Jennifer March, Ph.D.

Executive Director
jmarch@cccnewyork.org

Jennifer March became CCC’s Executive Director in 2007 after 15 years in the public sector including senior positions at the Finance Division of the New York City Council and guiding research and advocacy at CCC as the agency’s Associate Executive Director. Jennifer has been a driving force behind CCC’s efforts to advance legislative, policy, and budget reforms that have helped achieve historic victories for children, youth and families throughout the city and state.

As Executive Director, Jennifer has led the expansion of CCC’s staffing and budget, and has positioned CCC’s Keeping Track Online database as the go-to resource for nonprofit, government and philanthropic leaders and New Yorkers at large seeking to understand the needs of children and families across the city and to inform decision making and advocacy with data. She currently provides leadership in several campaigns and coalitions on behalf of CCC, working with partners across sectors to address some of the most pressing challenges New York’s children and families face. Among them, Jennifer has championed efforts to close the wage gap between early educators in community based programs and their peers in NYC public schools. She spearheaded efforts of the local Campaign for Children to protect and expand access to early childhood education, after-school and summer programs resulting in the recent expansion of universal pre-k for all four-year olds and after-school for all middle schoolers in NYC. She also served as co-leader of the RTA-NY Campaign which succeeded in securing legislation and budget resources needed to raise the age of criminal responsibility in New York State thereby treating youth in an age-appropriate manner to improve their outcomes and community safety. Under Jennifer’s leadership, CCC also co-convenes the Family Homelessness Coalition working to address the needs and improve the well-being of homeless children and their families before, during and after stays in shelter.

Jennifer was a lead architect of CCC’s Securing Every Birthright Campaign, which contributed to the creation of New York City’s Earned Income Tax Credit, the first local Child Care Tax Credit, the expansion of Newborn Home Visiting, establishment of the Mayor’s Office of Food Policy, and passage of GreenCart legislation. Her advocacy and coalition building skills influenced passage of progressive state personal income tax reforms, the creation of statutory funding for alternatives to detention and incarceration, the closure of underutilized juvenile placement facilities, the transfer of delinquent youth to services and placement options close to home, expansion of free lunch for all public school students, and the creation of programs to assist and encourage families to establish college savings accounts for their children at tax time. She holds a bachelor’s degree in History and French from LeMoyne College; a M.A, International Political Economy and Development from Fordham University; and a Ph.D. in Political Science from Fordham University.