Mayor’s Office of Youth Employment

The Mayor's Office of Youth Employment (MOYE) serves to expand, improve, and align publicly funded programs that help young New Yorkers build skills, gain experience, explore potential career paths, and prepare for success in the world of work. In partnership with stakeholders in City government, the private sector, philanthropy, and the provider community, MOYE provides subject matter expertise and capacity and resource support within New York City's career readiness ecosystem. MOYE works with its partners to coordinate classroom education, career exploration, work readiness, and personal development to provide young New Yorkers with the tools they need to build the lives they want.

The Mayor's Office of Youth Employment is committed to dramatically expanding and improving opportunities for young adults in New York City to gain work experiences, add skills, and explore potential career interests to compete in the 21st century job market.

Staff

Leah Hebert, Deputy Executive Director

Leah Hebert is the Deputy Executive Director for the Mayor's Office of Youth Employment. Leah has spent the last decade working in public service including higher education, union management, government, and the nonprofit sector. Most recently, Leah was the Interim Chief Program Officer and Chief Strategy Officer at Opportunities for a Better Tomorrow, a city-wide nonprofit that focuses on youth workforce development and education specifically for out of work, out of school youth. Leah has a Masters in Public Administration from Baruch College School of Public and International Affairs and a Bachelors of Fine Arts from the Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art.

Miles Gamble, Director of Employer Engagement

Miles Elijah Yawada Gamble is the Director of Employer Engagement for the Mayor's Office of Youth Employment. Over the last decade, Miles has worked to implement or expand several programs dedicated to extending economic opportunities to historically underserved neighborhoods. In his most recent position, Miles worked as the City's first Section 3 Manager at the New York City Department of Small Business Services (SBS), liaising with the US Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) as well as several other local agencies to coordinate citywide compliance. Miles also served as program manager for the City's new Construction Site Safety Program, overseeing six vendors, training and credentialing over 9,000 participants citywide. Before his position with SBS, Miles served as an Operations Specialist for the Fatherhood Program at Strive, where he connected hundreds of fathers with criminal justice involved backgrounds to employment. Miles also served as a Project Manager at the New York City Department of Housing Preservation and Development (HPD) where he created a process for investigating subsidy fraud and unreported assets. Miles holds a Masters in Urban Studies from Fordham University, and a Dual Bachelor of Science from the College at Brockport in Africana Studies and Broadcast Journalism.

Mary Elhakam, Project Manager

Mary Elhakam is the project manager at the Mayor's Office of Youth Employment. Mary manages and supports a variety of projects and initiatives such as the coordination and management of enrichment opportunities for Summer Youth Employment Program participants, working with industry partners such as Tech:NYC and liaising with schools and non-profit providers for Tech Year NYC. Mary also manages the office's online presence through social media.

Mary's experience with public service began at the age of 15 at her local Community Board. Her previous experiences as a research assistant where she focused on research methods and data, as well as her experiences as a peer advisor and internships with the Mayor's Community Affairs Unit and the New York State Thruway Authority where she focused on community outreach and engagement ignited her passion for youth development, community engagement and research. She is able to combine those passions in her role as project manager.

Mary is a life-long New Yorker, product of NYC public schools, sister of the Lambda Alpha Chi sorority, and has a Bachelor's of Science in Psychology with a minor in Anthropology from the State University of New York, College at Oneonta.