Recent job news has focused on comings and goings at the City Council, where Christine Quinn recently axed 61 staffers and then quickly hired three deputy chiefs of staff—Maura Keaney, Kevin Wardally and Ululy Martinez—at juicy salaries of $145,000 each. But here are a few other moves you might have missed:
Maureen Friar is leaving the Supportive Housing Network of New York at the end of June after 13 years as executive director to pursue new opportunities. Jennifer Mpofu of Richman Housing Resources LLC is heading the search committee that was organized to find a replacement.
Geri Palast joined the Campaign for Fiscal Equity as executive director, replacing Michael Rebell. Palast served as assistant secretary of labor for congressional and intergovernmental affairs under President Clinton, helping to enact several major policy initiatives including a minimum wage increase, the Workforce Investment Act, and Welfare to Work. She also worked on several electoral and legislative campaigns, and founded the coalition that spearheaded the Family and Medical Leave Act.
Mayor Bloomberg’s former chief of staff, Peter Madonia, has joined the Rockefeller Foundation, a nonprofit organization that uses science and public policy to address poverty in the U.S., Southeast Asia, and Africa. As its chief operating officer, he’ll supervise both financial and operational functions of the foundation, which has an endowment of over $3 billion.
Terence Tolbert began his tenure as the executive director of intergovernmental affairs at the New York City Department of Education (DOE) on January 9. He’ll be coordinating the DOE’s governmental relationships between New York City, Albany and Washington, D.C. Most recently, Tolbert worked as a senior advisor on Mayor Bloomberg’s 2005 campaign, but he’s also served as legislative director for two state Senators, Joseph Caliber and Martin Connor. Stephen Aligner, his predecessor, has moved on to a new post as legislative director of the New York State United Teachers, a federation of over 900 local teachers’ unions.
Public Advocate Betsy Gotbaum has two new faces on her staff: Lawrence Schimmel and Frank Sobrino. Schimmel, a lawyer trained at Brooklyn Law School, was named director of policy and research. He worked most recently as assistant counsel in State Comptroller Alan Hevesi’s office. His predecessor, Jill Shepard, resigned in October to travel and work toward an advanced degree. Sobrino, former deputy commissioner for public information and communications at New York City’s Human Resources Administration (HRA), is Gotbaum’s new press secretary. He replaced Anat Jacobson, who was promoted to chief of staff.
Steve Sigmund, former communications director at the City Council, was named senior advisor at the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey. Maria Alvarado was announced as his replacement last week. She has worked in the communications office for three years, most recently as its deputy director. In other press news, Carol Abrams, former director of communications at the New York City Department of Housing Preservation and Development was named chief communications officer at City University of New York/Baruch College.
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