The Board of Trustees of The Children's Aid Society is proud to announce the appointment of Phoebe Boyer as the agency's 11th President and Chief Executive Officer, and the first woman to hold these positions. On October 1, she will succeed Richard Buery Jr., who became Deputy Mayor to Mayor Bill de Blasio earlier in the year.
“Phoebe Boyer brings 25 years of leadership experience to The Children’s Aid Society, working on issues that are fundamental to our mission including child welfare, education, juvenile justice, and youth development,” said Mark M. Edmiston, Chairman of the Board of Trustees of The Children’s Aid Society. “She is passionate about helping our city’s most vulnerable children, exemplified by her incredible record partnering with exceptional nonprofits and foundations nationwide that are focused on improving the lives of children. Phoebe has long embraced the kind of mission-driven, results-oriented thinking that is a cornerstone of what we’re doing at Children’s Aid. The Board believes that she is the right choice to propel forward our Keeping the Promise vision and strategy of building a cradle-through-college pathway for children.”
Boyer is the Executive Director of the Robertson Foundation, a $1 billion family foundation created by Julian H. Robertson Jr. and his family that takes a targeted approach to supporting critical national issues, including education reform. She also served for 12 years as the Executive Director of the Tiger Foundation, founded by Julian Robertson as well, with a mission to break the cycle of poverty in New York City. During her tenure at the Tiger Foundation, the organization provided more than $112 million in funding to New York City nonprofits in the areas of education, youth development, job training, and social services. She also raised more than $200 million to support the Foundation’s work.
“I’m thrilled to be joining one of the city’s leading nonprofits, an organization that has an unwavering commitment to our city’s most vulnerable children,” said Boyer, who lives in New York City with her husband and two children. “This is an incredible opportunity to be part of an organization with a long legacy of strengthening families, particularly at this time when our city is so focused on helping children escape poverty and eliminating the achievement gap. I am looking forward to working with Chief Operating Officer and Interim CEO Bill Weisberg, the senior leadership team, and the entire staff as we continue to build the full continuum of supports that young people need to succeed and thrive.”
“I couldn’t be prouder of what Phoebe has accomplished or happier for The Children’s Aid Society for choosing her as its next leader,” said Robertson. “She is dedicated and passionate and has proven herself time and again as a thought leader on the full range of education and poverty-related issues. I am certain she will prove a valuable asset for the children and families that count on Children’s Aid.”
Before her work with foundations, Boyer was the Assistant Executive Director at Inwood House, a nonprofit in Upper Manhattan, where she spent four years working to help distressed teens take charge of their lives by educating them in making sound decisions, preventing pregnancy, and building self-esteem.
In addition to her work forging partnerships between the private sector and nonprofits, Boyer also has experience working in city government. She worked for the New York City Department of Corrections, managing emergency prison construction and other related projects. She then went to the Department of Transportation’s Bureau of Bridges, where she rose to the position of Deputy Director of the Management Analysis Unit.
Boyer earned her master’s degree in public-nonprofit management from Columbia Business School. She received her bachelor’s degree from Wesleyan University.
For more than 160 years, Children’s Aid has focused on ensuring that children succeed and thrive—academically, physically, and socially—and move out of poverty. To realize that vision is to put college graduation within the reach of all children, and make it an attainable and desirable goal, no matter what barriers to education children might face.
The Children’s Aid Society is an independent, not-for-profit organization established to serve the children of New York City. Our mission is to help children in poverty to succeed and thrive. We do this by providing comprehensive supports to children and their families in targeted high-needs New York City neighborhoods. Founded in 1853, it is one of the nation’s largest and most innovative non-sectarian agencies, serving New York’s neediest children. Services are provided in community schools, neighborhood centers, health clinics and camps. For additional information, please call Anthony Ramos at (212) 949-4938/ (917) 204-8214, email anthonyr@childrensaidsociety.org or visit www.childrensaidsociety.org.