Mamdani Names New Head of Mayor’s Fund to Boost Public-Private Partnerships

In a bid to boost his affordability agenda, Mayor Zohran Mamdani on Thursday appointed his chief of staff to lead the Mayor’s Fund to Advance New York City, a nonprofit that connects philanthropists with city programs in need of support.

The appointment of Elle Bisgaard-Church as chair of the fund’s board is part of Mamdani’s effort to develop public-private partnerships, which he described as government “driving the race car” and philanthropy “giving it that turbo boost to cross the finish line.”

“Or if you are a Mario Kart fan,” he added, “government is Yoshi and philanthropy is the golden mushroom, that edge we need to beat Bowser on the Rainbow Road.” Bowser, he said, was corporate greed.

Mamdani declared a “new era” at the Mayor’s Fund as corporate leadership gives way to board members who he said understand the needs of the working class.

“As we bring a new era of ambitious governing to City Hall, we will bring that same commitment to excellence to the Mayor’s Fund. As we do so, our first order of business will be assembling a board with a deep understanding of the needs of working New Yorkers, one that has taught in our schools, hauled shipments on our docks and paid dues to our unions,” he said.

Bisgaard-Church will remain his chief of staff. The previous chair of the Mayor’s Fund was Ana J. Almanzar, a deputy mayor under Eric Adams.

Under the Mayor’s Fund, Mamdani also announced the Child Care Action Fund, which will support expansion of universal child care in the city. Mamdani said the fund aims to raise $20 million by the end of the year, with $3.5 million already committed.

“The Child Care Action Fund will give us the opportunity to test and pilot and innovate new ideas that we then can take and scale with government funding,” said Emmy Liss, executive director of the Office of Child Care and Early Childhood education.

Specifically the fund will focus on supporting outreach to families to make them aware of child care opportunities, support for care providers, training for care providers, as well as expanding physical spaces available to run child care.

The mayor encouraged people who want to get involved to donate to the Action Fund: “Our newly created Child Care Action Fund will be a cornerstone of our work in building out our universal child care infrastructure.”

According to its website, the Mayor’s Fund “cultivates partnerships that combine the incomparable reach of government with the entrepreneurial spirit of the private sector to create a stronger and more just city for all New Yorkers.”

Kate Smith, originally appointed by Adams, will continue to run the fund as executive director.