CUF in the News
is a New York City-based think tank that fuses journalistic reporting techniques with traditional policy analysis to produce in-depth reports and workable policy solutions on the critical issues facing our cities.
New York by the Numbers
Economic snapshots of the 5 boroughs
Staff, Fellows & Board
Mission & History |
Areas of Investigation |
Staff, Fellows & Board |
CUF in the News |
Funders
Center for an Urban Future Staff
Jonathan
Bowles, Director
Tel: 212.479.3347
E-mail: jbowles@nycfuture.org
Nicholas Chung, Junior Fellow in Policy Research
Tel: 212.479.3344 x354
E-mail: nchung@nycfuture.org
Amy Crawford, Deputy Director
Tel: 212.479.3345
E-mail: acrawford@nycfuture.org
Ahmad Dowla,
Operations Manager
Tel: 212.479.3319
E-mail: adowla@nycfuture.org
David
Giles, Research Director
Tel: 212.479.3353
E-mail: dgiles@nycfuture.org
Tom Hilliard,
Senior Fellow in Workforce Development Policy
E-mail: thilliard@nycfuture.org
Kahliah Laney,
Research Associate
Tel: 212.479.3351
E-mail: klaney@nycfuture.org
Research Assistants
Eric Blair-Joannou
Tel: 212.479.3344 x338
E-mail: eblairjoannou@nycfuture.org
Cynthia Keyser
Tel: 212.479.3344 x380
E-mail: ckeyser@nycfuture.org
Evan Lacher
Tel: 212.479.3344 x365
E-mail: elacher@nycfuture.org
Ada Welch
Tel: 212.479.3344 x336
E-mail: awelch@nycfuture.org
City Futures Board of Directors
Chairman: Andrew Reicher, UHAB
Vice-Chair: Michael Connor, Open Mic
Secretary: Lisette Nieves
Margaret Anadu, Goldman Sachs
Gerrard Bushell, Kohlberg Kravis Roberts
Gretchen Dykstra
Russell Dubner, Edelman Public Relations
Blake Foote
Jalak Jobanputra
David Lebenstein, SIOR, Colliers ABR
Eric Lee, Bennett Midland, LLC
Gifford Miller, Miller Strategies
Monisha Nariani, Citigroup
Jefrey Pollock, Global Strategy Group
John Siegal, Baker & Hostetler LLP
Stephen Sigmund, Global Strategy Group
Mark Winston Griffith, Brooklyn Movement Center
Staff and Fellows Biographies
Jonathan
Bowles
is the Executive Director of the Center for an Urban Future, a Manhattan-based think tank dedicated to independent research about key policy issues facing New York and other cities. During his 12 years at the Center, he has been the architect of the policy agenda for the Center and is responsible for making it one of New York's most innovative and influential organizations and one in which its policy ideas are well-respected and widely used by policymakers, business leaders, and nonprofit practitioners.
At the Center, Jonathan has authored more than two-dozen reports, including a widely acclaimed 2007 study about the significant impact immigrant entrepreneurs are having on cities' economies, an influential study about New York City's innovation economy and a report about how to retain and grow New York's middle class. His has been asked to be a guest contributor for the New York Times, the Daily News and The Council on Foreign Relations on a range of urban issues including New York City's need to diversify its economy and immigrant entrepreneurs. His research about key economic trends facing New York and its five boroughs, the value of small businesses to cities, and the economic impact of industries ranging from air cargo to biotechnology has been covered in publications ranging from the New York Times and USA Today to The Economist. Jonathan is a frequent moderator and speaker at conferences and panel discussions on urban policy in New York and nationally.
In November 2008, the New York Times' City Room blog featured him in their "Ask the Expert" column, in which he fielded questions from readers for one week about the challenges facing immigrant entrepreneurs. He served on Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer's Small Business Task Force in 2008 to examine the threats facing mom and pop retailers in the borough. In 2006, City Hall News named him one of 35 "Rising Stars Under 40" and in 2005, Time Out New York named him "New York's Finest Troublemaker."
Before joining the Center, he worked as research director for former New York State Senator Franz Leichter and spent time as a freelance journalist.
Nicholas Chung is the Center for an Urban Future's Junior Fellow in Policy Research. He has extensively researched innovation in technology, education, and community and economic development. Before joining the center, he spent time as a freelance writer and part-time teacher. He has a BA from Brown University and is completing his MA at Columbia University. He lives in Brooklyn.
Amy Crawford joined the Center for an Urban Future in September 2010 as the Deputy Director. Prior to coming to the Center, she was the Director of Development and Pro Bono for The Bronx Defenders. After graduating from the University of Virginia, Amy left her rural roots and moved to New York. She started her career in public service at The Legal Aid Society working on civil cases involving housing and public benefits. Amy then earned her J.D. from the University of Pennsylvania, where she was awarded the Public Interest Scholarship and the Frank H. Gelman Prize. After law school Amy served as a clerk for the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit and a Litigation Associate with O'Melveny & Myers LLP. In 2002, she was awarded an Equal Justice Works Fellowship to represent defendants in an alternative to incarceration program and then practiced as a public defender for five years before assuming responsibilities as the Director of Development and Pro Bono. Amy lives in Harlem with her husband and son.
David Giles is the Center for an Urban Future's Research Director. During his four years at the Center, Giles has written extensively on a variety of public policy issues including transportation, technology and the arts. As a part of the Center's continuing research on the need for a more diverse local economy, he has researched New York's health information technology and applied arts sectors and written about the problems many small businesses are having accessing energy efficiency incentives. As the author of a widely covered report on transportation, he has also written about the growing challenges many New York City commuters are having in accessing jobs in the boroughs outside of Manhattan. His reports and op-eds have appeared in local and national media outlets including The New York Times, New York Daily News, National Public Radio and NY1. He has a BA from Boston College and an MA from the University of Chicago. He lives in Brooklyn with his wife and two children.
Tom Hilliard is the Center's Senior Fellow in Workforce Development Policy. He previously served as Senior Policy Analyst at the Center for Law and Social Policy (CLASP) in Washington DC, where he focused on strengthening access to and success in adult education and postsecondary education and training; and as Senior Policy Associate at the Albany-based Schuyler Center for Analysis and Advocacy, where he launched an initiative to expand postsecondary opportunities for low-income adults. During his time at SCAA, Tom authored several reports, including Working To Learn, Learning To Work: Unlocking the Potential of New York's Adult College Students and Back On Track: Re-Connecting New York's Disconnected Youth. Tom has also served as Director of Health Policy to New York City Public Advocate Mark Green and Assistant Director of Medicine at Gouverneur Healthcare Services, a freestanding clinic on the Lower East Side operated by the Health & Hospitals Corporation.
Kahliah Laney is a research associate for the Center for an Urban Future. She is currently earning a graduate degree in broadcast journalism with an emphasis in urban affairs at the CUNY Graduate School of Journalism. She interned with WNYC's The Brian Lehrer Show, Black Enterprise magazine and NY1's The Call. Kahliah has covered technology and small business. Her work has been published in Government Technology magazine and featured on BlackEnterprise.com and 219West, a monthly television news show on CUNY TV. Prior to moving to New York, Kahliah was a freelance writer and assistant to a Fresno City Council member in California. She attended the University of California, Davis where she double majored in English and Sociology. Kahliah currently lives in Harlem.
©2008 Center for an Urban Future. All Rights Reserved.
120 Wall Street, 20th Floor, NY, NY 10005 Phone (212) 479-3341 Fax (212) 479-3338 E-mail cuf@nycfuture.org