History

The Mayor's Office for Economic Opportunity (NYC Opportunity) was formally announced in May 2017.

Our office evolved from its origins in two separate but related mayoral units – the Center for Economic Opportunity and HHS-Connect. The Center for Economic Opportunity began with a primary focus to develop and test new anti-poverty programs. The initial program and poverty research agenda was established with the creation of the 2006 Commission for Economic Opportunity. The Center launched soon after the release of the Commission's recommendations in order to implement their ideas. At about the same time, HHS-Connect was created to use data and technology to more holistically support clients of the City's health and human services.

The Center for Economic Opportunity and HHS-Connect evolved from focusing primarily on their own pilot programs and individual technical tools to helping support the City's overall efforts to reduce poverty and achieve more equitable policy results. The two units merged in 2017. NYC Opportunity now continues to oversee a portfolio of programs and products directly also while supporting individual agencies and signature cross-agency initiatives with research, evaluation, service design, digital products and data integration.

Please note that reports and other materials that are found on this site produced prior to May 16, 2017 by the Center or HHS-Connect retain their original titles.