Jonathan Mintz, Commissioner of the New York City Department of Consumer Affairs (DCA), was appointed by Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg in 2006 and has been with the Department since 2002, serving as Acting Commissioner and Deputy Commissioner. During his tenure, Commissioner Mintz has tackled large-scale enforcement and litigation work focused on ending industrywide deceptive practices in the consumer marketplace; significantly increased the volume of New Yorkers protected and educated about their finances, such as debt collection and tax preparation; and has led the nation’s most comprehensive campaign to boost awareness and uptake of the Earned Income Tax Credit for working families and individuals.

Commissioner Mintz also launched the Department’s Office of Financial Empowerment (OFE). OFE is the first local government initiative in the nation aimed expressly at educating, empowering, and protecting those with low incomes so they can build assets and make the most of their financial resources. Profiled in The Economist, American Banker, and American Public Media, OFE represents a unique approach to poverty reduction, long-term financial stability, and asset building by leveraging the powers and opportunities of municipal government. 

Commissioner Mintz is the founder and co-chair of Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg’s Cities for Financial Empowerment (CFE) Coalition, a natural outgrowth of OFE in which member cities use their leverage within city government to advance innovative financial empowerment initiatives that promote access to safe and affordable financial products and services, increase financial literacy and asset-building opportunities, and provide greater consumer protections for city residents. In addition, CFE uses its members’ collective power to advance the financial empowerment agenda on a state and national level.
 
Prior to joining the Department of Consumer Affairs, Mintz taught Second grade at the Little Red School House in Greenwich Village and was a member of the founding faculty of the Roger Williams University School of Law. He taught at Chicago Kent College of Law and practiced at the law firm of McCutchen Doyle Brown & Enersen in San Francisco.

The Commissioner earned his Juris Doctor from Cornell University, holds a Master’s degree in Education from the Bank Street College of Education and a Bachelor of Arts in English from Indiana University.

Download short version of Commissioner's biography