Celebrating Women’s History Month
Every March, the country marks Women’s History Month by honoring the contributions women have made to the United States. This year, we close the month by highlighting some of NYCHA’s women leaders whose daily contributions serve residents, staff, and the Authority as they help lead efforts to transform the agency. Read on to learn about their work and their advice to future women leaders. Their advice can benefit all employees, not only during Women’s History Month but also throughout the year as we think about our individual roles and careers and how to collectively strengthen NYCHA and better serve our residents.
Yvette Andino, Director for Employee Engagement
What do you do at NYCHA? I am the Director for Employee Engagement and my job is to engage NYCHA staff about the various NYCHA initiatives. That means communicating with all NYCHA employees internally by hosting in-person meetings, focus groups, and using different communication tools to strengthen support and their understanding of NYCHA’s Transformation Plan and how it relates to their everyday work life.
What do you like most about your job? I enjoy meeting and talking to staff about the various changes and programs that impact their day-to-day jobs and how we can work together to transform NYCHA and to empower staff to do their best even in trying times such as this last year. Every NYCHA employee serves an important role – from our Caretakers who work tirelessly to maintain our properties for our residents to our Electricians who keep the lights working. We all add value to the organization.
What advice do you have for future women leaders in your field? I am a proud product of NYCHA – born and raised. It is not where you come from; walk with confidence and remember that no one succeeds alone. Pay it forward and uplift your fellow women colleagues, stay true to your passion, work hard, be honest and transparent, and you will command and receive respect.
Sylvia Aude, Vice President for Public Housing Tenancy Administration
What do you do at NYCHA? I am the Vice President of Public Housing Tenancy Administration. My teams and I provide strategic guidance and oversight on public housing waitlist management and applications; operationalize program policy; oversee lease enforcement activities; and manage the implementation of key initiatives to improve service delivery and optimize efficiencies.
I’ve held many positions in my NYCHA career that have prepared me for this role. I am so grateful for all the growth opportunities NYCHA has offered me throughout the last 11 years. It has helped me strengthen my love for this industry and see the impact that the work that we do has on our residents and staff.
What do you like most about your job? I am a problem solver at heart and so this job really lets me use those skills on a daily basis!
Our focus has been to alleviate the administrative burden on property management staff and ensure consistency in our service delivery so that they can focus on meaningful engagement with our residents. We have been working to make more transactions available online for our residents and leveraging technology to use more automation.
I am fortunate to have a wonderful team. We are doing important work at NYCHA as it undergoes a transformation. We’re on way to a better NYCHA and it’s really exciting!
What advice do you have for future women leaders in your field? My advice would be for anyone – look for opportunities to improve everything around you… and speak up! If you’re invited to a meeting, there is a reason for that. Your experience and opinion matters. Don’t be afraid to make a recommendation or propose a different approach – your ideas could help reach a solution!
Lisa Bova-Hiatt, Executive Vice President of Legal Affairs and General Counsel
What do you do at NYCHA? I am NYCHA’s General Counsel.
What do you like most about your job? There is so much to love about being NYCHA’s General Counsel. Every day is filled with interesting and sometimes novel legal issues. I feel fortunate to be working at NYCHA during this time of transformation; the Chair has asked us to reimagine what we do and how we do it — which is both a challenging and exciting task. Additionally, I am super fortunate to work with incredibly smart, dedicated public servants. The work we do has a direct impact on the lives of so many New Yorkers.
What advice do you have for future women leaders in your field? There is no substitute for hard work, dedication, and a positive attitude — if you can imagine it, you can absolutely achieve it!
Ukah Busgith, Senior Director for Family Partnerships/Acting EVP for Community Engagement & Partnerships
What do you do at NYCHA? I’m the Senior Director for NYCHA’s Family Partnerships Department. Family Partnerships connects residents to critical services and implements programs and policies that support and enhance household stability, tenancy, individual advancement, and aging-in-place. I manage partnerships with external providers and City agencies offering youth, senior, and social service programs. I serve as program liaison to all community business organizations operating in over 400 NYCHA community facilities (senior centers, community centers, child care centers, health clinics, etc.).
What do you like most about your job? My job affords me the opportunity to make a positive impact on the lives of many people throughout the NYCHA community. I am able to develop strong working relationships with NYCHA residents, Resident Association leaders, community organizations, NYCHA staff, and City agencies to contribute to and guide the process of change in these communities. Over the years, I’ve developed so many great working relations that I find it easy to get support when I reach out.
