Meet NYCHA Project Manager Sade Humphrey: A Journey of Service and Leadership at NYCHA

If you ever meet NYCHA Project Manager Sade Humphrey, you will immediately feel the sense of purpose and positivity she exudes. With 14 years of dedicated service under her belt, Ms. Humphrey’s journey from her very first position at NYCHA, as a Customer Contact Center (CCC) aide, to her role today as a highly respected NYCHA project manager, is a testament to her talent, drive, and commitment to public service.

“I started here straight out of college in 2010,” Ms. Humphrey said. “I realized pretty quickly that public service was where I belonged – it just felt like it fit me.”

At NYCHA’s CCC Walk-in Center in the Bronx, Ms. Humphrey developed a foundational understanding of Section 8 programs and public housing operations. Then, after a five-year stint as a Housing Assistant at Forest Houses – where she not only managed over 500 resident apartments but also trained new staff – she decided to pursue a master’s degree in public affairs and public administration at the Metropolitan College of New York. Her thesis, which focused on community initiatives within NYCHA, was an expression of her ambition to catalyze meaningful change here. “I picked up all the bits and pieces that I knew about NYCHA and put them together,” she said, “and then I wrote that thesis about them, including the positive changes that I hoped to be a part of making happen.”

After completing her master’s degree, Ms. Humphrey accepted a role in the Chief Operating Officer (COO)’s Office, as a Borough Liaison. “We dealt with some of the cases that came from the Mayor’s Office,” she said. The importance and centrality of the work there provided Ms. Humphrey with a bird’s-eye view of a wide range of the Authority’s challenges and successes and strengthened her desire to keep improving resident relations and operational processes at NYCHA.

Ms. Humphrey moved into her current role, as a Project Manager, in August 2023; in this new role, her passion for improving the Authority’s systems became clearer in her own understanding. “I began on the front lines, but it turns out that I really enjoyed doing work on the ‘back end’ too, to help make sure our processes flow well,” she said. As evidence of her skill on that back end, she is currently leading four sizable systems-related projects, including the design and implementation of a robust house-pump inspection process and the development of a strategic plan to support residents affected by elevator modernization work. Ms. Humphrey is also striving to refine the Authority’s standard procedures so that the protocols she is working to improve can be applied across NYCHA.

Humphrey’s supervisor, Ella Santos, appreciates Ms. Humphrey’s exceptional natural ability and dedication: “Sade has excelled tremendously in just the one year she’s been with us. She’s incredible. And the work she’s doing – it’s super important, and it plays a critical role in our overall operations.” Ms. Santos pointed to Ms. Humphrey’s vital role managing that House Pump Project effort, where Humphrey created an inspection process from scratch: “She is an outstanding project manager and leader. She is an expert at coordinating all the subject matter experts — and she makes sure that everything is executed flawlessly.”

Ms. Humphrey’s genuine enthusiasm for service resonates in her approach to her work as well as in her relationships with residents: “I just love doing this work for NYCHA, and I’m thrilled that it helps make people’s lives better.”

Looking ahead, Ms. Humphrey is eager to continue growing at the Authority, saying, “I want to get stronger in all my skills.”

Her supervisor Ms. Santos summed up Ms. Humphrey’s contributions and potential succinctly: “She is a big asset – both to this team and to NYCHA generally. We’re so excited to see all the incredible things she’s going to do.”

“I’m just happy to be part of the positive change that’s happening – for all of us,” Ms. Humphrey said about her belief in the power of service and NYCHA’s transformation efforts.