Courtney & Adam – Class of 2024
Courtney Bryan and Adam Durrett – Class of 2024 – came into Greater NY with a shared passion for organizational transformation. Bryan had recently become CEO of the Center for Justice Innovation (CJI), and Durrett was winding down a 15-year career in private equity, where he built deep experience advising CEOs on operational change and leadership decision-making. From the outset, their Partnership met Bryan’s need for an operational thought partner with Durrett’s instinct to focus relentlessly on leadership bandwidth.
CJI works toward broad reform of the criminal justice system through a unique mix of youth justice, community safety, and supervised release programs, as well as advocacy and expert assistance. The organization works with both courts and communities to tackle challenges in the justice system and conducts independent research on issues and effective solutions. CJI’s programs serve thousands of New Yorkers annually, and the organization has grown to work with hundreds of jurisdictions across the nation.
When her Greater NY Partnership began, Bryan was in the midst of taking over from CJI’s founding executive director and managing a period of massive growth that doubled CJI’s revenues and staff over five years. The organization was also separating from its longtime fiscal sponsor.
“We’d gone from upstart to institution,” says Bryan. “I needed to create infrastructure but didn’t want us to lose our spirit of innovation and become a lumbering social service giant.”
Durrett remembers being struck by the scope of Bryan's leadership from the outset. “Her to-do list seemed endless. Coming out of our first conversations, my big priority was protecting Courtney’s time,” he says.
Over two years of Greater NY Partnership, Bryan and Durrett focused on questions of strategy and structure at scale. They talked through decisions on team composition, and for several months Durrett brought his perspective on the role of chief of staff—acting as a sounding board as Bryan scoped, hired, and managed a position designed to lighten her leadership load.
“Adam was laser-focused on my bandwidth,” says Bryan. “His advice pushed me to leverage each team member without limiting them. He gave me the affirmation to focus on what really matters.”
“This has been such a fun partnership for me,” says Durrett. “CJI is the best kind of portfolio company. There is a terrific executive at the helm in Courtney. It was spinning out of one structure and into another and needed to stand up as a new, independent thing. There was a lot of hard work that needed to be done, but the direction CJI was going was clear.”
“Greater NY nailed it by matching me with Adam,” adds Bryan. “His curiosity and experience across organizations meant he always had a relevant perspective. He’s become my finance bro friend.”
“Leadership is universal,” says Durrett. “Greater NY was my first experience in seeing inside a nonprofit, and from what I saw I would put it up there with any for-profit business in terms of high-quality management.”
Greater NY connects leaders in strategic service to the people of New York City. For Bryan and Durrett, the Greater NY Partnership created a rare space to think about the changing needs of an organization and the best use of leadership time. Drawing on perspectives from the nonprofit and private sectors, they talked through the transformation of an organization that makes a difference in the experience and trajectory of New Yorkers navigating the justice system.