Maria Torres-Springer is a nationally recognized civic and urban policy leader with over 25 years of experience driving large-scale organizational transformation at the intersection of government, business, and philanthropy. Maria formerly served as New York City's First Deputy Mayor where she oversaw the day-to-day operations of the City of New York and had strategic and budgetary oversight of a 300,000+ public sector workforce and an annual $110 billion budget. She led landmark achievements in housing, including the pathbreaking City of Yes for Housing Opportunity reforms, back-to-back affordable housing production records, and historic investments in public housing. Maria's distinguished record of public service across three Mayoral administrations includes serving as Commissioner of the New York City Department of Housing Preservation and Development, President and CEO of the New York City Economic Development Corporation, and Commissioner of the New York City Department of Small Business Services. She also serves as a Co-Chair of Mayor-Elect Zohran Mamdani's Transition Team. Maria is the incoming President of the Revson Foundation. She will assume this role in January 2026. Maria earned her bachelor's degree in ethics, politics, and economics from Yale University and a master's in public policy from Harvard's Kennedy School of Government.