooks is responsible for the development, execution and supervision of strategic initiatives and day-to-day public relations activities, such as media interviews, reporter inquiries and promotional efforts related to the firm’s core practice areas. In previous roles, she executed global communications for Cadwalader Wickersham & Taft and led public relations efforts for King & Spalding. Brooks previously was a guardian ad litem for the North Carolina court system, representing the interests of infants, the unborn and the incompetent in legal actions.

CAROLINE BURGER Managing director, North America industry and Northeast marketing and communications lead | Accenture

Caroline Burger plans, designs and executes integrated marking communications plans for the global professional services company Accenture. As managing director for North America industry and Northeast marketing and communications lead, Burger is responsible for growing the business and brand in the Northeast Market Unit. She oversees dozens of marketing professionals. For North America industry clients, Burger has organized hybrid events about the nature of inclusive growth for the Women’s Leadership Forum. She is involved in several nonprofits that work to advance New York City’s standing as a hub for economic mobility and innovation. Burger is part of Robin Hood’s executive leadership development program.

LISA CLUNIE Co-founder and chief executive officer | Joan Creative

As co-founder and chief executive officer of Joan Creative, Lisa Clunie is responsible for business growth and high-level client strategy. Clunie manages dozens of employees based in the full-service creative agency’s New York City office. Under her leadership, the agency has serviced S&P Global, eBay, Google and Fitbit, among others. Clunie is co-founder of the Joan Foundation for Diversity, which supports pathways for underrepresented creatives, and she led the agency’s partnership with Potential Energy, a coalition that works to shift the narrative on climate change. She previously served as chief operating officer at Refinery29, an American multinational feminist digital media and entertainment website. Clunie has been covered by major media outlets. MAY 16, 2022 | CRAIN’S NEW YORK BUSINESS | 23

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JULIE COHEN

NINA MARIE COSTA

NOBLES CRAWFORD

NATALIE CUMMINS

JESSICA DOYLE

Director of marketing and communications Cahill Gordon & Reindel

Deputy director of public relations and entertainment marketing UNICEF USA

Assistant vice president of consumer activation, luxury fragrances L’Oréal

Chief commercial officer BioReference Laboratories

Vice president of marketing and communications Clune Construction

Julie Cohen leads a team at the law firm Cahill Gordon & Reindel that’s responsible for long-term strategic planning and a host of day-today tasks. Cohen, director of marketing and communications, is responsible for guiding partners as they work on speaking engagements and thought leadership, overseeing incoming media inquiries and outgoing announcements, managing the firm’s website and social media, placing bylined articles in leading publications and developing public-facing sales materials. She recently oversaw a logo and website redesign and the 2020 marketing launch of an expanded London office. Cohen is a founding board member of the New York City-based 3GNY, a nonprofit that works to preserve the legacies and lessons of the Holocaust.

Through fundraising, advocacy and education, UNICEF USA supports the global work of the United Nations Children’s Fund. As its deputy director of public relations and entertainment marketing, Nina Marie Costa spearheads local public relations efforts, collaborating with journalists to tell stories of the organization’s work in countries around the world. Leveraging her agency and in-house experience, she has covered topics ranging from girls’ access to education in Afghanistan to natural disaster assistance in Haiti to the humanitarian crisis in Ukraine. Since joining the organization, Costa has worked to create a strategic model for elevating UNICEF USA’s regional markets—an approach that has garnered media coverage and fostered critical media relationships. Costa was a recipient of the New York chapter of the Public Relations Society of America’s 15 Under 35 Award in 2021.

As assistant vice president of consumer activation for luxury fragrances at L’Oréal, Nobles Crawford is charged with exposing American consumers to the company’s mission and products. To that end, Crawford develops media and communication strategies for all couture brands and collaborates with internal marketing, advocacy, direct-to-consumer and sales planning staff. Before joining L’Oréal, Crawford, who has a decade of marketing experience, was a senior media manager at Reckitt Benckiser. He has left his mark on brands including Lysol, HBO and Samsung. Crawford, a local activist and community organizer, was recently elected to the New York state Democratic Party’s state committee.

With more than a quartercentury’s worth of experience in health care—developing plans focused on growth, market access, marketing and communications— Natalie Cummins is now chief commercial officer at BioReference Laboratories. She is responsible for marketing, communications, payer relations and commercial laboratory business. Cummins often serves as the direct contact for key partnership and joint venture agreements, and she has won the business of the National Football League and Madison Square Garden, among other organizations. She is the recipient of several industry awards.

