Arden Armbruster introduces IBO's CDF report series

Good afternoon, Deputy Speaker Williams and members of the Committee on Cultural Affairs, Libraries, and International Relations.

My name is Arden Armbruster, and I'm a lead budget and policy analyst at the New York City Independent Budget Office, IBO.

IBO is a government agency whose mission is to enhance understanding of New York City's budget, public policy, and economy through independent analysis.

We appreciate the opportunity to testify at today's hearing on the city's cultural plan, Create NYC.

The first objective of the Create NYC Action Plan is to increase equitable funding and support for culture, especially in historically underserved communities.

Given that the vast majority of cultural organizations that receive support from DCLA do so through the CDF grant program, the CDF has been a key lever in DCLA's ability to realize the goals of Create NYC and this first objective in particular.

Today, IBO will share top-level findings from two reports in a forthcoming series about CDF grantees.

The first report was published today.

This series is intended to support the council, the administration, and the cultural sector in understanding the current

state of the CDF as the city considers the future of Create NYC and cultural policy in New York City.

If members of the committee are interested in discussing the report in more detail, IBO can coordinate with your staff for a walkthrough of the findings.