NEW YORK, NY -- Mayor Zohran Mamdani announced the appointment of nationally recognized organizer and racial justice strategist Afua Atta-Mensah as Chief Equity Officer and Commissioner of the Mayor's Office of Equity & Racial Justice (MOERJ). In this role, Atta-Mensah will coordinate the administration's work advancing racial equity across City agencies, including creating and publishing the Preliminary Citywide Racial Equity Plan within the administration's first 100 days in office. This commitment to the Racial Equity Plan, which the Adams administration failed to publish on schedule, marks a new era in New York City's pursuit of racial justice under the Mamdani administration.
Atta-Mensah has previously held roles including Chief of Programs at Community Change, Executive Director of Community Voices Heard, and Director of Litigation and Policy at the Urban Justice Center. In these positions and others across New York and internationally, she has fought to build social power for working people, including defending racial justice initiatives and fair and equitable housing.
Mayor Mamdani also committed to create and publish the Preliminary Racial Equity Plan within the administration's first 100 days in office. New Yorkers will then be able to comment on the Preliminary Plan before the Final Plan is published later this year. New York City voters supported the creation of a Racial Equity Plan by a wide margin in 2022, but the previous administration did not meet the timeline established in the City Charter to release it. In prioritizing the publication of the Racial Equity Plan, the Mamdani administration is reiterating its commitment to a more equitable and just New York City.
"Afua Atta-Mensah has dedicated her career to serving the New Yorkers who are so often forgotten in the halls of power. There is no one I trust more to advance racial equity across our work in City Hall," said Mayor Zohran Kwame Mamdani. "That starts with making good on the promise of a Preliminary Citywide Racial Equity Plan within our first 100 days in office, and it will continue as our administration focuses on equity and racial justice throughout its work.
"I am honored by this appointment, and ready to seek citywide justice and accountability on behalf of all New Yorkers," said Afua Atta-Mensah, NYC Chief Equity Officer & Commissioner of the NYC Mayor's Office of Equity & Racial Justice. "As the Mayor has made clear, this administration is committed to doing big things - and to doing them boldly. I look forward to partnering with community leaders and working alongside the teams at MOERJ and the Commission on Racial Equity to develop and implement a comprehensive, citywide Racial Equity Plan."
"There is no economic justice without racial justice. I am thrilled to get to work with Afua Atta-Mensah to make this more than just a statement of principle and to celebrate Black excellence and racial equity for all of the beautiful communities who call NYC home," said Julie Su, Deputy Mayor for Economic Justice.