Jessica Doyle oversees national marketing efforts for Clune Construction’s six offices. As vice president of marketing and communications, she develops creative initiatives and implements marketing strategies. In addition, Doyle manages regional marketing teams and proposals for Clune’s New York and Washington, D.C., offices. She has helped streamline management of the company’s large photo portfolio by implementing a cloud-based digital asset management software. Doyle, who has a photography and architecture background, is part of Clune’s diversity, equity and inclusion advisory committee and leads charity efforts in its New York office.

AT LAST COUNT, THE UNITED STATES HAD MORE THAN 8,000 PUBLIC RELATIONS AGENCIES. —SOURCE: STARISTA

TAMIKO EVANS

OLGA FLEMING

Senior vice president of marketing, communications and events American Association of Advertising Agencies

Global president Marina Maher Communications

Tamiko Evans has developed and executed marketing, new business and public relations strategies for nearly two decades, often managing global teams and collaborating with C-suite executives. Now as senior vice president of marketing, communications and events at the American Association of Advertising Agencies, Evans spearheads marketing and communications. Thought leadership and branding and promoting the association’s value to member agencies and the industry at large fall under her purview. She provides counsel to leadership around public relations opportunities related to diversity, equity and inclusion programs and initiatives. Evans is CEO and founder of Brandation Nation, an integrated marketing agency geared toward emerging entrepreneurs.

In September 2021 Marina Maher Communications named Olga Fleming its first president of health care and corporate businesses. After just seven months, Fleming was promoted to global president, a role that made her responsible for employee engagement, client business and corporate growth. She is seasoned at directing U.S. and global public relations, corporate communications, and digital campaigns for organizations, including small pharmaceutical companies and consumer products giants. With nearly three decades of communications experience, Fleming is skilled at establishing brands through integrated communications strategies. She previously was chief executive officer of the boutique communications agency Goodfuse. Fleming is a PRWeek Hall of Femme inductee.

ANNE MARIE GIANUTSOS Chief marketing officer Drone Racing League

Anne Marie Gianutsos is working to make drone racing a mainstream sport. As chief marketing officer at the Drone Racing League, Gianutos leads global advertising and develops partnerships, tech launches and gaming expansions. She generates strategies to make the DRL a part of major cultural and technology trends, including sports betting, blockchain, the metaverse, and science, technology, engineering and mathematics education. Her work has helped the DRL earn various accolades, including Fast Company’s 10 Most Innovative Sports Companies in the World. Gianutsos was named a Business Council of Westchester’s 40 Under 40 honoree, and she is a judge for the international Webby Awards, which recognizes excellence on the internet.

TEDDY GOFF

GABRIELA GONZALEZ

Co-founder and partner Precision

Assistant vice president of communications and development Acacia Network

Teddy Goff has provided counsel to industry giants Gilead, Google and Pfizer across sectors. As co-founder and partner at Precision, an integrated strategy and marketing agency, Goff uses an operational perspective and leads the digital marketing practice. His experience includes working on political campaigns; he was senior adviser to John Hickenlooper’s successful Senate campaign and was the digital director of former President Barack Obama’s 2012 re-election bid. Goff has collaborated with foreign leaders and advised labor unions and nonprofits. He sits on the boards of the political organization Run for Something and the American LGBTQ+ Museum, which is expected to open in 2024.

Gabriela Gonzalez has nearly 15 years of experience in the nonprofit communications field focusing on human services, community development, arts and culture, and environmental conservation. The assistant vice president of communications and development at the social services organization Acacia Network is responsible for developing and implementing an integrated communications strategy. Gonzalez is the organization’s chief representative, leading media relations and working to increase the visibility of its programs. Before joining Acacia Network in March 2020, she drove marketing and branding as communications manager at Jazz House Kids, an arts education and performance organization.

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The Corcoran Group is a licensed real estate broker located at 590 Madison Ave, NY, NY 10022

Here’s to the leader of the brand. Corcoran proudly congratulates CMO Christina Panos, named a Notable Leader in Advertising, Marketing, and Public Relations by Crain’s New York Business.

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SANAM HEIDARY Managing director and global head of communications RBC Capital Markets

At RBC Capital Markets, Sanam Heidary oversees the investment bank’s global communications strategy, from media relations and executive announcements to reputation and issue management. As managing director and global head of communications, Heidary leads a team of 15 professionals across North America, Europe and Asia. She sits on the bank’s U.S. regional operating committee, advising on growth strategies. Heidary began her career at RBCCM in 2007. She held positions in global investment banking and sales and research before she shifted to corporate communications in 2010. Heidary is an adviser to the Young Leaders in Journalism program, which exposes public high school students in New York City to various elements of the field.

