Richard Buery, Deputy Mayor for Strategic Policy Initiatives

Deputy Mayor for Strategic Policy Initiatives, Richard Buery leads priority interagency efforts to increase educational opportunity for New Yorkers and uplift working families through City services. He is the architect of Pre-K for All, the Community Schools Initiative and School's Out NYC, New York City's afterschool program for middle school students. He chairs the NYC Children's Cabinet, oversees the Mayor's Young Men's Initiative and has been charged with spearheading the implementation of ThriveNYC to overhaul of the city's mental health system.

The Department of Youth and Community Development, Department of Probation, Department for the Aging, the Mayor's Offices for Immigrant Affairs, Veterans’ Affairs, and People with Disabilities are also under his purview, and he serves as the City's liaison to the City University of New York (CUNY).

Buery has dedicated his life to improving outcomes for young people in America's most disadvantaged communities. After graduating from Stuyvesant High School, he matriculated at Harvard College at age 16. He went on to establish nonprofit organizations, such as iMentor and Groundwork, Inc.

A graduate of Yale Law School, Buery served as a law clerk to Judge John M. Walker, Jr. of the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit and was a staff attorney at the Brennan Center for Justice, working in the areas of access to justice and campaign finance reform. He taught at the Baruch College School of Public Affairs and New York Law School.

Buery joined the administration from the Children's Aid Society, one of New York City's oldest and largest social service organizations. He led the organization's efforts to end the cycle of poverty. His achievements include founding the Children's Aid College Prep Charter School, a community school that provides rigorous academic instruction and comprehensive social service to high-needs families in the South Bronx.

Buery lives in Brooklyn with his wife Deborah, a law professor, and his two sons.