--- description: Find out who else is on the TIME100 Most Influential People in Philanthropy 2026 list. title: TIME100 Philanthropy: Richard R. Buery Jr. image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt23b23d3f8c5af277/69fe3a008294dc1c78c78005/t100-philanthropy-Richard-Buery.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9%2Coffset-x0.00%2Coffset-y37.80 --- May 14, 2026 # Richard R. Buery Jr. Combating poverty by [Steve Friess](/author/steve-friess/) ## Steve Friess Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close  Courtesy Robin Hood Foundation Richard Buery Jr. beamed as he stood alongside New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani and Gov. Kathy Hochul during their announcement in January that the state will[ add $1.7 billion to its budget](https://www.governor.ny.gov/news/governor-hochul-announces-investments-deliver-universal-child-care-new-york-children-under "undefined") to subsidize free childcare for two-year-olds. The CEO of anti-poverty nonprofit Robin Hood since 2021, Buery, who was previously a deputy mayor of New York City,[ was an architect](https://wagner.nyu.edu/files/faculty/cv/buery-richard-cv.pdf "undefined") of former Mayor Bill de Blasio’s Pre-K for All initiative. He has long argued that publicly funded childcare is key to combating inequality. “People can't go to work if they don't have a place for their kids to go,” he says. Buery, 54, expects Robin Hood to be pivotal to enacting that policy. “Philanthropy can play a really big role in supporting the small businesses trying to set up childcare and helping parents make good decisions. We can make sure those dollars land in communities that need them.” It’s not the only way Buery, a son of Panamanian immigrants who grew up in Brooklyn, is steering the group’s resources. Last year, the New York City nonprofit, which provided $140 million to roughly 300 local charities, dipped into its reserves to provide emergency grants for around 190 organizations amid federal cuts. It also helped launch a $2 million fund to rush $50 payments to 38,000 food-stamp recipients whose benefits lapsed during the government shutdown. Now Buery says he’s about to take his biggest swing—launching a $1 billion fundraising campaign to establish the 38-year-old organization’s first endowment. “We want that cushion,” he says. “That way, we don't have to then go out and raise one of those funds when there's a particularly acute emergency that requires an outside response.” ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"Article","@id":"https://time.com/collection/time100-philanthropy/2026/richard-r-buery-jr/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/collection/time100-philanthropy/2026/richard-r-buery-jr/"},"headline":"Richard R. Buery Jr.","datePublished":"2026-05-14T12:02:10.331Z","dateModified":"2026-05-14T12:02:10.607Z","description":"","url":"https://time.com/collection/time100-philanthropy/2026/richard-r-buery-jr/","keywords":["list","franchise","Accolades","Magazine","Philanthropy 2026"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt23b23d3f8c5af277/69fe3a008294dc1c78c78005/t100-philanthropy-Richard-Buery.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675%2Coffset-x0.00%2Coffset-y37.80&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Steve Friess","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/steve-friess/"}],"creator":"Steve Friess","articleSection":"TIME100","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt23b23d3f8c5af277/69fe3a008294dc1c78c78005/t100-philanthropy-Richard-Buery.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675%2Coffset-x0.00%2Coffset-y37.80&height=675","width":1200,"height":675}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/time100/","name":"TIME100"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/collection/time100-philanthropy/2026/richard-r-buery-jr/","name":"Richard R. Buery Jr."}}]}] ```