Celebrating Black History Month  

Meet Annika Lescott-Martinez, NYCHA’s Chief Financial Officer 

Managing the funds of the nation’s largest public housing authority might seem daunting, but Annika Lescott-Martinez isn’t one to be intimidated.  

“I’m used to dealing with big numbers; big numbers don’t scare me,” stated Ms. Lescott-Martinez, NYCHA’s Chief Financial Officer and Executive Vice President of Finance. 

Her past experience includes overseeing the $40 billion budget of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), and she is now in charge of NYCHA’s $4 billion operating budget along with its $1 billion investment portfolio. But she noted that the size of the agency’s spending plan is not where the primary struggle lies.  

“The challenge is how do you ensure that the $4 billion stretches to the hundreds of properties that we have and to provide the services that our residents need,” explained Ms. Lescott-Martinez, who was appointed to her current role in February 2020. “The difficult part is ensuring that our limited funding helps to achieve our mission and goals as an agency.”  

And she pointed out that NYCHA residents and their families are at the root of those financial figures.  

“I’m not just looking at numbers; I’m looking at numbers that are connected to a household, to a family, to someone’s home; [there’s a] human aspect related to the data as well,” said Ms. Lescott-Martinez, who leads the financial planning and analysis, accounting, payroll, risk management, and investment activities of the Authority. “Numbers tell a story and they can help you make sound decisions; that’s how I’ve tried to approach the work that we do here.”  

A Brooklyn native, Ms. Lescott-Martinez was not always focused on numbers, as she studied international relations, politics, and Spanish literature in college. Her passion for affordable housing policy developed while working for the Local Initiatives Support Corporation (LISC), a community development financing nonprofit that works to connect communities with funding and resources. Growing up in the Flatbush neighborhood, Ms. Lescott-Martinez said she became more aware of gentrification and housing instability issues.  

“Whether or not you have a place to go home to – a safe, decent, and affordable home – that can dictate whether or not you can get to school, or whether you’re able to go to work, or whether you have the stability to pursue your dreams,” she said.  

After earning her Master of Public Administration degree from Columbia University, Ms. Lescott-Martinez served as a Presidential Management Fellow in the U.S. Office of Management and Budget, where she worked on non-partisan housing policy analysis, including HUD’s national budget and public housing policy nationwide, under the Obama and Trump administrations. When she came to NYCHA in December 2018 to serve as special advisor to the CFO, Ms. Lescott-Martinez recalled that it was a unique time in the Authority’s history, right before the signing of the HUD Agreement and the appointment of the Federal Monitor.  

“I believed that the best way to be useful to my community and my city was to take my nationwide public housing experience and expertise and apply it to help NYCHA in that tough moment,” she said.  

Since she was appointed CFO three years ago, she has been focused on effectively managing her team in the Finance Department and their work to make financial decisions that support residents’ quality of life. She takes pride in efforts such as developing a training program on financial management for property managers, meeting with resident leaders, getting the budget passed on time each year, as well as producing clean, award-winning financial audits and generally “elevating the finance function” at NYCHA.  

“I’m really proud of putting the residents first, of working really hard every day and demanding that my team works equally as hard to ensure we are using our resources effectively, efficiently, and equitably so that residents can be proud of where they call home,” she stated.      

Having risen to NYCHA executive leadership at a young age, Ms. Lescott-Martinez was recognized among the 2022 class of Crain’s New York Business 40 Under 40, which celebrates the most accomplished New York City-based business professionals under 40 years old. While the 34-year-old said she was “humbled to be recognized,” she noted that she is not driven by such accolades. 

“What matters to me is: do the residents think I’m doing a good job, do they feel heard, do the property managers feel supported,” she said. “It’s never been about external validation, but whether I am making a difference for families like mine.” 

The significance of her service to the NYCHA community is not lost on Ms. Lescott-Martinez, who is grateful for the opportunity to serve fellow New Yorkers of color and proud to be representative of the primarily Black and Brown demographic at NYCHA.  

“I’m honored to be able to serve my community and to hold this position that hopefully will help improve the lives of 400,000 New Yorkers; that, for me, is everything,” she said.  

Addressing her priorities for the new year, the CFO noted that the Authority is at a “really pivotal moment from a financial standpoint,” requiring NYCHA and its partners to continue seeking solutions for capital needs estimated at $40 billion and growing, while addressing pandemic-related funding shortfalls.  

“My goal is to be a good steward of the public funds and to try to make them stretch as far as they can,” she said.