Ford Foundation Awards Senior Fellowship to Maria Torres-Springer

The Ford Foundation announced that Maria Torres-Springer, the former first deputy mayor of New York City, will return to the foundation as a senior fellow. Senior fellows are leaders who have served with distinction in leadership roles at nonprofits or public interest organizations in the United States and internationally. The Ford Foundation has hosted a select number of senior fellows over the past 20 years.

During her fellowship, Torres-Springer will examine how leaders across the country can drive complex policy solutions in the areas of housing affordability, climate change, and economic insecurity in an increasingly challenging landscape. Before her work in the mayor’s office, Torres-Springer was vice president for U.S. programs at the Ford Foundation, leading domestic grantmaking efforts.

“I am thrilled to welcome back Maria Torres-Springer to the Ford Foundation,” said Ford Foundation president Darren Walker. “Her unwavering commitment to public service has helped better the lives of people and uplift communities in New York City and beyond. I look forward to working together once again and seeing the continued impact of her leadership and vision.”

“The Ford Foundation’s work and mission to dismantle inequality in all its forms is needed now more than ever,” said Torres-Springer. “Across this country, Americans are struggling to find secure footing as costs rise and the bedrocks of stability—affordable places to call home, good jobs, and pathways to opportunity—feel increasingly out of reach. I’m looking forward to once again working with the talented team at Ford, led by the indomitable Darren Walker, and with the broader philanthropic sector in pursuit of new solutions to some of today’s most pressing challenges.”

Most recently, Torres-Springer served as New York City’s first deputy mayor as well as deputy mayor for housing, economic development, and workforce, where she led the city’s landmark “City of Yes” plan, the most significant pro-housing reform in New York City history through a range of historic zoning reforms, and oversaw back-to-back record-setting years creating affordable housing for New Yorkers. She also oversaw economic recovery efforts in the wake of COVID-19, helping break New York City’s record for the most jobs created eight times in the last three years. She led transformative investments in public housing, workforce and small business development, and arts and culture while ensuring the city’s most vulnerable communities were not left behind.  

As first deputy mayor, Torres-Springer oversaw the day-to-day operations of the City of New York and had strategic and budgetary oversight of a 300,000+ public sector workforce and an annual $110 billion budget. Previously, as commissioner of the New York City Department of Housing Preservation and Development, Torres-Springer focused on the production of housing for the city’s most vulnerable communities while also launching several new programs to protect tenants’ rights. Earlier in her career, as president and CEO of the New York City Economic Development Corporation, Torres-Springer led the implementation of the new citywide ferry service and made major investments in key sectors of the city’s economy. Prior to that, as commissioner of the New York City Department of Small Business Services, Torres-Springer prioritized efforts to raise wages and support women- and immigrant-owned businesses and worked to prepare New Yorkers for 21st century jobs.  

Torres-Springer received her bachelor’s degree in ethics, politics, and economics from Yale University and her master’s in public policy from the Harvard Kennedy School. She has served on numerous boards and commissions, including the New York Public Library, WTC Performing Arts Center, New York City Public Housing Authority, and the New York City Economic Development Corporation. She is the recipient of numerous awards, including the Association for a Better New York’s Spirit of ABNY Award, City & State/Responsible 100’s Lifetime Achievement Award, New Yorkers for Parks’ City Leadership Award, LiveOn NY’s Human Spirit Award, Asian Americans for Equality’s Pioneer Spirit Award, Citizens Housing Planning Council’s Impact Award, New York Housing Conference’s Leadership Award, and women’s leadership awards from The Metropolitan Museum of New York, Crain’s, Bisnow, and Women’s Builders Council.

The Ford Foundation is an independent organization working to address inequality and build a future grounded in justice. For more than 85 years, it has supported visionaries on the frontlines of social change worldwide, guided by its mission to strengthen democratic values, reduce poverty and injustice, promote international cooperation, and advance human achievement. Today, with an endowment of $16 billion, the foundation has headquarters in New York and 10 regional offices across Africa, Asia, Latin America, and the Middle East.