I started my work history at NYCHA as a Community Assistant at Pink Houses almost 30 years ago. From that experience, I learned how important it is to build trust with the children, parents, teachers, and anyone else in the community in order to gain their support. I loved working with them and I was eager for new opportunities to contribute at a higher level. I then became the Director of the Tilden Community Center; there, my passion for working with people grew. To win over teenagers and help them remain engaged and do positive things was the highlight of my career. As I grew into higher levels of responsibility, I never forgot where and how it started – never forgot my roots. It laid the foundation for me to be where I am now. I saw each interaction as not only an opportunity to contribute but also to learn. As I grew within the NYCHA family, my passion and horizons expanded. NYCHA has become my extended family and it is my mission to serve this family. Whether it’s giving them books, connecting them to a tech program, a senior getting a tablet for the first time, seeing where residents got scholarships, and now helping seniors get vaccinated, it’s all so worth it.
What advice do you have for future women leaders in your field? Speak up more. Treat every interaction as an informal interview and as an opportunity to learn and grow. Step out of your comfort zone and don’t wait for something to fall in your lap – be creative. Take initiative; if you see a gap, step in to fill it – your suggestions can lead to a solution. This doesn’t mean you’ll always be compensated, but your actions will be recognized, and it will build your reputation.
Never leave things half done. It helps to build trust when you take all the steps to get to a solution. And whether the person likes the solution or not, your contribution is felt. Treasure the relationships you build and maintain them because it helps you get your work done and get support from the community.
Lauren Gray, Vice President for Compliance
What do you do at NYCHA? As the Vice President of the Compliance Department, I help oversee NYCHA’s compliance with federal, state, and local laws and regulations. I ensure the accuracy of NYCHA’s regulatory reporting and statements, and develop and maintain updated procedures that align with laws and regulations. I also promote compliance through communication and special initiatives, and ensure that NYCHA management and staff receive appropriate compliance training.
Over the last three months, one of the major initiatives I have spearheaded for NYCHA has been leading vaccine operations on NYCHA grounds. When the Governor and Mayor announced that New York City was expanding its deployment of pop-up vaccination sites to further strengthen fairness and equity in the vaccine distribution process, specifically at NYCHA developments, I jumped at the opportunity to work on such a rewarding and incredibly important project.
By making the COVID-19 vaccine available to our residents at specific NYCHA community and senior centers, we can ensure that residents in underserved neighborhoods have access to this life-saving resource. Over the last two months, I successfully oversaw 50-plus pop-up vaccine sites at NYCHA developments where over 15,000 New Yorkers have been vaccinated. My hope is to be able to get all NYCHA residents vaccinated at a location convenient to their home.
What do you like most about your job? Working in the compliance field gives me the opportunity to impact things far beyond a specific business or even a business bottom line. It takes a lot of work to design and implement an effective compliance program. It must start with senior management and work its way through the organization. There will be pushback from the business units, regulators, and some difficult times. Yet, there will be opportunities to understand that you have done a good job even when you may feel like you were a lone voice or were fighting against a far larger group than simply yourself.
What advice do you have for future women leaders in your field? Be a mentor! It’s critical for women in the workplace to have role models. It’s important to take the time to invest in future female leaders, no matter how packed my work schedule is. Being a mentor has allowed me to develop and broaden my own skills such as listening, compassion, and gaining trust. All of these attributes have enabled me to become a better leader and for my mentees to be more creative, diverse, and innovative.
Lillian Harris, Vice President for Leased Housing
What do you do at NYCHA? As the Vice President for Leased Housing, I oversee the day-to-day operations of a number of areas for NYCHA’s Housing Choice Voucher (HCV) Program. These areas include new admissions, new rentals and transfers, recertifications, lease renewals, housing quality standards, reasonable accommodations, data governance, and special projects. The HCV Program is a federally-funded program that provides rental assistance to eligible low-income families to find affordable housing in the private rental market.
What do you like most about your job? There are so many aspects of my job that I like. I truly love working with and supporting such a wonderful group of talented and dedicated professionals that are focused on providing affordable housing. I enjoy collaborating and partnering with stakeholders to provide services to applicants, voucher holders, and property owners. The most rewarding part of my job is knowing that I am helping to make a difference in the lives of New Yorkers.
What advice do you have for future women leaders in your field? Always know that you matter. Your ideas, your voice, and your contributions are important to the success of your team and to the success of the organization overall. Have confidence in your ability and talent; and do not be afraid of change. Growth can only happen with change.
