Seven NYU Wagner Alumni Named to 2025 Brooklyn Power 100
In City & State’s annual homage to the borough’s standouts in business, politics, public service and more, seven NYU Wagner were named to the 2025 Brooklyn Power 100.
19. Randy Peers (MPA-PNP 2004), president and CEO, Brooklyn Chamber of Commerce
Peers has been on the lookout for threats to Brooklyn’s small businesses, including rising costs and federal tariffs that could prove to be the “final blow” to local mom-and-pop shops. In his role, he has expanded international partnerships, led equity-driven programs, and supported the Relocation Employment Assistance Program (REAP), which provides tax benefits to businesses moving to the outer boroughs.
28. Jennifer Jones Austin (MS 1996), CEO and executive director, FPWA
Brooklyn resident Jones Austin has served in a number of pivotal leadership role. She has led the FPWA—a coalition of faith and community organizations advocating for underrepresented communities—for over a decade; chaired the New York City Racial Justice Commission, leading the way for the passage of three city charter amendments; and is now a co-chair of the National True Cost of Living Coalition.
33. Svetlana Lipyanskaya (MPA-HPAM 2003), CEO, NYC Health + Hospitals/South Brooklyn Health
In her role at NYC Health + Hospitals/South Brooklyn, Lipyanksaya reopened the Ida G. Israel Community Health Center, spearheading a $20 million campus renovation and adding a new cardiac facility.
35. Farah Louis (MPA-PNP 2018), New York City Council Member
Louis is a passionate advocate for maternal health funding and affordable housing development. She serves as chair of the Women and Gender Equity Committee and secured $141 million in funding to construct the Shirley Chisholm Recreation Center in Central Brooklyn.
40. Morgan Monaco (MPA-PNP 2014) and Iris Weinshall (MPA); president and chair, Prospect Park Alliance
Monaco, who is the first Black leader of the Prospect Park Alliance, has led efforts to restore the park after a woodland fire, has reinvigorated its historical programming, and has helped provide health services within the park. Weinshall, a Brooklyn native, chairs the alliance while also serving as the New York Public Library’s chief operating officer. Weinshall also returned to NYU Wagner this spring as the Distinguished Visiting Urbanist.
97. Vaughan Mayers (MPA-PNP 2013), founder and CEO, Effective Strategy Group
In addition to founding Effective Strategy Group, serving as a longtime state Senate staffer, and campaigning for a number of Brooklyn-native public officials, Mayers also launched a law career and opened a cannabis dispensary. His aim in opening the dispensary, Fireleaf, is to create a “reparative moment” for communities that had been criminalized.