Maria Torres-Springer

Maria Torres-Springer is an American government official and nonprofit executive who is the deputy mayor of New York City for economic and workforce development. She was previously the vice president for U.S. programs at the Ford Foundation. Torres-Springer was commissioner of the New York City Department of Small Business Services and the Department of Housing Preservation and Development. She was also the president and CEO of the New York City Economic Development Corporation.

Torres-Springer was a senior policy advisor in the office of the deputy mayor of New York City for economic development and rebuilding. She was the chief operating officer of Friends of the High Line. She worked as the executive vice president and chief of staff of the New York City Economic Development Corporation (NYCEDC).

While Bill de Blasio was the Mayor of New York City, Torres-Springer served as the commissioner of the New York City Department of Small Business Services before becoming the president and CEO of the NYCEDC in June 2015. De Blasio later appointed Torres-Springer to lead the New York City Department of Housing Preservation and Development. In those roles, she redevelop the Spofford Juvenile Center into an arts center with affordable housing. Torres-Springer also oversaw the Far Rockaway, Queens neighborhood plan. In February 2019, she stepped down from the department of housing preservation.

Torres-Springer served as vice president for U.S. programs at the Ford Foundation from 2019 to 2021.

In December 2021, New York City mayor-elect Eric Adams named Torres-Springer as the incoming deputy mayor for economic and workforce development. Torres-Springer and Meera Joshi are the first Asian Americans to serve in these roles. They assume the position January 1, 2022