Vilma Huertas, Special Advisor to the Chair
What do you do at NYCHA? After serving in various positions during my 26-year tenure, my current role is serving as Special Advisor to the Chair. In this role, I am responsible for Board management, including serving as advisor and their primary liaison to the NYCHA Executive Team and external stakeholders. Additionally, I am charged with leading the Office of the Corporate Secretary (which includes the Office of Impartial Hearings, Calendar and Documents Unit, and Board Logistics Unit) and the Department of Internal Audit and Assessment. My responsibilities also include executing any special initiatives, as directed by the Chair.
What do you like most about your job? It offers an opportunity to serve in carrying out NYCHA’s mission. In doing so, it also affords an opportunity to interact with the dedicated NYCHA team serving throughout many departments.
What advice do you have for future women leaders in your field? Always lead by example, mentor others, and be supportive and collaborative with your colleagues. Leave your comfort level and engage in personal development, learning as much as you can. It will not only allow you to be as helpful as you can, but you will also develop skills that can lead to unforeseen future opportunities.
Kerri Jew, Executive Vice President & Chief Administrative Officer
What do you do at NYCHA? I am the Executive Vice President and Chief Administrative Officer, which means that I oversee several of the NYCHA departments that support the work of our colleagues: Human Resources, Employee Engagement, General Services, Real Estate Services, Customer Contact Center, and Customer Operations. While most of the Administration Departments do not provide direct services to NYCHA’s residents (with the exception of CCC and Customer Operations), the services we provide are critical to providing the infrastructure and support our colleagues who provide direct services to NYCHA’s residents need in order to get their jobs done effectively and efficiently.
What do you like most about your job? I love that my job gives me the opportunity to work with all departments, at all levels, to solve problems. I have always enjoyed working with people, understanding what their needs are, whether they are professional needs or personal needs, and trying to figure out how to meet those needs.
What advice do you have for future women leaders in your field? Don’t be afraid to make the hard decisions, to voice your opinion! Early on in my career as a civil rights litigator at the City’s Law Department (Corporation Counsel), I learned that there are many paths to a goal. So, what’s important is not the path you choose to reach a goal, but rather to stick with a path that you know will get you to the goal. Have confidence to go down the path that you view as the best.
Vlada Kenniff, Vice President of Energy & Sustainability
What do you do at NYCHA? I advise, develop, and work with my team to put in place energy and sustainability programs that make NYCHA communities healthier and cleaner.
What do you like most about your job? When my team is successful, our impact is so big – we get to help so many families.
What advice do you have for future women leaders in your field? Find your passion. Surround yourself with a great team. Be prepared to always learn.
Joey Koch, Chief of Staff
What do you do at NYCHA? I’m Chief of Staff. I’m involved in everything, in all of the major decisions and projects at NYCHA. I help manage the day-to-day operation of the Chair’s Office and provide direct support to the Chair, counseling him on matters involving planning and the execution of policies at the Authority. I also act as a liaison to our external partners.
What do you like most about your job? Every day is different, and there are new challenges and problems to solve. It’s exciting to try to solve problems that affect people’s lives.
What advice do you have for future women leaders in your field? Ask questions and speak your mind. It’s important for women to know that their opinion matters and it’s okay to ask questions about what’s going on. If they have an opinion on what’s in front of them, they should always feel comfortable to give it. I think that’s really important.
Annika Lescott, Executive Vice President & Chief Financial Officer
What do you do at NYCHA? As the Chief Financial Officer, I am responsible for creating the Authority’s $4 billion operating budget, producing a clean annual financial statement, tracking cash flow, and managing our investment strategy. My job is to provide strong financial analyses and recommendations so that the Chair can make the best possible decision on the use of available resources to improve the quality of life for our residents. Recently, I have led the charge to strengthen our budgeting process and train Property Managers to better understand budgeting and make more local decisions about funding needs.
What do you like most about your job? I am a native New Yorker from a working-class background. I enjoy working hard every day in support of NYCHA residents and my community.
What advice do you have for future women leaders in your field? Be the boss, mentor, and leader that you wish you had.
Lakesha Miller, Executive Vice President for Leased Housing
What do you do at NYCHA? As the Executive Vice President for Leased Housing, I administer the country’s largest Housing Choice Voucher Program (aka Section 8).
What do you like most about your job? I enjoy the process of incorporating HUD regulations into practices that enable maximum service to low-income households. For a program of our size, serving approximately 88,000 households, this is not always black and white. Finding resolution to the gray areas is a challenge that keeps you fresh.
