NYC PIT Pop Up Official Partners
The CUNY Public Interest Technology (PIT) Lab is a collaborative hub dedicated to advancing ethical, equitable, and community-driven approaches to technology across the City University of New York (CUNY) and the broader New York City ecosystem. Founded and directed by Rev. Dr. Kathleen Cumiskey, the Lab builds pathways for students, faculty, and community partners to engage with technology that serves the public good.
Through partnerships, credentialing initiatives, and experiential learning programs, the CUNY PIT Lab empowers participants to apply technology to real-world challenges in ways that center justice, inclusion, and accessibility. The Lab’s work spans critical AI literacy, civic data, open-source tools, and participatory design, positioning CUNY as a national leader in Public Interest Technology education and workforce development.
As the lead organizer of the NYC PIT Pop Up, the CUNY PIT Lab is transforming a public storefront in the Oculus into a dynamic, interactive space that brings technology, art, and civic engagement together. As the lead organizers and stewards of the space, the CUNY PIT Lab welcomes hands-on exhibits, live demos, and creative installations from students, nonprofits, artists, and technologists reimagining technology for equity and social impact.
The event reflects the Lab’s core mission: to make technology accessible, participatory, and responsive to community needs. By convening innovators from across sectors, the NYC PIT Pop Up celebrates the growing Public Interest Technology movement and highlights CUNY’s commitment to building a more just and inclusive digital future.
The mission of the CUNY Office of Research is to promote and support the research, scholarly, and creative pursuits of the CUNY community, to provide assurance to funding agencies and to the public that research at the University is conducted in accordance with the highest ethical standards, and to enhance technology commercialization, entrepreneurship, and economic development activities.
The goal of PIT @ CUNY is clear: To inspire the next generation of young technologists – including Engineers, Designers, Computer and Data Scientists, and others with an interest in leveraging technological knowledge – to pursue work in service of the public good.
BetaNYC is a civic organization dedicated to improving lives in New York through civic design, technology, and data. We believe that all New Yorkers should be able to access information and use technology as tools for public good. When communities are empowered with modern civic tools, residents can hold their government accountable while expanding their economic opportunities. We also partner with government agencies, local nonprofits, and civic actors — helping them adopt more transparent, equitable, and human-centered systems for the digital era.
For the NYC PIT Pop Up, BetaNYC collaborated with the CUNY PIT Lab on curation, mapping support, and civic tech engagement. We helped design interactive exhibits, supported hands-on data & mapping demos, and connected local technologists and community partners to the project.
Learn more about BetaNYC’s work: