Andrea Batista Schlesinger

On The Web

Bio

Andrea Batista Schlesinger is the deputy director of U.S. Programs at the Open Society Foundations.

Before joining the Foundations, Schlesinger served as special advisor to New York City Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg. She coordinated the mayor’s Young Men’s Initiative to improve the life outcomes of young black and Latino males. She also served as a special advisor in Bloomberg’s 2009 reelection campaign, focused on his agenda in areas including higher education, immigration, and housing.

For eight years, Schlesinger led the Drum Major Institute for Public Policy, a think tank founded during the civil rights movement. During her tenure, DMI became well-known for its analysis on immigration and the squeezed middle-class and its repository of effective policies to promote equity and justice. Schlesinger also created a program to connect students from underrepresented communities to careers in policy.

Schlesinger is the author of The Death of Why: The Decline of Questioning and the Future of Democracy (Berrett-Koehler: 2009). She has a double Master’s in History from Columbia University and the London School of Economics where she studied global cities’ responses to economic inequality.

Appearances on CUNY TV

Baruch College Special

Brian Lehrer Live

City Talk

CityWide

Keeping Relevant With Ronnie Eldridge