What advice do you have for future women leaders in your field? Never stop exploring the vast world of affordable housing. There is so much to do and many households to serve. Along the way, you may not receive many words of thanks, and that is okay. Always know that you are playing a part in balancing someone’s life by making housing affordable, an essential need for low-income households.
Michele Moore, Director for Recovery & Resilience
What do you do at NYCHA? I am the interface between project managers/contractors and NYCHA staff to get projects executed. On a regular basis, I am helping to find solutions to field conditions and funding shortages, and looking for creative ways to get projects back on schedule when we hit bumps on the road. Working with a fixed pot of funding, we need to get all the FEMA requirements for the Sandy Recovery projects built, and we do not have the ability to go back to FEMA for more funding. On a daily basis, I am doing my best to keep our projects moving along to completion and staying within budget.
What do you like most about your job? Every day is different; that is what keeps it exciting. One day I am in Teams meetings from morning until night talking through issues impacting our work and other days I am out in the field looking at the fruits of our labors and seeing progress on hundreds of millions of dollars of construction underway. Overseeing a program like the Sandy Recovery Program also allows me to work on a different side of the spectrum, focusing on resident engagement and communication, stakeholder management, and a pre-apprenticeship training program that we started from scratch to meet the needs of residents looking to work on Sandy Recovery construction jobs. Seeing both sides of these projects – from the contractors’ perspective and from our clients, the residents of these NYCHA campuses – drives me to look for common-sense solutions to progress this work with as little disturbance to residents as possible, while ensuring we are allowing the contractors to do their best work.
What advice do you have for future women leaders in your field? Speak up and don’t be scared to push back if you do not agree with something. Your voice needs to be heard whether you have said the same thing a hundred times before or may be on the other side of a fence in your opinion. In a construction trailer full of men, sometimes having a woman’s perspective is the key to finding common-sense solutions that others may have overlooked. I often times encourage my staff who are women to keep pushing on things they feel strongly on even if they were not heard the first time around.
Aden Munassar, Senior Advisor to the Executive Vice President of Capital Projects
What do you do at NYCHA? As Senior Advisor, I’m a partner to CPD’s Executive Vice President, Steve Lovci, and the hundreds of CPD staff members responsible for carrying out the Authority’s capital program. There are so many initiatives that are coming through Capital these days, and because of our long-term outlook, we position ourselves to lead the Authority on different fronts, including design, resilience, project delivery, energy and sustainability, among others. I support our connections with other NYCHA departments, government agencies, and private partners. I’m a connector within CPD too, troubleshooting division wide-issues, seeking out tools that make everyone’s jobs easier, making sure we leverage the efficiencies of any one unit so all of CPD benefits. I also provide a capital perspective on Authority-wide planning, such as that for the Preservation Trust.
What do you like most about your job? This is my second role at NYCHA. I came from Real Estate Development, project managing PACT transactions. Despite being in the workforce for 10 years, that was the first job I really loved. Responsibility for a transaction, delivering transformational results for NYCHA residents, working with a phenomenal group of people – I was very grateful for that experience and never thought I could get so lucky twice. And at CPD, I have! In some ways, I feel this role provides me the opportunity to have an even greater impact. With the executive team at CPD, I contribute to portfolio-wide strategy and provide input and advice that could touch every single development at NYCHA. Another thing I enjoy is supporting staff engagement, which was new for me. I happen to be in a leadership role where I’m not actually directing people (as a supervisor). It has forced me to reflect more deeply on how I keep staff engaged and feel supported, how I make sure folks are heard, their ideas considered. I appreciate that it allows me to lean into my soft skills like creativity, persuasion, collaboration, etc.
What advice do you have for future women leaders in your field? The best thing I learned from the worst job I ever had (where I was managed by a women leader!) was learning to take blunt criticism calmly and remaining open to learning despite feeling defensive. Sometimes it was as simple as taking a deep breath and reminding myself why I was there. I believe that confidence and learning to push away defensiveness helps me to be perceived as a strong leader who wants to get input and continuously improve; it’s also made me better at giving feedback. I would encourage other future women leaders to practice those skills.
Josephine Russo, Chief of Staff to the General Manager
What do you do at NYCHA? I serve as the Chief of Staff to the General Manager. I work to support the GM, manage his schedule, ensure he is receiving updated information from senior executives to help facilitate the decision-making process. I act as the GM’s traffic controller, sounding board, and trusted advisor.
