Our Team

Kathryn Wylde is the President and CEO of the Partnership for New York City, a nonprofit organization whose members are the city’s global business leaders and major employers. The Partnership’s mission is to mobilize private sector resources and expertise to advance New York City’s standing as a global center of economic opportunity, upward mobility, and innovation.

In response to COVID-19, the Partnership has been a key liaison between the public and private sectors with respect to health and economic challenges. The Partnership published the first comprehensive analysis of pandemic impact on the city. It has focused recovery efforts on support for small business and advocacy for policies that will restore jobs and retain talent in the city.

Kathryn is an urban policy expert and represents the business community on issues that impact the economy and public policy more generally. She has written numerous opinion and policy papers and has been widely recognized for her leadership by educational, professional, and nonprofit institutions.

She serves on a number of boards and advisory groups, including the Fund for Public Schools, Invest Puerto Rico, Manhattan Institute for Policy Research, NYC & Co., NYC Economic Development Corporation, and the NYC Regional Economic Development Council.

Prior to taking over as Partnership CEO in 2000, Wylde was the founding CEO of both the Partnership’s investment fund and housing affiliates. From 1995-2000, Wylde worked with Henry Kravis and Jerry Speyer to establish and manage the Partnership Fund for New York City, a civic fund that is capitalized with $170 million in private contributions.

From 1982 to 1995, Wylde was responsible for developing and managing affordable housing and economic development programs that contributed to the renaissance of blighted urban neighborhoods across the five boroughs. The New York City Housing Partnership was the sponsor of the city’s New Homes and Neighborhood Builders programs, producing more than 35,000 units of new, owner-occupied housing and of the Neighborhood Entrepreneurs Program, which enabled more than fifty minority and women-owned firms to purchase and rehabilitate apartment buildings that were formerly owned by the city.

Before to joining the Partnership, Wylde worked in senior positions at the former Anchor Savings Bank and at Lutheran Medical Center in Sunset Park, Brooklyn. She is a native of Madison, Wisconsin.

Maria G. Gotsch is President and Chief Executive Officer of the Partnership Fund for New York City, the $180 million investment arm of the Partnership for New York City, New York’s leading business organization. The Fund has built a network of top venture capital and corporate experts to identify and support the city’s most promising entrepreneurs to create jobs, spur new business and expand opportunities for New Yorkers.

In addition to leading the Fund’s investments and operations, Maria has spearheaded the creation of the Fund’s strategic initiatives, helping grow the city’s innovation sectors, including fintech and commercial life sciences.  These initiatives include: the FinTech Innovation Lab; New York Digital Health Accelerator; Transit Tech Lab; NY Fashion Tech Lab; NYCSeed; BioAccelerate Prize NYC (proof-of-concept funding for university-based biomedical research); Arts Entrepreneurial Loan Fund;  ReStart Central and Financial Recovery Fund (assistance and funding for small businesses impacted by 9/11/01); and, the NYC Small Business Resource Network (assistance for small businesses impacted by COVID-19 economic shutdown).

Maria has been featured in Crain’s “Most Powerful Women in New York,” “Notable Women in Tech,” and “Notable Women on Wall Street”; City & State’s “The Life Sciences Power 50”; and Institutional Investor’s The FinTech Finance 40.

Before joining the Fund in 1999, Maria was Managing Director at BT Wolfensohn (now part of Deutsche Bank), providing strategic and financial advice related to mergers, acquisitions, dispositions, joint ventures and the development of business strategies. Maria also worked at LaSalle Partners and for Merrill Lynch Capital Markets in New York and London. Maria has an MBA from Harvard Business School and a B.A. from Wellesley College. She was also the recipient of a Fulbright Fellowship to study international relations at the Institut Universitaire de Hautes Etudes Internationales in Geneva, Switzerland.

Maria is a member of the boards of Sonepar SAS and Sonepar USA Holdings and serves as Chair of the audit committee of Sonepar SAS. Headquartered in Paris and privately-held, Sonepar is the global leader in B-to-B distribution of electrical products and services.

She is also a member of the FINRA FinTech Industry Committee, Hospital for Special Surgery Innovation Advisory Council, the Cornell-Tech Runway Visiting Committee, the New York City Life Sciences Advisory Council, and the ProPublica Leadership Council.