City Futures Inc

Programs: The center for an urban future (cuf) is a catalyst for smart and sustainable policies that reduce inequality, increase economic mobility and grow the economy in new york city. An independent, nonpartisan policy organization, cuf uses fact-based research and high-profile policy events to elevate important and often overlooked issues onto the radar of policymakers and advance practical solutions that strengthen new york and help all new yorkers participate in the city's rising prosperity. For 21 years, cuf has been a highly-respected policy organization that publishes fact-based reports, policy briefs and commentaries and holds high-level standing-room-only policy forums all focusing on opportunities to expand economic opportunity, reduce inequality, and create good-paying jobs in new york city. Through research and advocacy, we aim to strengthen new york city and all of its neighborhoods, and improve opportunities and outcomes for low- and moderate-income new yorkers. Our research consistently elevates important, but often overlooked, issues onto the radar of policymakers, the media, and leaders from the nonprofit and private sectors. By generating significant media coverage and sparking new discussion about important issues, cuf routinely serves as a catalyst for smart and sustainable policies for expanding economic opportunity and lifting new yorkers from low income backgrounds into the middle class. Over the past year, the center produced nearly 40 reports, policy briefs, data briefs and commentaries, and held 10 high-impact policy events. Our work helped raise the profile of several issues that are essential to improving economic outcomes for low-income new yorkers, including the increasingly serious transit challenges facing new york's healthcare workers; the need to make progress on college completion rates at the city's community colleges; the importance of building new supports for new york's large and growing population of immigrant seniors; the opportunity to scale up successful training programs, particularly those that prepare new yorkers for middle income jobs in growing fields like tech; and the need to address the deepening financial challenges facing many of the nonprofit organizations that provide vital social services to new york's most vulnerable residents.