Yale University and New Haven Mayor Justin Elicker announced Tuesday that they’re looking for an executive director for the Center for Inclusive Growth as well as programs to boost the city’s growth. The announcement comes nearly two years after the university first announced it would contribute more to New Haven’s economy.
Elicker said the position would closely align with the city’s economic vision.
“We want to make sure that it is someone that is highly qualified for this position, that is going to help lead the center and in particular someone that shares our vision of ensuring that everyone in New Haven has the opportunity to thrive,” Elicker said.
The university and city also announced that the school is pursuing other initiatives to promote economic growth from entrepreneur programs to paid Yale student interns assisting the mayor’s office. Elicker and Kerwin Charles, the dean of the Yale School of Management said the initiatives would have community input, although an advisory board for the center has yet to be announced.
The university first announced in 2021 it would pledge more than $135 million in voluntary payments to the city over a six-year period after city officials called on the university to do more for the city and its residents.
But while the mayor said the director would be responsive to community concerns, an advisory board to the center has not been announced, so the mayor, the president of Yale University, Charles and the president of the city’s Board of Alders, Tyisha Walker-Myers, will decide on the hire, according to Elicker.
“The group has not been yet identified. And so the executive director that will be hired is someone that we will task with engaging with a lot of community members and ensuring that there's an advisory board form that is representative of the entire community,” he said.
The university’s School of Management first announced an advisory board for the center in 2021. The board consists of city, university officials and community leaders.
Other initiatives include sending Yale student interns to help out with the mayor’s office on what was described as high-need areas. Elicker did not specify what the interns would do. However Charles said the interns would not be paid by the city.
“That program is a program for which we've raised independent funding before alongside what we're doing with the center,” Charles said.
Another initiative is a program to help people start or grow their businesses. The programs come nearly two years after the school announced it would increase its payments to the city and the creation of the center which Elicker said would now have a physical location at 65 Audubon St.
The university is considered to be the largest employer within the city, according to Elicker. While he and the university characterized the programs as a partnership, the university’s outsized role in the city’s economy has been controversial, and it owns much of the land in New Haven’s downtown, most of that being tax exempt.
Although the mayor said the university has since worked with the city to reimburse the government for lost tax revenue and by promoting equitable economic growth even before the establishment of the center.
The university’s increased financial contributions and federal aid, Elicker said, helped the city’s economy.
“It's allowed us to invest historic amounts into our pension fund to shore up that fund and ensure that we follow through with the promises to our retired employees, and continue to fund the services and expand some of the services that we provide to New Haven residents,” Elicker said.
While city officials and Yale University would have final say over who becomes the director, the executive director position would also consider the community’s input, Elicker said. Yale University President Peter Salovey said the collaboration is mutually beneficial.
“The deal we struck in the fall of 2021, was really one in which the Mayor and I very much recognized that a genuine, collaborative, respectful partnership was in the best interests of the city of New Haven and the best interests of Yale University,” Salovey said.