LESLEIGH IRISHUNDERWOOD Chief brand and external relations officer MetroPlusHealth

Lesleigh Irish-Underwood is credited with restructuring and leading the communications team at the health insurance provider MetroPlus Health. The chief brand and external relations officer, is responsible for the agency’s brand strategy, including product marketing, member experience and special events. Irish-Underwood helped launch a public relations initiative that markets events, including virtual town halls, around school vaccination drives and stopping hate crimes against Asian Americans. She previously was senior vice president and chief marketing officer at United Way of New York Irish-Underwood joined the Brooklyn Community Foundation’s board of directors in January.

LAWRENCE KOPP

LAURA KUCERA

KIM LAUERSDORF

President, chief executive officer and founder The TASC Group

Partner and chief marketing and sales officer Citrin Cooperman

Vice president of marketing EmblemHealth family of companies

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As president, CEO and founder of the public relations agency the TASC Group, Lawrence Kopp supervises multimilliondollar accounts and leads the firm’s crisis communications practice. In this role, he oversees the development of client strategic plans, maintains media relationships and manages the organization’s budget. Kopp’s work has spanned the advocacy, nonprofit and public policy sectors, including managing a national story involving Felicity Huffman and William H. Macy’s involvement in the college application fraud scandal. He previously worked on several presidential campaigns and managed city and statewide political campaigns in New York. Kopp is a founding board member of the Montclair Film Festival, and he has been a member of the Screen Actors Guild for more than 30 years.

As partner and chief marketing and sales officer at Citrin Cooperman, Laura Kucera is responsible for the accounting firm’s marketing, communications and business development. She has developed a go-to-market strategy to align growth between service lines and geographies, created a brand strategy for Citrin Cooperman’s competitive positioning, and generated a national digital satellite radio ad campaign. Kucera also works to integrate new acquisitions into the firm’s culture, identify opportunities for expanding market share and manage external vendors. She was a recipient of the 2017 Marketer of the Year Award from the Association of Accounting Marketing. Kucera volunteers at Westchester Humane Society.

At the EmblemHealth family of companies, Kim Lauersdorf’s responsibilities include brand strategy and development, acquisition and retention, market insights and research, and digital engagement and events. The vice president of marketing oversees eight brands, including EmblemHealth, a nonprofit health insurer, and AdvantageCare physicians, a primary and specialty care medical practice serving communities throughout New York City. With a commitment to consumer choice, Lauersdorf works toward deepening community engagement and generating marketing strategies. She is executive leader of the LGBTQ employee resource group Prism.

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citrincooperman.com

CONGRATULATIONS

LAURA KUCERA

PARTNER, CHIEF MARKETING AND SALES OFFICER

2022 Notable Leader in Advertising, Marketing, and PR by Crain’s New York Business "Citrin Cooperman" is the brand under which Citrin Cooperman & Company, LLP, a licensed independent CPA firm, and Citrin Cooperman Advisors LLC serve clients’ business needs. The two firms operate as separate legal entities in an alternative practice structure. Citrin Cooperman is an independent member of Moore North America, which is itself a regional member of Moore Global Network Limited (MGNL).

50 Rockefeller Plaza, New York, NY 10020

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a M s fi f Y H m e f i a l l d Y c a L

JOHN F. MARINO

MEGHAN MCCARTAN

PATRICK MCCARTHY

DR. MATT MIDDLEMAN

ALICE MILLIGAN

President Marino

Managing director and head of marketing Hightower

Senior vice president and head of North America marketing and martech City National Bank

Founding partner and chief executive officer LifeSci Communications

Chief marketing officer Morgan Stanley

As president of the strategic communications agency Marino, John F. Marino leads day-to-day operations and supervises a staff of 60 professionals. In addition to Fortune 100 C-Suite executives, technology organizations and real estate companies, Marino has worked with local small businesses to secure financial and legislative support for clients including the New York City Hospitality Alliance. He has worked to establish and maintain connections in emerging markets, including fueling growth in the cannabis industry and refreshing advertising services. Marino has led communications for large-scale land-use development projects in New York City and advocated on clients’ behalf to secure approvals in the state Legislature.

