Age: 33
Occupation: Senior Research Fellow and Manager at the NYU Brennan Center for Justice’s Elections and Government Program
Education: Stanford University (B.A.), Columbia University (M.P.A), Oxford University (PhD)
Maya Kornberg has devoted her career to researching how to make democracy healthier. A political scientist by training, her academic work has focused on civic engagement, democratic governance, and legislative processes. She is now a researcher at the Brennan Center for Justice, where she works on legislative reform, misinformation, and money in politics. Kornberg’s campaign emphasizes increasing civic engagement through initiatives like participatory budgeting and digital platforms that allow citizens to play an active role in legislation. Her platform also calls for greater investment in police accountability and oversight. She expressed full support for Citizens Union’s reform agenda in her questionnaire responses. Beyond reform, her campaign prioritizes improving constituent services to better meet community needs. When asked about Super PAC spending in her favor—particularly in light of her stance on money in politics—Kornberg told CU she has explicitly requested that there be no outside, big-money involvement in the race and praised the city’s small-dollar donation matching program. Citizens Union believes Kornberg’s academic and professional background makes her uniquely equipped to pursue needed reform in the City Council. Her candidacy brings a fresh, analytical perspective to the legislative process. For these reasons, Citizens Union prefers her in this race.
