Black History Month Spotlight: Audrey Washington, Director of NYCHA’s Office of Public/Private Partnerships

Black History Month is a time to honor the people and traditions that helped shape our collective American history. While the month often highlights national figures, Audrey Washington’s heroes are closer to home. Her work as Director of NYCHA’s Office of Public Private-Partnerships (OPPP) was shaped by her mother and grandmother, whose lives modeled strength, perseverance, and a deep commitment to community. 

Ms. Washington has been with the Authority for more than five and a half years. She joined NYCHA as the Assistant Director for Financial Capability and Business Development in Resident Economic Empowerment and Sustainability (REES), drawing on over 20 years of experience in community development, affordable housing, and homeownership/financial education. In December 2023, she was appointed to her role at OPPP, where she helps strengthen partnerships and support residents and communities across NYCHA. 

Ms. Washington oversees and coordinates NYCHA’s community centers, including senior, daycare, and community centers managed by City partners. Her responsibilities include supporting repair escalations and stewarding NYCHA spaces leased to community-based organizations. She also helps lead strategic partnerships that bring direct benefits to residents, from in-kind donations to access to cultural institutions. Looking ahead, Ms. Washington is focused on expanding complimentary access for residents to plays, cultural events, city zoos and the aquarium, and sporting events and other resources and experiences residents have said they want more of. 

What Ms. Washington loves most about her work is the people. “The OPPP team that I work with are a really great group of people who make it easy to show up to work each day,” she said. She values the relationships she has built with residents and resident association leaders, City agencies, and partners, and many of the NYCHA entrepreneurs from her time at REES who still stay in touch with her. 

The values that show up in her work were modeled for her by her father, George Washington, who died in 2007, and her mother, Reverend Girdie B. Washington, and her grandmother, Blanche Sumpter. Her mother and grandmother passed away in 2024, but their lives and legacies continue to inform Ms. Washington’s work ethic and leadership. 

Black History Month reminds Ms. Washington of the rich culture and history of her mother and grandmother. Reverend Washington and Ms. Sumpter were from Saint Helena Island, South Carolina, a historic Gullah community. St. Helena is part of the Sea Islands, a chain of coastal barrier islands along South Carolina, Georgia, and Florida that developed in relative geographic isolation. This isolation allowed the Gullah people, who are descendants of enslaved Africans, to retain distinctive language, traditions, and cultural practices rooted in West and Central African heritage. 

Despite having only a sixth-grade education, Ms. Sumpter instilled the importance of education to her children and grandchildren. In search of greater opportunity, she relocated her family to Stamford, Connecticut, and later helped other family and friends do the same. In addition to working at the library, she was a dedicated community advocate, working closely with local leaders, the NAACP branch, a tenant association, Democratic clubs, and more. She volunteered more than 2,500 hours at her local hospital, soup kitchen, and homeless shelter.   

Ms. Washington recalled a story that reflects her grandmother’s strength and determination. After falling down on the street one day and breaking her shoulder, Ms. Sumpter picked herself up, boarded a bus, and made her way to the hospital on her own; that resilience left a permanent impression of how we have to push through, even in times of adversity. 

Ms. Washington’s mother followed a different – but equally impactful – path of service. Later in life, Reverend Washington, a social worker by profession, became the second woman ordained to the gospel ministry by the Seacoast Missionary Baptist Association of New Jersey in its more than 100-year history. She pursued higher education throughout her life, earning an associate degree, bachelor’s degree, master’s in social work from Fordham University, and a second master’s degree in theological studies.  

Alongside her ministry, Reverend Washington remained deeply committed to service and cultural preservation. She led presentations and lectures on St. Helena Island and Gullah history and spoke in Gullah dialect to help preserve the culture. 

“My mother and grandmother were very instrumental in my growth,” Ms. Washington said. “What they taught me has guided me both personally and professionally.  I stand on their shoulders and live by their example of being strong, phenomenal women. What I got from my grandmother and my mother was strength, perseverance, and a commitment to community.” 

For her, Black history is not only remembered during this month but is carried forward through the legacies of her mother and grandmother, role models who continue to guide her leadership and life. 

Featured photo caption: From left to right: Reverend Girdie B. Washington and Audrey Washington with her grandmother Blanche Sumpter (seated).