Meghan McCartan is managing director and head of marketing at Hightower, a wealth management firm with more than 100 advisory businesses in more than 30 states. In that role, she built an in-house agency to help Hightower advisers attract new clients. McCartan and her team supply support related to messaging, differentiation, market segmentation, prospect targeting and cross-channel digital marketing. She has created a marketing and content management system that provides advisers with access to a plethora of content, including blogs, podcasts, newsletters, white papers, infographics and webinars. McCartan is the founder of Detours and On Ramps, a forum that supports women— mothers in particular—in the workforce.

At City National Bank, Patrick McCarthy oversees a team in New York and Los Angeles responsible for developing and executing brand marketing, digital marketing, content development, direct response and social media campaigns. The senior vice president and head of North America marketing and marketing tech is in charge of monitoring and assessing market trends. Under McCarthy’s leadership, City National partnered with Condé Nast to produce a thought leadership advertorial for some of the latter’s brands. He is an adviser to Out In Tech, a nonprofit community of LGBTQ tech leaders. McCarthy sits on the board of the Sackett Memorial Fund.

Dr. Matt Middleman leads LifeSci Communications, a health care communications agency in the life sciences sector. The founding partner and chief executive officer works to set the agency’s strategic direction, build and manage a team of top talent, ensure operational excellence and serve as company spokesman. Middleman launched multiple new departments to provide more value to clients, including a medical communications group and a scientific strategy unit. The physician previously was a vice president at the public relations firm Russo Partners and a senior biotechnology equities analyst at Avalon Research. Middleman has also formed science, technology, engineering and math education partnerships with New York City schools to benefit students interested in the life sciences.

As Morgan Stanley’s chief marketing officer, Alice Milligan oversees the investment bank’s global brand strategy, sponsorship assets, marketing campaigns and digital properties. Working with Solium Capital and Eaton Vance, among other brands, Milligan is at the center of developing strategic efforts to bolster relationships with clients and attract next-generation consumers. She was previously executive vice president and chief customer officer at E-Trade and chief digital client experience officer at Citi. Milligan, who was recognized by Crain’s as a Notable Woman in Finance in 2018, has been quoted by media outlets including Business Insider and Forbes.

Congratulations,

PATRICK McCARTHY

for being recognized as a 2022 Crain’s Notable Leader in Advertising, Marketing & PR. His knowledge and passion continues to inspire the entire team.

Patrick McCarthy SVP, Head of North America Marketing and MarTech

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STEVEN MOY

CLAIRE NANCE

KATHLEEN O’TOOLE

CHRISTINA PANOS

KWAME A. PATTERSON

Chief executive officer Barbarian

Head of global communications and industry marketing Activision Blizzard Media

Chief marketing officer PKF O’Connor Davies

Chief marketing officer Corcoran Group

Executive director of public relations EmblemHealth

Throughout the pandemic, Kathleen O’Toole led resiliency and recovery marketing efforts as chief marketing officer at the accounting and advisory firm PKF O’Connor Davies. O’Toole is responsible for driving marketing, communications and business development programs to increase the brand’s positive image and maintain positive client relations. She has designed and implemented a private-equity practice marketing plan, refreshed client loyalty and development offerings. O’Toole is a member of her firm’s mergers and acquisitions team. She previously was chief marketing officer at Rothstein Kass (now KPMG). She volunteers at numerous animal rescue and welfare groups.

Upon joining the Corcoran Group in 2004, Christina Panos oversaw a redesign of the brand, developing new approaches for the real estate firm in her role as chief marketing officer. These days Panos is responsible for marketing and advertising initiatives in New York City, the Hamptons and South Florida. After the pandemic began, she led the Be Home campaign, which sought to celebrate the relationships between people and the homes they live in. Panos jump-started Corcoran’s digital strategy in efforts to expand the firm’s social media presence. She previously was director of global brand building at Mastercard International.

Kwame A. Patterson manages a team of creative storytellers, public relations specialists, social media professionals, videographers, photographers and event planners. They all focus on a collective goal of enhancing the public profile and brand reputation of EmblemHealth through earned, owned and paid media strategies. Patterson took on the role of executive director of public relations at the nonprofit health insurer weeks before the pandemic began. In that era of uncertainty, he delivered a comprehensive media and public affairs strategy, fostered relationships with key external stakeholders, and implemented media campaigns to disseminate relevant health care information. Patterson previously was assistant commissioner of public information for the New York City Department of Correction.

