NYCHA Employee Receives Public Service Award
Denise Guess, Administrative Community Relations Specialist in the Resident Engagement Department, was honored on December 11 with the prestigious 2019 Isaac Liberman Public Service Award. Sponsored by The Hundred Year Association of New York, comprising companies, religious institutions, and non-profit organizations that are over 100 years old, the award has been presented to outstanding New York City civil service employees since 1958.
“Denise’s ability to communicate and collaborate with colleagues across departments led to unprecedented success in engaging residents and achieving her agency goals,” said Dr. Mark Cox, Director of Organizational and Executive Development at the NYC Department of Citywide Administrative Services, as he presented her the award at a ceremony at One Police Plaza.
Ms. Guess, who was nominated by Tischelle George, Deputy Director of the Resident Engagement Department, has worked at NYCHA for 14 years, the last four as Manager of the Citywide Initiatives unit in Resident Engagement. In that role, she manages a team of 12 Community Coordinators and Associates that engages residents on initiatives spearheaded by NYCHA, sister City agencies, and non-profit organizations. This is done through direct outreach and communication with residents; meetings to solicit resident feedback via surveys, focus groups, and other methods; and dissemination of information to promote education, awareness, and community involvement amongst NYCHA residents.
At the same ceremony, Brandon Davidson, son of Eric Davidson, paint supervisor at NYCHA, was awarded an E. Virgil Conway College Scholar Award, a scholarship named after a former MTA chair that is given each year to a child of a City employee. Brandon is a member of the Life for Gina Foundation, a pediatric cancer-awareness organization. He has also participated in many other volunteer and civic activities, including Trick or Vote, a non-partisan voting initiative on Halloween, and Silly Socks for Smiles, where he collected and donated socks for children undergoing medical treatment at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center. Brandon graduated from South Side High School and is currently a first-year student at Cornell University.
