How Robin Hood CEO Rich Buery is addressing NYC’s rising poverty rates

Poverty Landscape in NYC

• The city's overall poverty rate stands at 25%, with 2 million residents living in poverty.
• One in four NYC children live in poverty, according to the latest Robin Hood Foundation Poverty Tracker.
• The poverty rate rose 2% from the previous year's record high of 23%, marking the largest single-year increase in 12 years of tracking.
• Over the last two years, the poverty rate has climbed a total of 7% despite generally strong wage growth and low unemployment.
• The Supplemental Poverty Measure (SPM), used in this report, accounts for local expenses (housing, utilities, food, internet) and public benefits, unlike the federal line which treats NYC and Augusta, Georgia, equivalently.
• The sharp rise in poverty is attributed to the expiration of pandemic-era public benefits combined with rising costs of living.

Robin Hood Foundation Mission and Investment

• Founded in 1988, the organization has invested over $3 billion to fight poverty and unleash economic opportunity.
• In 2024, Robin Hood invested $129 million in high-performing anti-poverty organizations across emergency food, education, healthcare, and workforce development.
• The foundation operates a dual strategy: funding direct service providers and advocating for policies aligned with expanding opportunity.
• Investment decisions are guided by a "benefit-cost ratio" that quantifies the economic value of interventions (e.g., high school graduation rates) against the cost of the investment.
• Half of NYC residents experience material hardship, including running out of food or having utilities cut off, even if they do not meet the official poverty line.

Successful Intervention Scaling (CUNY ASAP)

• CUNY community colleges historically have a 20% three-year graduation rate for associate's degrees.
• Robin Hood funded the "ASAP" (Accelerated Study in Associate Programs) intervention, which provides intensive advising, streamlined course pathways, and emergency grants (e.g., metro cards, book allowances).
• This model more than doubled graduation rates for participating students.
• Following third-party randomized controlled trials confirming the model's efficacy, Robin Hood partnered with the city to scale the program.
• The city now supports ASAP for nearly 30,000 students, expanding the model to the four-year college level via the "ACE" program.

AI and Inequality Strategy

• Robin Hood launched an "AI Poverty Challenge" to explore AI as a tool for education, workforce development, and financial inclusion.
• The challenge selected nine finalists across three categories, with winners to receive $1 million each, while finalists received $100,000.
• The foundation emphasizes that technology can either expand opportunity or amplify inequality by allowing winners to pull further ahead while others fall behind.
• To ensure solutions are effective, people with lived experience of poverty serve on the judging panel and advisory boards.
• A "Design Insight Group" of 5,000 individuals living in poverty advises the foundation, correcting assumptions such as the need for budgeting tools versus the need for help navigating complex WIC benefits and medical debt.

Public-Private Partnerships and Policy Advocacy

• The foundation functions as an R&D partner for government, funding innovative pilots with private money before governments adopt successful models.
• Robin Hood leverages corporate partners, such as Goldman Sachs, to advocate for public investments like childcare expansion, framing them as economic necessities for workforce stability.
• The foundation advocates for policies including the expansion of the NY State Child Tax Credit and the closure of Rikers Island.
• CEO Rich Beery serves on the City Charter Revision Commission, the State Child Poverty Reduction Advisory Council, and the Independent Rikers Commission.

Strategic Focus on Early Childhood Education

• A majority of Robin Hood's current grant-making dollars are allocated to education.
• The foundation identifies early childhood (birth to age four) and support for mothers during pregnancy as the highest-return investment area.
• Nobel laureate James Heckman's research indicates that a $1 investment in quality early childhood programs yields over $9 in societal benefits through increased economic activity and reduced costs in criminal justice and public benefits.
• High-quality early childhood programs improve long-term life outcomes for children and subsequently for their own children.
• While NYC guarantees free full-day pre-K for four-year-olds, there is a significant gap in guaranteed care for children under age four.

Philosophy of Optimism

• Beery cites Bryan Stevenson's quote: "Hopelessness is the enemy of justice," asserting that hope is a necessary discipline for sustaining the fight for justice.
• Optimism is derived from the historical evidence that poverty reduction is possible, citing a 2022-2023 reduction in child poverty that was achieved within a few years.
• The foundation maintains that progress is not linear but jagged, requiring a broad historical perspective to avoid demoralization during periods of retrenchment.
• Direct exposure to the work of nonprofit partners and the tangible results of their efforts serves as a primary fuel for maintaining organizational energy and resolve.