NEW YORK: Robin Hood announced Richard Buery Jr. will be leading the organization as its new Chief Executive Officer, effective September 2021.

Buery will bring extensive experience in nonprofit and civic leadership to Robin Hood, after serving in leadership roles with Robin Hood partners like Achievement First and Children’s Aid, and as a Deputy Mayor of New York City.

Buery’s appointment comes after a thorough national CEO search with Russell Reynolds, led by a CEO search committee chaired by board vice chair Dina Powell McCormick, and comprised of Robin Hood’s founder Paul Tudor Jones, board chair John Griffin, and board members Geoffrey Canada and Mary Callahan Erdoes.

“We are proud to name Richard Buery Jr. as the new CEO of Robin Hood,” said Dina Powell McCormick, Global Head of Sustainability and Inclusive Growth at Goldman Sachs and vice chair of the board at Robin Hood.

“After an extensive and thorough process, the search committee unanimously agreed that he has the experience, leadership, and commitment to serving the most vulnerable in New York and will enable us to help families regain their footing, get kids back on track, and New Yorkers back to work.”

“I have spent my life and career working on behalf of New York City families, and Robin Hood has been a part of that journey every step of the way. Leading Robin Hood at this moment of profound transformation in our City, one that poses significant risks and possibilities for its most vulnerable residents, is truly the opportunity of a lifetime,” said Richard Buery, Jr., incoming CEO at Robin Hood.

“I am so grateful to Robin Hood for their faith in me, and I am excited about the opportunity to work with our staff, our donors, and especially our partners as we fight poverty in New York City.”

Buery brings a lifetime of experience as a New Yorker to Robin Hood. He was born and raised in Brooklyn’s East New York. At just 16 years old, Buery graduated from Stuyvesant High School and attended Harvard. He later earned a law degree from Yale, and he brought his talent and skills home to put them to work immediately.

He currently serves as the CEO of Robin Hood’s community partner Achievement First, a charter school network of 37 schools across Brooklyn, Connecticut, and Rhode Island, and lives in Manhattan with his wife and children.

“Rich Buery is a seasoned fundraiser, leader, and policy advocate for the people of New York City. Among the candidates, Rich stood out to the Search Committee as the top choice to lead Robin Hood forward due to his inspiring and bold vision, intellectual depth, and his proven track record of institutional leadership,” said John Griffin, Founder of Blue Ridge Capital and Robin Hood board chair.

“We could not be more certain that Rich is the right leader for Robin Hood at this critical moment as we seek to help rebuild a (new) New York.”

Notably, Buery served as Deputy Mayor for Strategic Policy Initiatives for the City of New York where he was a key architect of the city’s Pre-K for All initiative, enabling 50,000 additional 4-year-olds to get an early start on their education at what we now know is the most formative time of child’s life.

While at City Hall, he launched a universal after school program and 200 new community school partnerships, as well as managing the city’s mental health reform initiative. He founded the Mayor’s Office of Minority and Women-owned Business Enterprises, and the city’s Department of Veterans Services, and managed several other city agencies and offices.

Buery has extensive experience in the nonprofit sector. He has worked for, led, or been closely affiliated with four major nonprofits that are among our grantees, including the Brennan Center at NYU’s School of Law, KIPP Foundation, Children’s Aid, and of course, Achievement First. Additionally, he founded Groundwork to support the educational aspirations of public housing residents in Brooklyn, and was the co-founder of the national non-profit, iMentor, which pairs high school students with mentors to help them navigate to and through college.

Among his many accomplishments are Buery’s work as a civil rights attorney and as a fifth-grade teacher at an orphanage in Zimbabwe. He was also a Pahara-Aspen Institute Education Fellow (2016) and a fellow of the British American Project (2012).

Buery has been recognized on Ebony’s list of “30 under 30” and Crain’s “40 under 40,” as well as being honored by the United Negro College Fund with a humanitarianism award. Additionally, he has lectured at the Baruch College of Public Affairs and New York Law School, and he serves on the boards of the Kresge Foundation, iMentor, and New York City Head Start.

“As the founder of Robin Hood, I am beyond delighted to welcome Richard Buery, Jr. to the Robin Hood family at a time when Robin Hood has never been stronger,” said Paul Tudor Jones II; Founder, Co-Chairman, and Chief Investment Officer of Tudor Investment Corporation and Founder of Robin Hood.

“Richard lives and breathes this city, and what it means to be Robin Hood. He has an abundance of the most important qualification to lead Robin Hood: kindness. We look forward to great things he will help us accomplish in the years ahead.”

“Throughout the search process, Richard Buery, Jr. was evaluated against six core competencies, including managerial/operational skills, setting strategy and leadership agility, programmatic knowledge, communications and fundraising, relationship-building, and a demonstration of deep caring for New York City and Robin Hood’s shared organizational values,” said Mary Callahan Erdoes, Chief Executive Officer of J.P. Morgan Asset & Wealth Management and Robin Hood board member.

“Richard absolutely captures everything we were hoping to find in Robin Hood’s next leader, and we are proud to have him join the organization.”

“Coming out of the COVID-19 pandemic, New York City is facing one of its greatest challenges, but also one of its greatest opportunities,” said Geoffrey Canada, President of Harlem Children’s Zone and Robin Hood board member. “Richard Buery, Jr.’s experience has prepared him superbly to meet this moment, and to ensure that Robin Hood is best positioned to help rebuild a city that serves every New Yorker on the road to recovery.”

Robin Hood’s Chief Operating Officer, Derek Ferguson, will continue to act as the interim CEO until Buery joins the organization in September. Ferguson has been serving as Robin Hood’s Chief Operating Officer since December 2017 and has been acting as its transitional leader since May when the former CEO, Wes Moore, departed the organization.

Robin Hood has been fighting poverty in New York City since 1988. Because Robin Hood’s board covers administrative expenses, every dollar donated is invested in poverty-fighting programs that create meaningful change for those in need. Last year, Robin Hood awarded $172 million in grants, filling a critical void during the COVID-19 pandemic by providing cash assistance, meals, housing, healthcare, and other urgent needs to one million New Yorkers, as well as funding an array of programs and initiatives developed to directly address the systemic underpinnings of poverty in New York City. www.robinhood.org