For our colleagues in New York, making an impact begins with a simple question: “How do we make the city stronger?” The answer involves taking the best of our firm’s capabilities and providing them at no cost to local nonprofits focused on three essential areas: music, our food system and restaurant community, and housing.
Strengthening the legacy of a local music institution
New York City is renowned for its arts and culture thanks to institutions like the Manhattan School of Music (MSM).
A 100-year-old conservatory for classical music, jazz, and musical theatre with a legacy of outstanding music education, MSM's board sought to create a detailed, actionable blueprint for sustained innovation and excellence.
David Knott, a senior partner at McKinsey and vice chair of MSM’s board of trustees, offered the firm’s expertise to help. MSM President James Gandre eagerly accepted.
“The breadth and depth of expertise, along with the engaging approach that McKinsey used, is something we could never access with our budget,” said James. “Beyond that, it was a wonderful collaboration because David and the amazing crew he assembled really listened.”
Using McKinsey’s ‘Beyond the Hockey Stick’ methodology, we developed a five-year roadmap and the steps needed to implement it to enable MSM to continue innovating new musical programs, preparing students for their careers post-graduation, institutionalizing MSM’s unique nurturing culture, and fortifying its financial resilience.
“With McKinsey, we’re going to be able to do this,” James emphasized. “They’re showing us the tools so that we can do it ourselves [and] that’s as big a gift as any.”
Equipping chefs with the ingredients for success
The James Beard Foundation (JBF) is well known for recognizing culinary excellence. The organization’s mission is to celebrate, support, and elevate the people behind America’s food culture and champion a standard of good food anchored in talent, equity, and sustainability. It has long provided chefs and industry practitioners with a wide range of resources—education, meetings and events, research, and sponsorship opportunities—as part of that mission.
Working closely with the JBF team, our team—led by Partner Linda Liu and Associate Partner William Edwards—supported the foundation on a strategic planning exercise, looking at how it could continue to have an outsized impact in the industry as the foundation enters its fifth decade. We helped them identify areas for growth, refine focus for existing programs, and plan for the future.
“The work we partnered on with the McKinsey team will have a long-lasting impact on how we operate as a foundation, and how we optimize our support of the restaurant community and the broader food system,” said JBF chief executive Clare Reichenbach.
Shining a light on the importance of housing
The housing crisis in the tri-state area is intensifying, partly due to a shortage of affordable options. We partnered with the Regional Plan Association (RPA) to explore the potential consequences of inaction.
Leveraging public and proprietary data, we conducted an in-depth analysis of the economic and social impact of not addressing the housing shortage. The findings underscore the crucial importance of housing and the ripple effect that limited supply can have.
If left unaddressed, the region could face a housing gap of 920,000 units by 2035. In addition to higher housing costs and disproportionate effects on low-income households, this shortage could cause the region to miss out on 730,000 jobs and $900 billion in cumulative GDP growth.
On the other hand, according to the study, adding these units could reduce the number of families struggling to pay rent by more than 350,000, alleviating financial burdens that can lead to stress, anxiety, and social isolation.
The study was released during RPA’s General Assembly, a gathering of policy experts, public officials, and business leaders to address the tri-state area’s most pressing challenges.
“By identifying what could be lost through inaction,” explained Associate Partner Ryan Luby “we hope to inform the ecosystem of state and local leaders, developers, and employers to help them find viable solutions.”