Kristen Edgreen Kaufman is the Deputy Commissioner of Public Private Partnerships & Economic Development in the NYC Mayor’s Office for International Affairs. She shares the successes of the Adams administration and city agencies on a global platform and facilitates the global exchange of best practices, enabling NYC to replicate the successes of leading global cities in thematic areas ranging from education to mental health initiatives to public safety. Kristen also leads all trade and investment initiatives with Europe, South America, North America and Latin America. Furthermore, she serves as the key relationship manager for European Consulates and Permanent Missions from the Asian continent.
Before becoming Deputy Commissioner, Kristen was a consultant and coordinator who specialized in advising international organizations on development, fundraising and strategically engaging or facilitating community outreach with public and private companies based in the U.S. and abroad. Kristen also comes to the Mayor’s office with a strong foundation in finance having worked at Lazard, Merrill Lynch, and as a Managing Director at Natixis Bleichroeder. In 2009, Kristen co-founded Acrocorinth, Inc., a foundation promoting ethics in foreign policy and supporting education for underprivileged children. She sits on the board of the Carnegie Council for Ethics in International Affairs and previously served on the board of New York’s chapter of Teach for America. In 2014, Kristen was elected Democratic Judicial Delegate for the 75th Assembly District in New York City where she was responsible for facilitating the election of New York State Supreme Court justices. From 2016-2017 she headed the creation and launch of a development department for a foreign policy association. Her writing has appeared in Newsweek and Cities Speak. She is a member of the Leadership Now Project, Network 20/20 Foreign Policy Group, and the Women’s Foreign Policy Group.
Kristen graduated from Claremont McKenna College, cum laude, with a B.A. in international relations and went on to earn her MBA from Columbia Business School.
