Michael Partis

Planning & Evaluation Committee
Executive Director, Red Hook Initiative

Michael Partis is currently the Executive Director of the Red Hook Initiative: a Brooklyn-based organization facilitating social change through education, youth development, and local hiring. Previously, Michael was the Executive Director of the Bronx Cooperative Development Initiative (BCDI), a nonprofit focused on community wealth building. His experience in the education sector includes co-founding The Bronx Brotherhood Project, a college success and mentorship program for Black and Latino teens at the New Settlement College Access Center, and serving as the Director of South Bronx Rising Together (SBRT), a “cradle-to-career” initiative. Michael also is a researcher at Fordham University’s Bronx African American History Project, and professor in the Department of Ethnic Studies at the Borough of Manhattan Community College and Department of Anthropology at Brooklyn College. Michael’s nonprofit service includes being Co-Chair of the Federation for a Manufacturing Renaissance, and serving as a Board Member for the New Economy Project, the New York Foundation, and the Youth Power Coalition.