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Since joining the advertising agency Barbarian in 2019, Steven Moy has launched several new business practices and worked with clients such as American Express, Mucinex and Post. The chief executive officer’s responsibilities include brand innovation, technology and data consulting, monetizing technology partnerships, and media engagements. Moy recently forged an alliance with the sports media personality Jay Williams—an accomplishment that helped make him a Campaign 40 Under 40 honoree in 2020. He previously was U.S. chief technology officer at the digital product and marketing company R/GA.

At Activision Blizzard Media, the advertising arm of the video game publisher Activision Blizzard, Claire Nance leads global communications and industry marketing. With the aim of strengthening the brand’s position as a thought leader on in-game advertising, Nance develops communication strategies and has secured media coverage for the company in publications including Adweek and Digiday. She works on corporate storytelling and business narrative development, external media relations and press outreach, crisis communications, content marketing and internal communications. In 2021 the Australian native was recognized for her public relations work by Business Insider, and she was elected to the board of directors for the New York chapter of Public Relations Society of America.

Congratulations to Lina Scacco!

One of Crain’s Notable Leaders in Advertising, Marketing & PR Lina is instrumental with informing the region of the vital service that the Parker Jewish Institute for Health Care and Rehabilitation provides to the community. Thanks to her dedication, Parker’s mission and legacy of delivering high-quality, compassionate care continues, from generation to generation.

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JENNIFER PRESS

JENNIFER PROSEK

FERNANDA PUCHEU

LOREN RIEGELHAUPT

LINA SCACCO

Senior vice president of communications fuboTV

Founder and managing partner Prosek Partners

Chief marketing officer Endeavor Streaming

Prosek Partners is an international public relations and financial communications consultancy with offices in New York City, London, Boston, Los Angeles and elsewhere. Founder and managing partner Jennifer Prosek provides brand management and strategic communications counsel to many top clients. Under her leadership and business strategy, the company was recognized by Observer as one of the best PR firms in America. Prosek speaks frequently at industry events, and she has written op-eds for industry publications. She sits on the board of directors of the Arthur Page Society, a professional association for public relations executives. Prosek is a member of the Wall Street Journal’s CEO Council.

With more than two decades in the media and technology industries, Fernanda Pucheu knows strategic marketing and building brands. At Endeavor Streaming, a leader in video streaming distribution, Pucheu oversees the firm’s global strategy, including branding, advertising, product and customer marketing, events, content development and creative design. The chief marketing officer is also tasked with building an internal marketing team and working with external branding and public relations agencies. Pucheu previously was an executive class member and mentor with She Runs It. In that role she fostered professional development in young women in advertising and marketing.

Principal and president of New York public affairs SKDK

Vice president of corporate engagement and community health services Parker Jewish Institute for Health Care and Rehabilitation

Jennifer Press joined fuboTV in 2018 as its first in-house communications hire. The senior vice president of communications for the television streaming service has expanded its trade profile and helped position it as a streaming disruptor. She leads internal and external communications, crisis and reputation management, PR and thought leadership. She oversees its growing in-house communications team. Her accomplishments include launching fubo Sportsbook and the communications campaign supporting fuboTV’s New York Stock Exchange listing. Press, who earlier led communications and executive positioning for Condé Nast’s entertainment and digital video division, has helped raise funds for the American Cancer Society.

Loren Riegelhaupt leads national and regional public affairs campaigns for a wide range of clients, including Mount Sinai Health System, Columbia Business School, L’Oreal U.S.A. and Ernst & Young. As a principal and president of New York public affairs at the public affairs and political consulting firm SKDK, Riegelhaupt manages and develops strategies for crisis communications. He has also supervised the growth of SKDK’s New York footprint in the 14 years he has been with the firm. He helped regional health care systems navigate their Covid response, and he has held senior roles at companies including Vox Mediate, Univision and CBS.

As vice president of corporate engagement and community health services at Parker Jewish Institute for Health Care and Rehabilitation, Lina Scacco is responsible for public affairs, nursing home admissions and certified home health care. In response to the pandemic, she provided messaging around Covid-era phenomena, such as a family call center, testing and vaccination centers, and heated atriums for outdoor family visits. Scacco, a member of Parker’s executive leadership team, advocates for grants at its research arm, the Nerken Center, to advance the study of emerging aging-related issues. She is on the board of the Hospice and Palliative Association of New York State.

