Press Release
Statement by Community Service Society President and CEO David R. Jones on the Retirement of Nancy Rankin, Vice President for Policy, Research and Advocacy
After 16 years and two stints leading Community Service Society’s policy research and advocacy efforts, Nancy Rankin will be retiring in late August.
During her tenure at CSS, Nancy has made major contributions to our organization and to our city. She elevated the voices of low-income New Yorkers through the annual Unheard Third survey she launched back in 2002, reporting annually on the hardships experienced by those struggling to get ahead, and their views on what would help them achieve upward mobility for themselves and their families.
For Nancy, issuing a report was not an end in itself, but often just the starting point. She used rigorous research to drive advocacy and worked relentlessly and tenaciously with grassroots organizations and stakeholder groups to win policy changes that are now benefitting vast numbers of New Yorkers: paid sick days in the city and statewide, paid family leave, and Fair Fares. She oversaw our work to gain affordable housing, strengthen tenant protections, increase wages for workers, expand opportunities for youth and diminish poverty and discriminatory policing.
Nancy understood that successful advocacy campaigns required persistence and grit. And she brought both to her work here at CSS, contributing immensely to the organization’s reputation as a generator of credible research, advocacy know-how and effective communications to advance a progressive policy agenda to combat economic inequality in our city.
We have been proud to call Nancy part of our team and will miss the creative ideas and strategic vision she brought to CSS. Nancy is retiring from CSS, but I am sure she intends to remain active in civic life. As we start our search for someone who can continue Nancy’s good work, we thank her for her service and wish her the very best. “We look forward to celebrating with Nancy the policy victories we have all achieved together at a virtual event to be held in August.”