NYC Opportunity Milestones

The Mayor’s Office for Economic Opportunity (NYC Opportunity) was established more than 15 years ago as one of the first government innovation offices in the country. Our mission is to help the City use evidence and data to reduce poverty and promote equity and opportunity.

In our work, we put an emphasis on data-tested solutions. We partner with City agencies and offices to tear down silos within government, including by sharing data and best practices. We work cooperatively with community-based organizations, and solicit community input into specific projects, to ensure that the voices of those most affected are heard and listened to.

Our office operates in five interrelated areas:

1. Research: We produce a wide array of research on the issues we work on, most notably the Poverty Report that our Poverty Research Team prepares annually, which produces the City’s official poverty and near poverty rates.
2. Service Design: Our Service Design Studio, which launched in October 2017, uses service design principles to build effective programs and product solutions, and shares its expertise with other agencies across City government.
3. Digital Products: We develop and manage a portfolio of digital products that help the City to serve low-income News Yorkers, including digital tools that facilitate access to benefits from all levels of government.
4. Data Integration: We help the City to deliver more effective and holistic services by integrating data across agencies, allowing workers throughout the government to coordinate the delivery of resources and support.
5. Programs & Evaluation: We help agencies and partners design and implement programs; engage in program management and performance monitoring; and conduct evaluations in cooperation with independent evaluation firms – all for the purpose of making government services for low-income New Yorkers more effective and efficient.

Our goal is to design and promote programs and digital products that have measurable impact. Some of the programs we have worked on, such as CUNY’s Accelerated Study in Associate Programs (ASAP) -- which helps students to earn an associate degree within three years by providing wide-ranging and structured services -- have been replicated in other parts of the country. Our award-winning products have also garnered national attention.

These Milestones – including events, accomplishments, awards, reports, and evaluations -- represent some of the highlights of our work since our founding. They are broken down by the three administrations we have been part of – Bloomberg, de Blasio, and Adams – with a special section on our work during the Covid-19 pandemic. (See links to each of these in the left side column.)