Matthew Klein Joins Robin Hood as Chief Program & Impact Officer

NEW YORK, Jan. 19, 2022 – Today, New York’s largest poverty-fighting philanthropy, Robin Hood, announced Matthew Klein has joined the organization as its new Chief Program and Impact Officer. Klein brings extensive experience in nonprofit, philanthropic, government, and civic leadership to Robin Hood, after serving in leadership roles with the Mayor’s Office, Blue Ridge Foundation New York, and youth development services. In this role, Klein will lead the alignment of Robin Hood’s programmatic and public policy work to support pathways out of poverty for low-income New Yorkers.

“Matt Klein not only has a distinguished track record of achievement, but he is deeply committed to the same fundamentals that drive us at Robin Hood – research, metrics, equity, and technology as tools to fight poverty,” said Robin Hood CEO, Richard R. Buery, Jr. “I’ve had the honor of working with Matt for many years and know that he is the right person to lead the way to expand Robin Hood’s reach and impact on behalf of New Yorkers who are living in poverty as we seek to get families back on their feet, get kids back on track, and get New Yorkers back to work.”

“Robin Hood has long stood at the intersection of the private, public, and nonprofit sectors to drive solutions and impact for New Yorkers experiencing poverty, and I’ve had the great honor of working with the organization – and many of my new colleagues – over the course of my career,” said Matt Klein, Robin Hood’s new Chief Program and Impact Officer. “I am particularly proud to take on this role at such a profound and challenging moment in our city’s history – one that calls for new levels of collaboration across organizations and across sectors to help ensure that all New Yorkes have the resources, support and opportunities to fulfill their full potential.”

For the last seven years, Klein has led the New York City Mayor’s Office for Economic Opportunity (NYC Opportunity), a 70-person, multi-disciplinary team that helps City leaders use evidence and innovation to more effectively reduce poverty. In this role, he reorganized and integrated several previously discrete units of local government to launch the new mayoral office in 2017, carrying forward the evidence-based focus of the Center for Economic Opportunity and the data-focused work of HHS-Connect. Under his leadership, NYC Opportunity launched new anti-poverty programs and digital products; broadened the City’s use of rigorous evaluations, design methods, and data capabilities; established and helped achieve citywide poverty reduction goals; and, added equity metrics to the City’s performance accountability system, among other accomplishments. During Klein’s tenure, the office garnered multiple awards for policy innovation and digital expertise.

Prior to joining city government, Klein served as the Executive Director of Blue Ridge Foundation New York, a philanthropic fund that operated as a full-service incubator, providing seed funding, office space, and hands-on operational support to start-ups focused on expanding upward mobility. While there, he helped build 30 new social ventures that collectively grew to serve several hundred thousand clients each year with a combined budget of over $250 million. Following his tenure, Blue Ridge Foundation New York merged with Robin Hood as Blue Ridge Labs.

Earlier in his career, Klein co-founded LEAP, a youth development agency in New Haven, CT that placed college students in children’s public housing communities to provide academic and enrichment services, where he helped grow the agency to serve over 700 families across three cities. He has served on numerous civic and nonprofit boards, including those of Robin Hood’s community partners, and has been the recipient of several fellowships, including from Echoing Green, the Rockefeller Foundation, and Results for America. Klein has a B.A. in History and a J.D. from Yale University and Yale Law School, respectively. He lives in Fort Greene, Brooklyn with his wife and twin daughters.

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About Robin Hood:
Robin Hood has been fighting poverty in New York City since 1988. Because Robin Hood’s board covers all overhead, 100% of every donation goes directly to the poverty fight. Over the last two years, Robin Hood invested nearly $345 million in the most impactful poverty-fighting programs, filling a critical void during the COVID-19 pandemic by providing cash assistance, meals, housing, healthcare, education, and other urgent needs to New Yorkers, as well as funding an array of programs and initiatives developed to elevate families out of poverty long-term. Follow the organization on Twitter @RobinHoodNYC and learn more at www.robinhood.org.

CONTACT: press@robinhood.org