Marcella Tillett, the executive director of the Mayor Eric Adams’ Fund to Advance New York City, has abruptly stepped down after roughly 16 months on the job, The Post has learned.
The not-for-profit entity is a fundraising vehicle that doles out millions of dollars in donations from Wall Street, developers, lobbyists, nonprofits and other private and government sources to help fund city initiatives backed by the mayor.
Adams announced his appointment of Tillett — who previously served as a top executive at the Brooklyn Community Foundation when the mayor was Brooklyn borough president — in October 2022.
“People were surprised Marcella is leaving. Nobody had expected it,” said one source close to the Mayor’s Fund.
Tillett declined phone and email requests for comment on Tuesday. She was not physically in attendance at the last board meeting of the Mayor’s Fund on February 2.
The Mayor’s Fund had been working on a partnership with City Hall and Wole Coaxum and his Mobility Capital Finance company — the firm that won the controversial no-bid city contract that provides taxpayer-financed, pre-paid cash cards to migrants — on a separate program to help poor New Yorkers.
City Hall said Tillet was leaving due to “personal reasons” — insisting her departure has nothing to do with any friction with Adams or his leadership team over projects at the Mayor’s Fund.
“Over the past 16 months, New Yorkers have benefited from Marcella Tillett’s expertise and dedication in her leadership of the Mayor’s Fund to Advance New York City,” mayoral spokesperson Kayla Mamelak said.
“We thank her for her contributions to our city, and we are grateful that she has offered to remain with us over the coming weeks, ensuring a seamless transition.”
A new executive director has not been named.
According to financial reports filed with the IRS and the state attorney general’s charities bureau, the Mayor’s Fund had about $15 million in cash on hand in 2022 to provide grants for new city programs, down from $27 million in 2020 — a period when the city grappled with the COVID-19 outbreak.
“The Fund works closely with many New York City agencies to support and strengthen innovative public programs serving the City’s residents. Each initiative undertaken by the Mayor’s Fund is unique. Some initiatives are one-year pilot programs while others are multi-year projects,” its accountant, the EPFR group, said in a report filed last year.
“To achieve its goals, the Fund is reliant on the generosity of individuals, foundations and corporations, which play a crucial role in making the City safer, healthier, and an even more vibrant and dynamic place to live and work,” the report said.
It has funded several initiatives since Adams took office in 2022.
In response to the deadly Twin Parks Fire in the Bronx on Jan. 9, 2022, Adams tapped the Mayor’s Fund to raise $4.4 million to support victims of the fire. The Fund allocated $3 million in cash assistance to fire victims and $1 million to community group BronxWorks for services to aid displaced residents.
A $1.5 million donation from drug manufacturer Pfizer was distributed via the Mayor’s Fund to provide science, technology, engineering and math programs to public middle school and high school students.
The Mayor’s Fund also supports programs for needy residents impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, provides gift cards to victims of domestic violence and provides grants to support soccer programs in underserved areas, among other programs, dating back to prior Mayor Bill de Blasio’s tenure.
De Blasio’s wife, then First Lady Chirlane McCray, chaired the Mayor’s Fund during his mayoralty.
