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NYCHA Now
Exceptional Colleagues July 2023 

Meet the Coaching and Mentoring Leadership Academy Participants

Nii Akrofi Smart-Abbey

In January 2023, NYCHA launched its first-ever Coaching and Mentoring Leadership Academy (CMLA). Participants in the 16-week program received training and coaching in areas such as strategic communications and crisis management, and they had the opportunity to enhance their leadership and management skills through mentorship.       

Read on to learn more about a few of the mentors and mentees participating in the Leadership Academy.         

Resident Buildings Superintendent Rigoberto Charriez and Chief of the CCTV Unit Paul Silvers    

Rigoberto Charriez is a Resident Buildings Superintendent at Richmond Terrace in Staten Island

Rigoberto Charriez has been with NYCHA for 12 years. He started his career at the Authority as a Caretaker J, rising through the ranks to his current position as Resident Buildings Superintendent at Richmond Terrace in Staten Island. He previously served as Resident Buildings Superintendent at Berry Houses (also on Staten Island).   

Mr. Charriez said he’s guided by a Mark Twain quote, “The secret to getting ahead is getting started,” and he joined the CMLA to further his knowledge and skillset as well as to network.  

“The CMLA program was an amazing opportunity to get out of our comfort zone of our circle of colleagues and meet and learn from the many different and talented individuals in the Authority you wouldn’t normally get to encounter on a daily basis,” said Mr. Charriez. “I believe that anyone involved brought a different view and set of skills to the table that we all collectively learned from, and that made us all better leaders at the end of the program.” 

Paul Silvers is the Chief of the CCTV Unit

Paul Silvers started his NYCHA career 30 years ago as a Maintenance Worker. He served in that position for six years while working on his Heating Plant Technician civil service certification. He later served as an Assistant Resident Buildings Superintendent for three years, and then as a Resident Buildings Superintendent for 17 years. Over the past four years, Mr. Silvers has been the Chief of the CCTV Unit in NYCHA’s Office of Safety and Security, overseeing and maintaining NYCHA’s portfolio of nearly 18,000 closed-circuit cameras and equipment.  

He joined the CMLA to help staff understand and learn workable concepts and skills based on his decades of experience at NYCHA.     

“The CMLA program was an opportunity to help others and ourselves through collaboration among mentors and mentees, and to experience how real the interaction among colleagues in the Housing Authority really is in a relaxed, more personal atmosphere,” said Mr. Silvers. “I learned a lot and took it all with me. I am already using what I learned on a daily basis at the job and in my personal life. I really admire Rosa Parks and live by one of her quotes, ‘We will fail when we fail to try.’ With my 30 years at NYCHA, I became a better mentor and person from the program.”