Urban Agenda

ACTION RESEARCH AND COALITION BUILDING TO ADVANCE SOCIAL, ECONOMIC, AND ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE

Urban Agenda works for a truly sustainable New York City – thriving, green, and just. We advocate policies and programs grounded in action-oriented research and supported by strong coalitions of unions, business, and the community. Our work drives highroad economic development by analyzing the new economy and building strategic partnerships

This is an exciting time for Urban Agenda. Through our NYC Apollo Alliance, we have successfully advocated for sustainable energy policies and the importance of green collar jobs. Most recently, we played an important role in Mayor Bloomberg’s Sustainability Advisory Board, which helped develop PlaNYC 2030, New York City’s long-term plan. Through our participation, we worked to include the needs and concerns of labor and community. We are now helping to craft a workforce development strategy to ensure that PlaNYC 2030 creates quality jobs available to all New Yorkers – ones that pay family-sustaining wages, provide benefits, and offer opportunities for career advancement.

To support our advocacy efforts we recently published Growing Green Collar Jobs: Energy Efficiency – focused on job opportunities in one of the largest, fastest growing, and most promising sectors for New York City: improving energy efficiency in existing buildings.

We are proud to be working with our diverse coalition partners. Our close working relationship with the New York City Central Labor Council (CLC) has been critical to our success. By tapping into the CLC’s infrastructure, we are able to learn from and provide information to its 400 affiliated unions that represent 1.3 million workers.

Together we believe that shared economic prosperity, social justice, and environmental stewardship are critical to ensuring that New York City maintains its status as a leading global city.