Our Team

_{At the Commission's All-Staff get-together, October 17, 2022}

The NYC Commission on Human Rights is staffed by legal, community relations, policy, communications, human resources, finance, operations, administrative and information technology staff members from across the City's rich and diverse communities and beyond, representing many languages, cultures, and backgrounds. The Commission welcomes people of all races, faiths, colors, ethnicities, national origins, ages, genders, sexual orientations, and gender identities or expressions; veterans; people with disabilities; and people with personal experience with the criminal legal system.

The Commission's staff speaks over 30 languages across its different departments including Spanish, Haitian Creole, Arabic, Hindi, Urdu, Korean, Bengali, Russian, French and Chinese. This reflects on the Commission's vision and mission to be a local government resource that is representative of, and accessible to, the different communities the agency serves, and grow with the goal of meeting the needs of New Yorkers from every corner of our great City.

The diversity within the Commission's staff is unified by a common passion for human rights. That core value is informed by the staff members' personal and prior work experience working with and alongside other advocates for human rights, including community based groups; legal services, faith-based, and social justice organizations; and federal, state or local elected officials and government agencies.

Office of the Chair

Annabel Palma
Chair and Commissioner

Mariela Salazar
Deputy Commissioner for Administrative Services

JoAnn Kamuf Ward
Deputy Commissioner for Policy and External Affairs

Saba Hazel
Chief of Staff

Office of the General Counsel

Damion Stodola
General Counsel

David Rozen
Deputy General Counsel

Office of Mediation and Conflict Resolution

Elizabeth J. Shampnoi
Director of Mediation and Conflict Resolution

Community Relations Bureau

Kajori Chaudhuri
Deputy Commissioner

Vanessa Ramos
Managing Director for Education and Compliance

Doreen Bermudez
Managing Director for Programming and Special Projects

Alexander Korkhov
Staten Island Community Service Center Director

Derek Slaughter
Brooklyn Community Service Center Director

Daryl Cochrane
Manhattan Community Service Center Director

Rasel Rahman
Queens Community Service Center Director

Orlando Torres
Bronx Community Service Center Director

Law Enforcement Bureau

Sapna V. Raj
Deputy Commissioner

Katherine Carroll
Assistant Commissioner

Christopher Turner
Supervising Attorney, Housing and Public Accommodations

Brian Holbrook
Supervising Attorney, Housing and Public Accommodations

Effat Hussain
Supervising Attorney, Employment

Anna Martinez
Disability Service Facilitator, Project Equal Access

Communications and Marketing

Jose Rios Lua
Executive Director

Nimer Basha
Video Production and Website Manager

Rosa Lee
Graphic Designer

Human Resources

Taiwo Onabanjo
Executive Director of Human Resources

Information Technology

Deshard Stevens
Chief Information Officer

Operations (Budget)

Sheshe Segar
Executive Director of Operations & Chief Diversity Officer