Congratulations Kathleen O’Toole Chief Marketing Officer Crain’s 2022 List of “Notable Leaders in Advertising, Marketing and PR”

From All Your Friends at PKF O’Connor Davies 212.712.9800

pkfod.com

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SIMONE TARVER

CHRIS TAYLOR

SUZANNE TAYLOR

KAYE VERVILLE

CARRIE VILLANI

Associate executive director of marketing and communications City College of New York

Chief marketing officer SmartAsset

Senior director of global brand and event marketing Xandr

Senior managing director The Levinson Group

Director of marketing Lera Consulting Structural Engineers

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As a senior managing director at the Levinson Group, a strategic communications and issue management firm, Kaye Verville leads many accounts servicing executives from financial institutions, multinational law firms and global nonprofits. Her notable clients have included Mattel, the National Collegiate Athletic Association and the Chicago Blackhawks. Verville is tasked with developing multifaceted communications and engagement strategies while managing the teams involved in their execution. She has led efforts to combat misinformation and disinformation, and she has been involved in communications efforts for the Fallen Journalists Memorial Foundation. Verville was named Crisis Manager of the Year in 2021 by PR News Platinum.

Carrie Villani’s efforts have helped propel Lera Consulting Structural Engineers to industry prominence, both in the U.S. and around the world. As director of marketing, she leads Lera’s marketing, communications, and business development efforts, promoting the firm’s forensic services and technological advancements. Villani also guides Lera’s engineers through publishing authored technical papers. She is an architectural photography enthusiast whose images have been published and exhibited by Random House and the Museum of the City of New York. In 2017 Villani was honored as a pioneering woman in real estate by Sokol Media and was named marketer of the year by the New York chapter of the Society for Marketing Professional Services.

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Simone Tarver oversees all the marketing and communications needs of the City College of New York, managing a team of professionals charged with stewarding its visual, digital and print identity. As associate executive director of marketing and communications, Tarver develops advertisements and brand renewals to increase the college’s public presence and visibility. She helped lead the institution through two years of pandemmic-related reorganization. Of late Tarver has been creating new brand of visuals to mark the college’s 175th anniversary. She previously was a professor at Middle Georgia State University and Robert Morris University.

At SmartAsset, a financial technology company that provides consumer-focused information and advice, Chris Taylor is responsible for all consumerfacing communications, including advertising, editorial, public relations and partnerships. The chief marketing officer, who has a background in customer acquisition and brand strategy, was involved in the development and execution of marketing efforts and campaigns for SmartAsset’s financial adviser lead-generation platform, SmartAdvisor. Earlier in his career, he was was chief marketing officer at Automattic, senior vice president of marketing for 1800flowers.com, vice president of marketing for E-Trade and a strategy consultant at the firm Mars & Co.

At Xandr, the advertising and analytics arm of AT&T, Suzanne Taylor oversees teams responsible for building global awareness and engagement with the brand through integrated marketing campaigns and events. Scaling Xandr’s global presence, the senior director of global brand and event marketing guides messaging and corporate and commercial strategy, directs experiential activations at marquee industry conferences, and oversees Xandr’s design identity. Lately she has been involved in a refresh of the brand’s corporate narrative, including the creation and implementation of new messaging across digital channels. Taylor speaks frequently at industry conferences and events.

Congratulations Diane Walsh! On being honored as Crain’s New York Business 2022 NOTABLE LEADERS Advertising, Marketing & PR

NORTH AMERICA | EUROPE | ASIA | METAVERSE PRAGERMETIS.COM

Advisors & Accountants

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m d a c m e c w o s s p Y b t m f e B L U

FRANK VITALE

DIANE WALSH

KEVIN WILSON

SUSAN WITTNER

DOUGLAS ZARKIN

Chief marketing officer Berdon

Chief marketing officer Prager Metis CPAs

Vice president of marketing Kushner

Chief marketing officer Cornerstone Research

Working with Berdon professionals across industries and service lines, Frank Vitale oversees marketing, develops campaigns and implements initiatives to grow the accounting firm’s business. As chief marketing officer, he manages its business development strategy, internal and external communications, customer relationship management database, strategic event planning, collateral and content development, and website and search engine optimization efforts. Vitale secured sole corporate sponsorship of the Math Hits program, launched by the New York Mets and Learn Fresh to broaden students’ science, technology, engineering and mathematics skills. He is founder of the LGBTQ+ Allies employee resource group at Berdon, and he was named a Long Island Business News 40 Under 40 honoree.

As its chief marketing officer, Diane Walsh is responsible for a host of traditional functions at accounting firm Prager Metis CPAs, including corporate communications strategy, regional and global marketing strategies, project management, client relationship management, events, business development and media relations. But Walsh recently broadened her portfolio to include a new sphere: She launched the first accounting firm in the metaverse. Consequently, with extensive campaign coverage, Prager Metis garnered attention from major media outlets, including The Wall Street Journal and Fortune, and became a thought leader in the space. Walsh is president of the Association for Accounting Marketing.

