Debra-Ellen Glickstein (MBA '12) and Nicole Perry (BS '01) share how their Stern education and commitment to social impact has helped them lead a groundbreaking initiative providing every New York City public school kindergartener with a college savings account, fostering financial equity and community investment.

Setting up a college savings account with a $100 starting balance for every kindergarten student in New York City public schools is ambitious, but it's now a reality thanks to NYC Kids RISE and the efforts of Stern alumni Debra-Ellen Glickstein (MBA '12), founding executive director, and Nicole Perry (BS '01), chief platform officer, both from NYC Kids RISE. According to research, Debra-Ellen says students with college savings accounts are three times more likely to attend college, as the accounts foster an expectation of support and aspiration, contributing to long-term wealth-building.

A long-term approach to building generational wealth
NYC Kids RISE began as a pilot in 2017 with support from the Gray Foundation and expanded citywide in 2020 through a partnership with New York City and NYC Public Schools. So far more than 200,000 students have an NYC Scholarship Account, and the current kindergarten class is set to receive their accounts in January 2025. Each NYC Scholarship Account starts with an initial $100 invested in a NY529 Savings Account, families can earn additional rewards by taking additional steps and others can contribute through Community Scholarships. Debra-Ellen emphasizes that the goal is to attract additional community support–both social and financial capital–to invest in New York City’s children’s futures. 

“It's designed to be a universal community-driven wealth-building platform where community stakeholders are plugging into it,” explained Nicole, who engages local stakeholders, including businesses, philanthropies, and residents, to contribute to students' educational futures. 

“This is an audacious program,” said Nicole. “But it’s about a long-term approach to building generational wealth and you have to start somewhere.”

Nicole Perry (BS '01), chief platform officer, works with families to activate their NYC Scholarship Account, made possible through NYC Kids RISE in partnership with New York City and NYC Public Schools.

A passion for addressing financial inequality at the community level
Nicole and Debra-Ellen share a passion for addressing financial inequality. They first collaborated at the New York City Office of Financial Empowerment, where Debra-Ellen served as executive director and Nicole was deputy director. Their initiatives included providing free one-on-one financial counseling, expanding access to the earned income tax credit, and creating a citywide index for neighborhood financial health. Inspired by San Francisco’s Kindergarten to College program, they envisioned a similar program for NYC, which they eventually helped bring to life.

From left, Debra-Ellen Glickstein (MBA '12), founding executive director, and Nicole Perry (BS '01), chief platform officer, both from NYC Kids RISE, draw on their business skills, leadership frameworks, and storytelling learned at NYU Stern to advance their mission of addressing financial inequity.  

For Debra-Ellen, addressing financial inequity has always been central. “The through line for my work has been about community wealth-building and the idea that prosperity is linked to your neighborhood,” she said. “Where you grow up matters.”

Her journey began as a 17 year old Boston City Year Corps member, working to improve a middle school in East Boston. “It was a transformative time,” said Debra-Ellen, who continued to seek opportunities in community-building and economic development, including co-founding the East River Development Alliance (now Urban Upbound) and then spearheading economic opportunity work for the NYC Housing Authority.

Nicole’s path to public service was less direct. After earning her undergraduate degree at Stern and working in consulting, she joined the Peace Corps in Burkina Faso, West Africa, assisting women’s associations and cotton farmers with financial management. Returning to the U.S., she worked at Citigroup but soon moved to a nonprofit and then to city government to make a more direct social impact. “I wanted to use my skills to create opportunities for low-income families,” said Nicole, leading her to the Office of Financial Empowerment working with Debra-Ellen.

Using business skills to solve social problems  
After co-founding the East River Development Alliance and serving as its founding executive director, Debra-Ellen pursued an MBA at Stern to gain business skills, broader exposure to business models, and leadership frameworks to inform her social impact work. “Using these skills to solve social problems has definitely contributed to my effectiveness as a serial social entrepreneur,” she said. At Stern, in her first semester, the East River Development Alliance received support from her classmates through the Stern Charity Bowl.

“I was proud to be part of an institution that saw value in what had been built to support Queensbridge Houses, the largest public housing development in the country, and that my Stern classmates would honor and appreciate what I had helped create,” shared Debra-Ellen.

Reflecting on Stern, Nicole credits her education with developing her analytical skills. “Stern taught me to approach challenges through structured frameworks and asking the right questions,” she said. 

She also learned the power of storytelling. “In an intro to marketing course we had to come up with our personal story, our brand. That taught me that narratives matter,” explained Nicole. “A lot of policy and barriers come from misperceptions about what it means to be low income and making ends meet. It’s not that people don’t know how to manage their money,” said Nicole. “So part of what we’re doing is helping change that narrative.”