The inaugural class of 23 fellows reflects the best of NYC’s innovation economy — C‑suite executives, founders, product leaders, data scientists, and operators representing some of the most influential and forward‑thinking companies in the city. Despite their diverse backgrounds, every fellow shared one thing from day one: 100% expressed a desire to learn more about how the city works and how their expertise could support it. 

This became the foundation for the program, which tracks a clear progression from civic awareness to civic action.

Three months in, nearly half of all fellows have already taken concrete steps to integrate civic work into their professional lives — a clear shift from interest to practice. 

Several fellows have already asked for support in joining civic or nonprofit boards, showing how the fellowship seeds long‑term civic leadership.

The first semester alone included immersive site visits to:

• DSNY (sanitation operations and routing at city scale)

• Department of Environmental Protection (NYC’s water and environmental infrastructure)

• Fulton Fish Market at Hunts Point (a major node of the city’s food distribution network)

• Cornell Tech (public‑private innovation partnerships)

• Hip Hop Museum (cultural institutions as civic anchors)

• Industry City (manufacturing, innovation, and economic development)

• New York Law School (policy, governance, and legal frameworks)

• Third Avenue BID (local economic development)