Kevin Wilson oversees the marketing strategy for Kushner’s nationwide multifamily portfolio, as well as the real estate firm’s development, commercial, retail and hotel branches. The vice president of marketing is charged with driving customer acquisition efforts through print and digital marketing, advertising campaigns, paid social media ads and reputation management. Wilson is responsible for signage, leasing software, market research, resident events, forecasting, photography, renderings, video tours, public events, press releases and internal communications. In recent months he helped support Kushner’s acquisition of dozens of multifamily properties across several states, conducting due diligence and market assessments. Wilson has received awards for his work from industry associations.

Susan Wittner oversees an international team of marketing, communications and business development professionals at the litigation consulting firm Cornerstone Research. Cornerstone Research’s chief marketing officer provides strategic and operational leadership and oversees the firm’s brand and public relations strategy. Wittner offers guidance on thought leadership, digital communications, business development efforts, and the execution of multiyear marketing plans and budgets. She recently led a rebrand of Cornerstone Research’s Data Science Center to better showcase the firm’s capabilities in big data, managing new content for the website and client communications. Wittner, who’s active in various professional organizations, is an adjunct professor of sales and marketing at the O’Malley School of Business at Manhattan College.

Vice president and chief marketing officer of Pearle Vision EssilorLuxottica

At EssilorLuxottica, a designer and manufacturer of ophthalmic lenses and frames, Douglas Zarkin is vice president and chief marketing officer of Pearle Vision, an Essilor Luxottica brand. Zarkin is responsible for integrated marketing, visual merchandising, product promotion and customer relationship management. He is media representative for trade and consumer press outreach, and leads the design and development of the brand’s marketing plan cycle. Zarkin was also involved in the rollout of a campaign designed to improve access to eye care, including creating a repository of information related to ocular health during the pandemic, and the development of an at-home vision screening tool.

2022

HEALTH CARE LEADERS Crain’s New York Business’s 2022 Notable Health Care Leaders list recognizes individuals and their accomplishments in healthcare administration, clinical services, research, nursing and more.

NOMINATE NOW! Deadline is July 1 Nominate at CrainsNewYork.com/NotableHCLeaders MAY 16, 2022 | CRAIN’S NEW YORK BUSINESS | 31

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FROM PAGE 1

the return of in-real-life internships. Few city workers are in their office all the time Monday through Friday, the survey found: just 8%. On an average weekday, 38% of Manhattan workers are at their desk. The figures are clues that remote work will stick around, with 78% of employers responding that hybrid will be their go-to policy, up from 6% before March 2020.

New normal, for now That makes hybrid the new normal for now, if not forever. “If there’s no new pandemic in

their would-be desk jockeys with food, bolstering all kinds of restaurants and businesses that supply it. Corporate-order revenue is down only 35% from pre-Covid times at grocery delivery firm FreshDirect, according to Dylan Barrett, business-to-business brand and business manager at the company. That number might be out of proportion with the 38% in-office figure from the partnership’s survey because many of FreshDirect’s customers are hedge funds and financial companies, which have been most adamant about wanting employees to work from the office. When the pandemic first hit the city, about 85% of FreshDirect’s corporate business evaporated, Barrett said, but in the past year catering sales have rebounded by a factor of nine. Most popular are snacks and individually wrapped lunches. But food and drink for after-hours bonding events also have risen dramatically. Craft-beer and rosé orders, for example, have more than quadrupled from a year ago, Barrett said.

“IF THERE’S NO NEW PANDEMIC IN FIVE YEARS, THINGS MAY BE NORMAL” the next five years, then things may revert to normal,” said Edward Glaeser, a professor of economics at Harvard University who spoke at a March event held by the New York Federal Reserve. In the near term, the anemic return to offices is balanced out by other work trends that are picking up. For one, employers are plying

Travel picks up In addition, business travel has been returning, bringing meetings and lunches back to Midtown, the Financial District and other company-heavy neighborhoods, even without full office floors. The Inter-

REVVING THE CITY’S ENGINE

$171M

AMOUNT the mayor recently added to the proposed budget in spending to move the homeless off the streets

