Celebrating Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month: Meet Chief Administrative Officer Kerri Jew
As someone who relishes taking on a diversity of tasks, Kerri Jew welcomes a NYCHA job portfolio that can be “extremely varied.”
“I really like to do lots of different things at once,” Ms. Jew said about her responsibilities as Executive Vice President and Chief Administrative Officer. “I think it’s exciting and interesting to learn different subject areas. I can apply and grow my leadership skills by figuring out how to navigate the different skill sets that are needed to get the specific tasks done.”
The role of Chief Administrative Officer involves oversight of a wide range of NYCHA’s supporting operations, including human resources, employee engagement, Customer Contact call and walk-in centers, and fleet management and maintenance. In addition, the Chief Administrative Officer oversees the management of central office facilities, as well as the newly rebranded Office of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion.
“I like that a big part of my job is working with our employees and the services provided to our employees, but that I also work with departments which are resident-focused,” said Ms. Jew, who grew up on Long Island and has worked at the Authority since 2016.
Ms. Jew joined the NYCHA executive team after serving as Deputy Commissioner in the City’s Department of Small Business Services, where she oversaw the minority- and women-owned business enterprise (M/WBE) program. She previously served as Executive Director of the State’s M/WBE program. While her prior work with businesses allowed her to promote equity in City contracting opportunities, Ms. Jew came to NYCHA to help support services that are more closely connected with people.
“I really wanted to do something that was more directly impactful to individuals and their families,” she explained. “Every NYCHA employee I’ve met wants to do right by residents and is very committed to putting forth their best effort, and that’s really a testament to the people who work at NYCHA.”
Ms. Jew said a key focus of her duties is human resources-related issues, and NYCHA leadership has been steadfast in promoting the importance of diversity and equal opportunity for employees and residents. The Authority also seeks to find ways to leverage technology and automation to create new efficiencies for human resources management and other operations across the portfolio.
“We’ve embarked upon a huge project to introduce a human capital management system that’s really going to help HR improve efficiency in business processes, which will hopefully also translate to more intuitive interaction between our employees and HR,” she said.
NYCHA is also using technology to lead the way among City agencies in implementing GPS mapping tools for all of its agency vehicles, including horticultural equipment, allowing for improved tracking of vehicles in use, she noted.
Reflecting on some of her proudest achievements at NYCHA, Ms. Jew cites her assistance with the agency’s successful transition to remote work for non-frontline employees and the subsequent return to office efforts in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
“We had the ability to, on a dime, go from completely working in the office to working remotely during the onset of COVID,” she recalled. “Then, getting everyone back to the office was also a big project, as well as administering the vaccination program.”
As NYCHA celebrates Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month in May, Ms. Jew, a Chinese American, said she is proud when residents and employees see her and other executive leaders as being representative of their community at NYCHA.
“It’s fantastic that NYCHA leadership has always been quite diverse, and that our staff can see that people from different backgrounds are in various leadership roles,” she said. “It really shows that as an employer whose mission is to provide housing, we’re also able to provide a foundation, stability, and professional growth that people need.”
