The report, Who Runs New York City?- An Analysis of Senior Management at NYC Agencies, is a demographic analysis of twenty-five Commissioners and their Executive Deputy Commissioners who manage New York City agencies.

1. Dec 2020
Who Runs New
York City?
An Analysis of Senior Management at NYC Agencies
Board Members
Andre Richardson
Kyle Ishmael
Arelis Hernandez
Katrell Lewis
Sadye Campoamor

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Board Summary
As the founding board of Build-the-Bench, we are guided by our vision of a government that
reflects its residents — those of varying experiences, skill sets, identities, and ethnicities. We understand
that representation matters, in its ability to add diverse voices to decision-making, as well as the impact
it has on our youth who benefit greatly from seeing themselves reflected in positions of power. The many,
varied, unique communities throughout New York City deserve to feel that they have a welcoming seat
at the table.
However, New York City, a majority minority city and one of the most diverse on the planet, despite its
large, talented, and diverse population, has embarrassingly failed to ensure that this diversity is reflected
among its top leadership. In fact, out of the 109 mayors to date, all have been men, and only one has
been non-white. And while electoral government reflects the popular will of the people — a will that has
obviously evolved over time and advanced with the liberalization of hearts and minds — elected leaders
have the responsibility to build a government that closely reflects and represents all. In order to do so,
elected officials must commit to advancing more people of color to leadership roles throughout every
level of government.
Thus, it is our mission as an organization to bridge the gap between government and the
industries in which our communities often lend their talents. Oftentimes, young professionals —
especially those of color — find themselves outside of the world of government and politics. Whether it
be a lack of financial access, a cultural disconnect, or the pressure from the previous generation to seek
more lucrative careers, an interest in the world around us does not always translate into seeking a
professional career in public service. At Build-the-Bench, we have challenged ourselves to challenge
our peers to step outside of the traditional barriers that often prevent more people of color from
engaging in government. We see it as our duty to help our community to see the value they bring to
public service, no matter their current profession.
As vital as it is, however, to convince young professionals of color of their value to public service, we
must also ensure we are holding government accountable in their responsibility to make space for our
communities. It is for that reason that we issue the following report, Who Runs New York City? An
Analysis of Senior Management at NYC Agencies, in an effort to highlight where our leaders have
fallen short in the critical responsibility of creating a government for the people, by the people, and —
we’d argue, most importantly — of the people.
It is our hope that as the many candidates for the various New York City elected offices begin to make
their case to over 8 million New Yorkers, that each will review and internalize the findings of this report,
and pledge to ensure a similar report need not ever be written about New York City government ever
again.

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In late 2019, a group of government and political practitioners recognized that in order to advance
systemic public policy changes, we must empower a new generation of civic-minded individuals and, as
such, Build-the-Bench was founded. Build-the-Bench is a network of professionals who are creating
a new ecosystem for people of color to organize and mobilize in New York. We believe we are in
the midst of a political evolution, and that together, we can create new ways of governing in New
York that invites more people of color to gather, talk, teach and build.
As governments seek to be responsive to the public’s demands for change, it is vital that new and
emerging leaders from all walks of life find the value in engaging in the political process, and that they
are fully equipped with the access necessary to do so.
Build-the-Bench asks that young professionals from various fields and experiences recognize that their
unique skills are transferable to government and politics; and that those in positions of power see the
value our communities bring to the table — whether or not those paths are traditional. We reject the old
notion that some of us just “don’t do politics,” and instead encourage each of us to bring our whole selves
to the decision-making table in order to engage in the process of creating public policy that far too often
disproportionately impacts people of color.
Our commitment to empowering a new generation of government leaders led us to evaluate the
current ethnic makeup of New York City government officials. We evaluated the demographics of
twenty-five Commissioners and their Executive Deputy Commissioners who manage New York City
agencies. For the purposes of this analysis, when we mention Executive Deputy Commissioner we are
referring to the second senior position within the agency.
Black Representation:
Our evaluation and analysis of these twenty-five NYC agencies finds that Black women are
disproportionately underrepresented in the highest levels of management. At the time of research, this
report found that Black women are represented in just one Commissioner-level position. The agency
leader is New York City Department of Housing Preservation Development (HPD) Commissioner Louise
Carroll; though while drafting this report, the Mayor promoted Melanie Hartzog, Director of Office of
Management and Budget (OMB), to a Deputy Mayor position. This promotion of Director Hartzog is the
first time a Black woman was promoted to Deputy Mayor under the Mayor’s tenure. Similarly, this report
found that Black women are represented at just three of the twenty-five agencies in the second most
senior position within the department. Baaba Halm serves as the Executive Deputy Commissioner at
HPD; and, in the absence of a typical second-in-command, two black women, Deputy Commissioner of
Juvenile Operations Gineen Gray and Deputy Commissioner of Adult Operations Sharun Goodwin, serve
in lateral positions at the Department of Probation (DOP). The Department of Citywide Administrative
Services (DCAS) has a similar dual Executive Deputy Commissioner structure and Dawn M. Pinnock
serves as one of the agencies Executive Deputy Commissioners.

