NYU Wagner's Impact: Alumni Featured in Power Women 100

Manhattan Empire State Building

Multiple NYU Wagner alumnae have been honored in City & State’s 2023 Power Women 100, along with friends and affiliates of our school. The Power Women 100 list recognizes the invaluable contributions of women working in and around New York City and State politics and public service. Among them are Jennifer Jones Austin (MS 1996), RuthAnne Visnauskas (MUP 2005), Farah Louis (MPA 2018), and Tiffany Raspberry (MPA 2019). We are also pleased to have friends of Wagner recognized for their contributions, including U.S. Congresswoman Grace Meng, NYU Wagner’s 2023 Distinguished Visiting Urbanist, as well as Meera Joshi, current New York City Deputy Mayor for Operations and 2019–2020 Visiting Scholar at the NYU Rudin Center for Transportation Policy.

Jennifer Jones Austin (MS 1996) is a fourth-generation faith-based social justice activist. She is known as the longtime leader of FPWA—formerly the Federation of Protestant Welfare Agencies—a consortium of nonprofits and church initiatives collectively serving 1.5 million New Yorkers. Jones Austin’s advocacy work spans many topics from minimum wage campaigns to calls for criminal justice reforms at Rikers Island.

RuthAnne Visnauskas (MUP 2005) was appointed Commissioner of the New York State Division of Housing and Community Renewal in 2017. Visnauskas has spent most of the past year working with stakeholders around the state on housing plans and over the summer helped announce a new affordable housing commitment at the World Trade Center.

Council Member Farah Louis (MPA 2018) represents the 45th District and co-chairs the Council Women’s Caucus. This year, Louis hosted a first annual gun violence prevention youth rally in her Brooklyn district. As Landmarks, Public Sitings, and Dispositions Subcommittee chair, Louis has also been focused on school safety and affordable housing issues.

Tiffany Raspberry (MPA 2019) serves as Senior Adviser for External Affairs, Office of the New York City Mayor. She is also a longtime political strategist and has served in other city government roles such as chief of staff to then-New York City Council Member Domenic Recchia and as a policy analyst for the City Council.