Richard Buery Chosen as Public Service Fellow at NYU Wagner
Richard Buery has been named a Public Service Fellow at NYU Wagner.
In addition to leading New York City’s acclaimed Pre-K for All initiative, Buery is a dedicated member of the NYU Wagner community, currently completing his tenure as the school’s most recent Distinguished Visiting Urbanist. In that role, he taught a high-enrollment course, engaged with student groups, organized an event on the college completion crisis, and led a speaker series.
His course last semester was called Topics in Urban Studies—and it explored the challenges of governing New York City and promoting social justice and lasting change for the benefit of all New Yorkers. His heavily attended Speaker Series welcomed NYC First Lady Chirlane McCray, Congressman Hakeem Jeffries, and NYC Councilperson Brad Lander. Richard’s impact on the NYU Wagner community has been impressive: he delivered a powerful keynote address at the 2019 convocation ceremony at New York’s City Center.
Buery is the Chief of Policy & Public Affairs at KIPP, leading its public policy, advocacy, marketing, and communications efforts in order to grow the network and advocate for policies that make it easier for students to afford college and overcome barriers to success. KIPP, the Knowledge is Power Program, is a nonprofit network of over 224 college-preparatory, public charter schools in 20 states and the District of Columbia educating nearly 100,000 early-childhood, elementary, middle and high school students, and supporting its graduates on the path to and through college.
Previously he served as Deputy Mayor for Strategic Policy Initiatives in the administration of New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio. In the mayor's office, he managed some of the City’s most successful initiatives, including: Pre-K For All, which for the first time provided free, full-day Pre-K for every 4-year old in New York City, increasing enrollment from 19,000 to 70,000 children in 18 months and launching its expansion to 3-year olds; School's Out NYC, offering free afterschool programs to every middle school student in NYC; ThriveNYC, a comprehensive effort to improve New Yorkers’ mental health; and the Community Schools Initiative, creating 215 new community school service partnerships during the first term, more than double the number the Mayor initially pledged to create.
Additionally, Buery managed a range of city agencies, including the Departments of Probation, Aging, Youth and Community Development, People with Disabilities, and Immigrant Affairs. He led the NYC Young Men’s Initiative, where he created NYC Men Teach, a historic effort to recruit 1,000 men of color to become public school teachers. He also led the creation of the New York City Children’s Cabinet, the Department of Veterans Affairs, and the Mayor’s Office of Minority and Women Business Enterprises.
Under his leadership, the City exceeded $1 billion of spending with M/WBEs for the first time in its history, double the annual spend before Mayor de Blasio took office. He also managed the City's relationship with the 250,000 student City University of New York System, managing significant investments that improved college persistence for NYC students.