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Currently, four Black men serve as
Commissioners: the Office of Management and
Budget’s (OMB) Jacques Jiha, the Law
Department’s (Law) James E. Johnson, the
Department of Parks & Recreation’s (Parks)
Mitchell J. Silver, and the Department of Small
Business Services’ (SBS) Jonnel Doris. Black
men comprised of three positions within the
number two role at these agencies: Quintin
Haynes at the Department of Citywide
Administrative Services (DCAS) serves in a dual
Executive Deputy Commissioner position alongside Dawn M. Pinnock, Donald Conyers as First Deputy
Chancellor at the Department of Education (DOE), and Kenneth Knuckles serves as Vice Chairman of
the City Planning Commission.
Latinx Representation:
There are currently five Latinas serving as Commissioners: Lorraine Cortés-Vázquez at the Department
for the Aging (DFTA), Lisette Camilo at the Department of Citywide Administrative Services (DCAS),
Lorelei Salas at the Department of Consumer and Worker Protection (DCWP), Marisa Lago serves as
the Mayoral appointed Chairperson of the City Planning Commission (CPC), and Ana M. Bermúdez at
the Department of Probation (DOP). Only one Latina serves as the second most senior official, and that
is Sandra Abeles at the Department of Consumer and Worker Protection (DCWP).
Latino men are represented in two Commissioner positions: the Chancellor of the Department of
Education (DOE) Richard A. Carranza and Gonzalo Casals of the Department of Cultural Affairs (DCLA).
Our analysis concluded that zero Latino men serve as a deputy executive of any of the twenty-
five agencies.
Deputy Executive Commissioners:
Although the combination of white men and white women hold eleven Commissioner positions,
the same racial demographic makes up seventeen of the twenty-eight agencies or 60% of the
roles. The Executive Deputy Commissioner positions represent twenty-eight positions although we
reviewed twenty-five agencies because of dual Executive Deputy Commissioner role at the Department
of Citywide Administrative Services (DCAS) and the tri- Executive Deputy Commissioner role at
Department of Probation (DOP)
Black men comprised roughly 11.1% of New York City’s
population but represented 16% of the Commissioners
this is compared to the larger Black women population of
roughly 13% but only represented 4% of the
Commissioner positions. Collectively, Black men and Black
women are represented in only 6 NYC agencies as the
Executive Commissioner position.

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Conclusion:
In the coming weeks, the Build-the-Bench
team will publicly release our "Commit to
Diversity" campaign. The campaign will seek
to engage the 2021 municipal candidates to
ensure they are committed to reflect diversity
within their respective offices and the city
agencies. We understand, public policies
impacting our communities and the network
are debated and implemented within the city
agencies. As such, Build-the-Bench will
EDUCATE our network on candidates who
commit to our diversity campaign, we will
ADVOCATE for Black and LatinX leaders to
be in the room where public policy decisions
are made, and lastly, we will CULTIVATE
those Black and LatinX leaders through
recruitment.
0
5
10
15
20
Commiss. Exec Deputy
Who Runs New York City
Black Latinx White
Build-the-Bench conducted an analysis of the following departments: Administration for Children's Services (ACS), Department for
the Aging (DFTA), Department of Buildings (DOB), Department of Citywide Administrative Services (DCAS), Department of
Consumer and Worker Protection (DCWP), Department of Cultural Affairs (DCLA), Department of Design & Construction (DDC),
Department of Education (DOE), New York City Emergency Management (NYCEM), Department of Environmental Protection
(DEP), Department of Finance (DOF), Department of Health & Mental Hygiene (DOHMH), Department of Homeless Services (DHS),
Department of Housing Preservation & Development (HPD), Human Resources Administration (HRA), Department of Investigation
(DOI), Law Department (Law), Department of Parks & Recreation (Parks), City Planning Commission (CPC), Department of
Probation (DOP), Department of Sanitation (DSNY), Department of Small Business Services (SBS), Department of Transportation
(DOT), Department of Youth & Community Development (DYCD), Office of Management and Budget (OMB), New York City
Economic Development Corporation, and the New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA). Our analysis does not include senior
positions within the Mayor’s office, such as the Mayor's Office to End Domestic and Gender-Based Violence, Mayor's Office of
Media and Entertainment, Mayor’s Office of Criminal Justice, etc.

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Educate:
Building insight around public policy and government that directly
impacts communities of color.
Advocate:
Connecting those in power with thought-leaders throughout our
communities who are developing the policies best for us.
Cultivate:
Leaders who embody the cultural connections that people of color
must be empowered to bring to the political and governing table.