Talking to the Obama Administration’s Shaun Donovan

One month after the inauguration of Donald Trump, Greater NY partners heard inside analysis on what New York City should expect from the new administration at an intimate breakfast with Shaun Donovan, who served as Obama’s secretary of Housing and Urban Development and director of the Office of Management and Budget. Donovan brought his knowledge of New York City – where he ran the Bloomberg administration’s Department of Housing Preservation and Development – to a discussion on how to protect organizations that hold together communities across the city.

Donovan said, “We are now at the moment of greatest risk to social service programs that we have seen in our lifetimes – with tax cuts, increases in military and infrastructure spending combined with the most conservative cabinet we’ve ever had.”

“There’s a pressing need for
the strongholds outside NYC to create alliances. We have the opportunity to shape the future
if we act collaboratively.”

Donovan encouraged New York to take the lead in developing creative solutions. “No creative financing will come from the federal government,” he said. “The competitive advantage for New York City is that it has the most sophisticated nonprofit sector and the most sophisticated finance sector in the country. This changes the way we can work together.”

“NYC has the most
sophisticated nonprofit sector
and the most sophisticated finance
sector in the country.”

Donovan said Greater NY partners should look for areas of policy where people can come together. “Keep an eye out for the unlikely collaborations,” he said. In the Obama administration, criminal justice reform was one example, the opioid crisis another. “As more responsibility falls to nonprofits and non-government actors, what are the potential partnerships?”

Shaun Donovan played a key role in the development of Greater NY, helping to launch the organization as a program of the Bloomberg mayor’s office, in collaboration with the Mayor’s Fund to Advance New York City.

Shaun Donovan served as US secretary of Housing and Urban Development under President Barack Obama from 2009 to 2014, and as director of the Office of Management and Budget from 2014 to 2017. He previously held roles as commissioner of the NYC Department of Housing Preservation and Development, as deputy assistant secretary for Multifamily Housing at HUD and as acting commissioner for the Federal Housing Administration. Donovan holds A.B., M.P.A. and M.A. degrees from Harvard University.

Greater NY holds quarterly breakfasts for its partners with speakers
from the public, private and nonprofit sectors