NYCHA Launches First-Ever Leadership Academy for Staff 

NYCHA’s first-ever mentoring program for staff, the Coaching and Mentoring Leadership Academy, is now up and running; the pilot program began on January 31 and will run for 16 weeks. It will provide participants with an opportunity to enhance their leadership and management skills through training and mentorship.  

Twenty-six supervisory staff from across NYCHA with diverse leadership experiences will mentor 26 other staff to help them fulfill their career potential at the Authority through in-person sessions, direct one-on-one mentoring, and virtual training sessions through NYCHA University.  

“The learning opportunities, experiences, and online content were carefully curated to be foundational and leveled up through the progression of the 16-week program,” said Cherry McCutchen, NYCHA’s Director of Learning and Development. “It was designed to focus on enhancing current job performance and highlighting career paths and growth.” 

The program initially targets property managers, assistant property managers, property maintenance supervisors, and assistant property maintenance supervisors, as well as supervisors of housing caretakers and groundkeepers.  

“I think this program is very necessary now because we have so many staff that have initiative to do their jobs and do them correctly – but a lot of them also feel unsupported,” said Yvette Andino, NYCHA’s Vice President for Employee Engagement. “This program is just a step in the right direction to provide our colleagues with the tools they need to be successful at NYCHA.”  

Academy participants will receive training and coaching in areas such as strategic communications, public speaking, crisis management, effective writing, customer service, and diversity and inclusion. They will also engage in activities that enhance their professional development and management skills.  

Rigoberto Charriez, a property maintenance supervisor at Mariners Harbor Houses who joined NYCHA 12 years ago as a caretaker, applied to be a mentee: “I applied to be part of the program to gain experience and because I thought it would be beneficial to my career.” Mr. Charriez also hopes to learn some new skills and expand his NYCHA network during the program.   

Vivian Sifontes is a property manager at Woodson Houses who started her NYCHA career 31 years ago as a secretary. She is one of the managers who was nominated to serve as a mentor for the program, and she is looking forward to sharing her vast experience with her mentee.  

“I’m hoping that whoever I mentor can really grasp and understand what housing really, truly is: the tenants, customer service, and the job itself,” Ms. Sifontes said. “Thirty-one years is a lot of years for me to be here. And something keeps bringing me back, so it has to be good!” 

NYCHA leadership, including interim Chief Executive Officer Lisa Bova-Hiatt, Chief Operating Officer Eva Trimble, and Deputy Chief Operating Officer Marvin Walton, spoke to participants at the academy’s launch, encouraging them to take advantage of the opportunity to learn from each other.   

“We plan to do a program evaluation [after the pilot program wraps up in June] and will determine if we’ll do a second cohort and maybe add additional titles,” said Ms. Andino.  

A “passing the torch” ceremony will be held in mid-June to recognize the staff who participated in the program.