Emmy Liss

Emmy Liss
Executive Director of the New York City Mayor's Office of Child Care
Incumbent
Assumed office
January 1, 2026
MayorZohran Mamdani
Personal details
PartyDemocratic
Education

Emmy Liss is an American civil servant and education policy leader who currently serves as the Executive Director of the Mayor's Office of Child Care in New York City, under Mayor Zohran Mamdani, where she has become known for leading the implementation of one of his core policy goals, universal child care. She previously served as Chief Operating Officer for the Division of Early Childhood Education in NYC and co-founded New Yorkers United for Child Care.

Biography

Liss earned a BA in political science from Brown University. After graduation, she began working at McKinsey & Company in their Education practice.[1]

In 2015, she began working for the New York City Department of Education, where she rose to the rank of Chief Operating Officer for the Division of Early Childhood Education and played a role in the implementation of universal preschool during the Bill de Blasio mayorship.[2]

She left the Department of Education when Eric Adams took office[3] and co-founded New Yorkers United for Child Care to oppose preschool funding cuts during that period.[4] During this period, she was also notable for her prolific authoring of education and child care policy memos for organizations including[3] the 5BORO Institute,[5] New America,[6][7] and the Day Care Council of New York,[8] and has been cited as one of the key leaders in policy dissemination and engaging important constituencies with the issue of universal child care.[9]

She was named the Executive Director of the Mayor's Office of Child Care by Zohran Mamdani just before Mamdani's inauguration.[10] In this role, she has improved communication regarding universal 3K and Pre-K[11] and taken the lead in implementing Universal 2K,[12] a policy priority of Mamdani which received funding from the State of New York and Governor Kathy Hochul.[13] Notably, as of April 10, the City had announced free child care for 2,000 two-year-olds in high-need areas,[14] as well as opening an additional 1,000 slots for three-year-olds.[15] The goal set by both Mamdani and Liss is to achieve universal child care for all children under 5.[16]

References

  1. ↑ "Emmy Liss '11: You are what you do". The Brown Daily Herald. 2011-05-28. Retrieved 2026-06-22.
  2. ↑ Kramer, Abigail (2026-01-16). "Emmy Liss, NYC's new head of child care, shares her vision for the city's youngest kids". Chalkbeat. Retrieved 2026-06-22.
  3. 1 2 Fischer, Molly (2026-02-05). "The People Who Will Actually Make Universal Child Care Happen". The New Yorker. ISSN 0028-792X. Retrieved 2026-06-22.
  4. ↑ Touré, Madina (2026-01-21). "POLITICO Pro Q&A: NYC child care czar Emmy Liss". subscriber.politicopro.com. Retrieved 2026-06-22.
  5. ↑ "5BORO Institute Releases Major Report on Child Care in New York City". fiveboro.nyc. 2024-02-27. Retrieved 2026-06-22.
  6. ↑ Liss, Emmy; Gilliland, Sarah (2025-11-19). "Mixed Delivery, Stronger Results: How to Intentionally Design Local Early Childhood Systems". New America. Retrieved 2026-06-22.
  7. ↑ Mader, Jackie (2025-12-24). "5 early ed highlights from 2025". The Hechinger Report. Retrieved 2026-06-22.
  8. ↑ Liss, Emmy (December 2025). "Workforce Report" (PDF). Day Care Council Of New York. Retrieved June 22, 2026.
  9. ↑ Wallack, Josh (2026-06-10). "How Did Universal Childcare Survive Attack?". Roosevelt Institute. Retrieved 2026-06-22.
  10. ↑ Closson, Troy (2025-12-31). "Mamdani Names Top Deputies for Child Care, Operations and Climate". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2026-06-22.
  11. ↑ "ICYMI: Mamdani Administration to NYC Parents: Apply for Pre-K and 3-K Before 11:59 P.M. Tonight". The official website of the City of New York. 2026-02-27. Retrieved 2026-06-22.
  12. ↑ "Deadline nears for 3-K and pre-K applications". ny1.com. 2027-02-25. Retrieved 2026-06-22.
  13. ↑ Geduld, Amanda (2026-02-26). "Mamdani's Child Care Czar on NYC's First-of-Its-Kind, Universal 2-K Rollout". Retrieved 2026-06-22.
  14. ↑ Richardson, Kemberly (2026-04-10). "Mayor Mamdani's first 100 days highlighted by expansion of free child care programs". ABC7 New York. Retrieved 2026-06-22.
  15. ↑ "Transcript: Mayor Mamdani, NYC Children Open Seven Formerly Vacant Early Childhood Education Centers". The official website of the City of New York. 2026-04-21. Retrieved 2026-06-22.
  16. ↑ "One-on-one with Mamdani's executive director of the Office of Child Care". ny1.com. 2026-01-15. Retrieved 2026-06-22.
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