Ben Margolis draws upon three decades of service helping mission-driven, public, and private organizations to increase impact, innovate programming, and address systemic community needs. He is a leader in the areas of equitable development, public-private partnership, mission-driven program delivery, and public sector governance.

Ben served as Executive Director at Southwest Brooklyn Industrial Development Corporation (SBIDC), managing all aspects of a dynamic, nonprofit organization working at the intersection of small business and workforce development. At SBIDC, he oversaw growth of New York City’s only nonprofit-led public employment center and innovated the organization’s approach to community development by seeding and launching new initiatives to meet evolving community challenges, including young adult training, worker-cooperative, and MWBE entrepreneur support programs.

In the public sector, Ben has served as a senior economic development official for NYC and a special advisor to Mayor Michael Bloomberg on the NYC Special Initiative for Rebuilding and Resiliency (SIRR). He played a key role in developing and directing a $100 million investment into the Brooklyn Army Terminal and over $1 billion of investments in public-private projects. In the wake of Hurricane Sandy, Ben developed crucial climate resiliency and economic recovery projects for the East and South Shores of Staten Island and authored a chapter of the City’s first comprehensive resiliency plan.

In private practice, Ben has helped an array of clients and communities plan through mediation, uncover assets, and advance workforce and community investment strategies. In helping to form and lead neighborhood coalitions, such as the Gowanus Neighborhood Coalition for Justice (GNCJ), and by facilitating community groups such as the Sunset Park Waterfront Planning and Jobs Task Force and the NYC Garment Center Steering Committee, Ben has gained the trust of a diverse array of participants through empathy, knowledge of topic, and enthusiasm. He has supported the development and expansion of catalytic real estate projects, including the expansion of The Old American Can Factory in Brooklyn, and managed comprehensive urban revitalization projects including master planning in Newark, NJ and Philadelphia, PA. As a Senior Research Analyst for The Brookings Institution Metropolitan Policy Program, he seeded and implemented major research and policy projects examining urban economies.

Ben has worked internationally, including in The Netherlands where he established a consulting practice (New Netherland Advisors) drawing lessons from and contributing to the European experience of urbanism and placemaking.

Ben is a Public Policy Fellow at The Design Trust for Public Spaces, has been a Visiting Assistant Professor in Pratt Institute’s Programs for Sustainable Planning & Development (PSPD), and has served on multiple nonprofit boards. He holds a Master of Public Administration (M.P.A.) from Columbia University’s School of International Affairs.