Maria Torres-Springer

Maria Torres-Springer has a demonstrated record of expanding small business opportunities, with a history of building relationships with community, government and private businesses to support economic development projects throughout New York City. As Commissioner of the New York City Department of Small Business Services (SBS), Torres-Springer has focused the agency’s work around three key pillars: creating good jobs, stronger businesses, and a fairer economy. Her goal is to expand economic opportunity, with an emphasis on underserved communities, ensuring that every entrepreneur and jobseeker in New York City – no matter where they are from, where they live, or what they look like—has the resources they need to succeed and thrive. Under Torres-Springer’s leadership, SBS launched Small Business First, an unprecedented collaboration among City agencies to change the way government interacts with small businesses and improve the City’s regulatory environment. Her approach to growth and inclusion also resulted in New York City's launch of Women Entrepreneurs NYC (WE NYC), a catalytic effort to expand the economic potential of women entrepreneurs across the five boroughs, with a focus on the specific needs of underserved women and families. Expanding opportunities for immigrant New Yorkers is another critical piece to the agency’s agenda. Torres-Springer is committed to ensuring that resources reach communities across all boroughs, with a particular focus on immigrant business owners who make up more than half the small business owners in New York City. Torres-Springer was integral to the Jobs for New Yorkers Task Force and the agency will implement many of the Task Force recommendations to connect New Yorkers to high-quality jobs that offer family-supporting wages. And under Torres-Springer’s leadership, SBS launched the Tech Talent Pipeline, a collaboration between businesses, community groups, training providers and government to grow the tech sector in NYC and prepare New Yorkers for 21st century jobs. Before being appointed Commissioner of SBS, Torres-Springer served as the Executive Vice President and Chief of Staff at the New York City Economic Development Corporation. From overseeing the development and implementation of more than 100 initiatives designed to support innovation and entrepreneurship across all industries, to helping lead the Applied Sciences NYC initiative, spurring new applied science and engineering campuses across New York City, Torres-Springer has continually proven her commitment to creating a dynamic city economy that works for all New Yorkers. Torres-Springer has also served at the Office of the Deputy Mayor for Economic Development & Rebuilding as a Senior Policy Advisor and as the Chief Operating Officer of Friends of the Highline. Torres-Springer received a B.A. in Ethics, Politics and Economics from Yale University and a Master’s in Public Policy from Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government. She lives in Brooklyn with her husband and two daughters.