NYC/CUNY forge Inclusive Economy Initiative to further boost students’ career and business success

Mayor Eric Adams and CUNY Chancellor Félix V. Matos Rodríguez announced the launch of the CUNY Inclusive Economy Initiative, a $16 million public-private partnership to improve career success of CUNY students and fuel the growth of businesses in New York City. The initiative will help the city meet its goal to connect 80 percent of CUNY graduates to careers following graduation by 2030.

The initiative will help thousands more CUNY students as they successfully embark on their careers by investing public and private funds to expand industry engagement, advising, and internship opportunities for CUNY students.

“As a CUNY alum, I know the important role this institution plays in helping New Yorkers create a better future for themselves and their families,” said Mayor Adams. “Career preparedness comes from a mixture of education, commitment, and early exposure to workforce development — allowing students to light a path to economic mobility. By launching the CUNY Inclusive Economy Initiative, we are growing the student-to-career pipeline for CUNY students and providing early exposure to professions through skills training and quality internships.”

“The Inclusive Economy Initiative builds on proven models for connecting students to in-demand careers and expanding the capacity of CUNY campuses to grow and sustain talent pipelines with employers across multiple fast-growing sectors — such as tech, healthcare and green jobs,” said Chancellor Matos Rodríguez. “Thanks to the leadership of Mayor Adams and the generous support of our partners, we will be able to connect even more CUNY students to paid internships, apprenticeships and jobs. Together, we are making CUNY the go-to place for all industries when they are looking to hire talent. We know it hasn’t always been easy to work with a big institution like CUNY. We want to change that and our plans will make it easier for employers to access our talent. Our 2030 goal is bold, but it is crucial to help New York City recover and prosper.”

“New York City’s best and brightest talent is right here in our CUNY schools – and the new CUNY Inclusive Economy Initiative provides them with the work experiences, connections to employers and professional skills to thrive,” said Deputy Mayor for Strategic Initiatives Sheena Wright. “I applaud the myriad of private, public and philanthropic partners who are stepping up to ensure we have a more equitable, inclusive pipeline to emerging careers.”​

“Investing in New Yorkers and preparing them to succeed in the workplace is how we will ensure our city continues to thrive in the global economy of the 21st century,” said Deputy Mayor for Economic and Workforce Development Maria Torres Springer. “The Inclusive Economy Initiative leverages CUNY’s scale and its proven role as an engine for economic mobility while adding critical infrastructure to help employers grow right here in the five boroughs.”

“Talent is what will drive our economic recovery, and today’s investment is a down payment on our future as a city,” said Mayor’s Office of Talent and Workforce Development Executive Director Abby Jo Sigal. “The Inclusive Economy Initiative is an important step forward in positioning New Yorkers to benefit from diverse, growing industries while also ensuring that our city’s employers can access, hire, and train the diverse talent they need.”

CUNY Inclusive Economy Initiative

The new initiative builds on the success of existing CUNY industry partnerships, including the New York Jobs CEO Council and CUNY Futures in Finance, by expanding campus capacity to directly grow and sustain talent pipelines that will benefit CUNY’s more than 400,000 degree and non-degree students.

The CUNY Inclusive Economy Initiative consists of three pillars:

1. Building an industry-campus backbone: CUNY will launch an industry-campus backbone to build talent pipelines directly with the City’s employers through dedicated industry engagement staff on campuses and a Central Industry Support Unit to serve as a front door to businesses. Industry engagement staff will focus on a diversity of sectors, including the in-demand, high-potential fields of tech, healthcare, and green jobs.
2. Boosting career capacity: Industry engagement staff will be paired with hybrid career and academic advisors to prepare students for the opportunities generated by the industry-campus backbone.
3. Connecting students to internships: CUNY Career La​unch internship program will provide 2,000 career-connected internships this summer to CUNY students with an emphasis on students from Community Colleges and those who have no previous internship experience.

In conjunction with the launch of the CUNY Inclusive Economy Initiative, CUNY will also relaunch the CUNY Office of Careers & Industry Partnerships and elevate this unit to the Chancellor’s cabinet.

Private Commitments

Building an inclusive economy is an all-hands on deck effort that cannot be achieved by CUNY or the City alone. Today’s announcement also features over $3M in commitments from industry and philanthropic partners who are joining forces with CUNY to further build pathways for New Yorkers to rewarding careers.

• Cognizant Foundation will provide over two years to support CUNY’s work to build collaborative talent and growth partnerships with employers
• The Charina Endowment Fund will provide funding to help build the industry-campus backbone and prepare students in general education and liberal arts fields to connect to careers.
• Robin Hood Foundation will help to triple CUNY’s Internship to Employment program which connects seniors and recent graduates to internships at small businesses with a path to conversion to employment.
• CD&R Foundation will support the expansion of the NYC Tech in Residence Corps, industry professionals who teach in-demand electives in computer science departments across CUNY.

• NYC Workforce Funders will support CUNY’s ability to streamline processes for intern payment and standardize the intake/application process as well as improve other administrative functions.

This work will also complement a commitment in March by Amazon, which will provide tuition benefits for up to 30,000 hourly workers to attend bachelor’s and associate programs at eight CUNY colleges through Amazon Career Choice.