Image Credit: Mayor’s Fund to Advance New York City
Last year the Mayor’s Fund helped immigrant families access relief funds and provided healthcare workers with food and essential care products. On January 19, 2021, Mayor Bill de Blasio appointed Daniele Baierlein and JL Paniagua Valle as Co-Executive Directors of the Mayor’s Fund to Advance New York City. The Mayor’s Fund is a non-profit organization that works with City agencies and hundreds of institutional funders to advance initiatives that improve equity across New York City.
Daniele Baierlein has twenty years of policy, partnership and fundraising experience. She earned a bachelor’s degree in environmental conservation and political science from the University of New Hampshire and a Juris Doctor from the Catholic University of America School of Law. Ms. Baierlein’s prior experience includes positions with the Podesta Group, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, the Madison Square Garden Company and Senator Jeanne Shaheen. She currently serves on the board of the Hugh O’Brien Youth Foundation NY Chapter and is a member of the Jenkins Hill Society, a women’s donor network. She was named to City & State’s New York City 40 Under 40 in 2017. She will have oversight of Development, Programs and Policy at the Mayor’s Fund and previously served as Senior Advisor and Director of Development.
Jorge Luis Paniagua Valle has over a decade of experience working in non-profit organizations, local government and institutions of higher education. He has a BA from Loyola University and an MPA from the NYU Wagner School of Public Service. Prior to joining the Mayor’s Fund, he served as the Assistant Director of Talent Development for the Mayor’s Office of Appointments, where he implemented career development programs for public servants. He has also served as the Programs Director for the Public Interest Law Center at NYU School of Law. He serves on the Board of Directors for the Coalition for Hispanic Family services. He will serve as the co-Executive Director with oversight of Communications, Finance and Operations.
The Mayor’s Fund has helped support partnerships like the Center for Youth Employment, a public-private partnership to provide career resources and connect job opportunities to New York’s youth workforce; Connections to Care, which integrates mental health support in the work of community-based organizations; and programs that provide immigrant communities with legal services and other protections. In Fiscal Year 2020, the Mayor’s Fund raised $77.4 million, an increase of over $48.1 million that the year prior.
In part of the response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Mayor’s Fund raised $54.5 million in emergency relief funds. The Mayor’s Fund launched NYC Healthcare Heroes to provide over 400,000 packages of shelf-stable food, produce, cleaning supplies and personal care products to hospital staff citywide in an effort to alleviate the burden of shopping for essentials for healthcare workers. The Mayor’s Fund also helped create the Immigrant Emergency Relief Program, which provided direct, one-time emergency relief payments to 20,000 immigrant families who suffered financially during the pandemic but who were excluded from receiving federal relief.
Mayor de Blasio stated, “I am pleased to appoint two of our City’s most dedicated shining stars to even more challenging roles. Daniele and JL have the heart, vision and expertise it takes to build on their achievements at the Mayor’s Fund, and they understand that a fairer and better city means working with our partners in and out of government on lasting change.”
Daniele Baierlein stated, “I am honored to take on this new role as Co-Executive Director and continue my work with First Lady Chirlane McCray, the Board of Directors, and the Board of Advisors. For over twenty-six years the Mayor’s Fund has partnered with foundations, businesses and philanthropic individuals alongside city agencies and community-based organizations to launch and develop impactful programs to help the most vulnerable New Yorkers. In the face of adversity last year, we were able to respond to the crisis quickly to help those in need. I am excited to join my colleague JL to develop public-private partnerships to meet the needs ahead.”
JL Paniagua Valle stated, “I look forward to continuing the mission of building public-private partnerships with First Lady Chirlane McCray, the Board of Directors, and the Board of Advisors. This past year exemplified the power of partnership to mobilize much-needed resources to vulnerable communities and also the unique ability of the Mayor’s Fund to quickly respond to the needs of New Yorkers, even in the face of an unprecedented global pandemic. I am thrilled to serve alongside Daniele Baierlein as we work with community leaders and our partners in philanthropy and business.”
By: Veronica Rose (Veronica is the CityLaw fellow and a New York Law School graduate, Class of 2018.)