What do you like most about your job? I love that the Chief of Staff position allows me to capitalize on the skills and institutional knowledge I have gained in my privileged career at NYCHA. I am most excited to implement my skills to help provide solutions to address the most urgent issues critical to our residents, expediting apartment and building repairs. It’s extremely rewarding to be in a position where you can help make decisions that will greatly improve the lives of 162,721 families.
What advice do you have for future women leaders in your field? Work hard, be kind, own your strengths, and don’t take no for an answer!
Sideya Sherman, Executive Vice President for Community Engagement & Partnerships, Executive Director of the City’s Taskforce on Racial Inclusion and Equity
What do you do at NYCHA? I am Executive Vice President for Community Engagement & Partnership. I oversee six departments — REES, Resident Engagement, Health Initiatives, Community Development, Family Partnerships, and Office of Public-Private Partnerships — all focused on connecting residents to critical services and engaging partners and residents around community priorities. Presently, I am additionally serving as Executive Director of the City’s Taskforce on Racial Inclusion and Equity. The Taskforce was convened at the height of the pandemic to address the disparities experienced by communities of color and to ensure the neighborhoods hit hardest by COVID-19 come back stronger. Over 80 percent of NYCHA residents live within the Taskforce’s 33 hardest-hit communities.
What do you like most about your job? Every day at NYCHA, I have the opportunity to positively impact the lives of my fellow New Yorkers. Whether this is intervening on behalf of a tenant with special needs, connecting residents to new jobs or business opportunities, or prioritizing NYCHA residents within City initiatives, there are opportunities to make meaningful change at both system and individual level. All of this would not be possible without our incredible CEP team, who center residents in their work and bring their expertise, local knowledge, and lived experience to the table in all that we do. I’m grateful to work alongside such a dedicated group of professionals.
What advice do you have for future women leaders in your field? Be your authentic self. Your unique perspective is valuable, and it’s the reason why you’re “in the room.” Be confident when sharing ideas that may seem out of the box, and be an equally good listener, so you can effectively serve.
Joy Sinderbrand, Vice President for Recovery & Resilience
What do you do at NYCHA? I manage the Recovery and Resilience team that is implementing the Superstorm Sandy repairs and the resilience retrofits at over 200 buildings funded by disaster recovery funds. The structure and infrastructure improvements that we’re installing are at the forefront of climate change mitigation in New York City, and other agencies are looking to NYCHA to create the policies and codes of the future.
What do you like most about your job? Resilience is new for NYCHA and new for New Yorkers. The work is based in Capital Projects, but we get the chance to collaborate with so many other departments to ensure the investment will be successful – Operations, ESD, Heating, MRST, OEM, IT, HR, Budget, Law, Intergov, and Communications – so I use every part of my brain. Also, R+R has been a place to pilot new ideas. We used a cloud-based project management and invoice processing software that’s now been adopted by CPD. R+R also expanded stakeholder communication strategies to include a frequently updated web site, live and Zoom presentations, flyers, vinyl banners, QR codes so residents can vote their design preferences, a hotline, email, and regular email construction updates to stakeholders.
What advice do you have for future women leaders in your field? Construction and Program Management is a space for continuous improvement and can always use good leaders and new ways of thinking. Success requires not just technical expertise but also big picture thinking, multiple hat wearing, and policy and personality navigation.
Eva Trimble, Executive Vice President for Strategy & Innovation
What do you do at NYCHA? I am charged with coordinating work with our Federal Monitor and oversight partners, including leading the Transformation Planning efforts.
What do you like most about your job? I love thinking of ways to make government work better for people, and here at NYCHA I get to spend my time helping transform how NYCHA does business to better deliver services to residents. I get to work with every part of the organization and see the incredible staff who care about the work we do, and I also get to speak with residents and learn about their experiences.
What advice do you have for future women leaders in your field? Honestly, this advice is for women, men, and no matter how you identify. It doesn’t matter if you think you’re right and have all the answers if you can’t get anyone to follow you. Leadership involves understanding the loyalties and priorities of all stakeholders and finding the spot where you can get everyone aligned on purpose. Some people see compromise only through the lens of what you give up in the negotiation, but it’s really about the end result – an agreement among differing parties. That’s always a win to me.
Nicole Van Gendt, Vice President of Human Resources
What do you do at NYCHA? I am the Vice President of Human Resources. I oversee hiring and employment, labor relations, benefits, and training.
What do you like most about your job? Working with smart, committed people to solve problems.
What advice do you have for future women leaders in your field? Take on side projects that you’re interested in even if it’s not directly in your area of expertise, with your supervisor’s approval, and continue to expand your knowledge and skill set.