AMOUNT catering sales have rebounded by at FreshDirect

BUCK ENNIS

WORKERS

Continental New York Times Square, for example, last month awarded requests for proposals for corporate events that occurred at more than six times the rate of May 2020, according to IHG, its parent company. IHG’s location in Midtown East, the InterContinental New York Barclay, said the hotel is almost completely booked from now through November for meetings within the corporate, association and leisure

and tour industries. In addition, half of the surveyed employers are hiring interns to work in person. Almost 40% of employers said they would continue to require vaccination against Covid-19 even if all government mandates end. Several high-profile companies with New York offices have already ended the mandate outside the five boroughs, including JPMorgan Chase, which last month stopped hiring based on

vaccine status. According to the partnership’s survey, one-third of employers felt that the absence of mentally ill and homeless New Yorkers on the streets would help bring workers back. Adams has been removing homeless encampments from the streets and has added $171 million to the city’s proposed budget for more beds that have lower barriers to access than some existing shelters and housing programs. ■

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GOTHAM GIGS

TY JONES BORN East New York LIVES On the border of Washington Heights and Harlem EDUCATION Bachelor’s in communications and master’s in professional theatre training, the University of Delaware GIVING A SERMON Jones grew up all over the world with his mother, who served in the Air Force. Each Black History Month, his mom would ask him to perform for the base, and one of the pieces in his repertoire was a poem from James Weldon Johnson’s book God’s Trombones. When he needed to audition for the master’s program at the University of Delaware with two pieces, he pulled Johnson out of his back pocket. “It changed my life,” he said of getting into the program. MUSICAL KIDS Jones’ three children are all in the arts. One plays the cello, another, the piano, and the third, the violin. “I don’t think it’s an accident that my three kids are [performers],” he said.

BUCK ENNIS

THE THEATER does not have its own physical venue, but Jones said he is looking for capital to buy a building.

Acting on his entrepreneurial side Harlem theater company’s leader plays many roles in helping it expand BY CARA EISENPRESS

hen Ty Jones needed to support himself in college, he started a business painting building interiors and exteriors. Years later, after he had become an actor and discovered his true calling performing Shakespeare at the Classical Theatre of Harlem and other such companies in the region, he found himself tapping into his entrepreneurial side once again. The financial crisis of 2008 had left the Classical Theatre of Harlem $400,000 in debt. Board members departed. Actors’ checks bounced. Jones confronted the future—his and the theater’s. “I knew from my previous years working on stages that there was something special here,” he said. “And I didn’t want it to go away. I wanted the 10-year-old me to have this theater.” He became the theater’s board

chair, managing director and main fundraiser. Very slowly, he raised money from foundations and grants, as well as from a micro-donation campaign of $10 per month, and slowly he retired the debt. “Then cool things started to happen,” he recalled. A young audience from diverse backgrounds flocked to the theater company, which began staging Shakespeare in an uptown park each summer. It sent the message that New Yorkers didn’t have to head downtown to see great art. In the summer of 2015, a New York Times reviewer wrote that the Classical Theatre’s performance of The Tempest in Marcus Garvey Park was “energizing” and beautiful (yet uneven), and turned the park into a paradise for a night. That summer the Public Theatre also did The Tempest, and Jones felt his show had entered the conversation with an institution several times its size. His team expanded, and he is now the pro-

ducing artistic director, as well as an actor in some productions. The budget for fiscal 2023 is $2.3 million, up from $1.7 million in fiscal 2022, for essentially the same programming. When performing arts venues that hosted the company closed earlier in the pandemic, Jones had to once again tap his entrepreneurial instincts. The Paycheck Protection Program was sustaining, though the theater was not one of the 1,474 organizations in New York to receive money from the $2 billion in Shuttered Venue Operator Grants that went to firms and nonprofits in the performing arts. The theater was able to expand outdoor programming and connect with audiences online and through social media. Now Jones is working on a strategy to get through the next 18 months. This summer’s programming includes Twelfth Night, which will take place in Marcus Garvey Park

through most of July. Inflation, however, has pushed up the price of the set by many times what Jones had hoped to pay. He is also seeking to reprise a piece called Langston in Harlem, about poet Langston Hughes. The Classical Theatre of Harlem was one of several partners to produce a podcast about the Harlem Renaissance, and it is also working on animated educational programming intended to introduce students to classical theater in a format they already love. At the end of the day, Jones is an actor, one who has won the Obie Award for the Classic Theatre’s production of The Blacks and one for whom the arts have tremendous meaning in 2022, just as they did when he found the theater two decades ago. “My participation in the arts,” he said, “is about the possibility of creating a worldwide understanding of humanity.” ■

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