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

Jose Rios Lua
Chief of Staff

Community Relations Bureau

Kajori Chaudhuri
Deputy Commissioner

Doreen Bermudez
Managing Director for Programming and Special Projects

Orlando Torres
Managing Director for Outreach and Racial Justice

Vanessa Ramos
Managing Director for Education and Compliance

Daryl Cochrane
Manhattan Community Service Center Director

Alexander Korkhov
Staten Island Community Service Center Director

Rasel Rahman
Queens Community Service Center Director

Derek Slaughter
Brooklyn Community Service Center Director

Vacant
Bronx Community Service Center Director

Law Enforcement Bureau

Katherine Carroll
Deputy Commissioner

Julie Dabrowski
Supervising Attorney, Employment

Effat Hussain
Supervising Attorney, Employment

Rosann Piccolo
Supervising Attorney, Employment

Mercedes Matias
Supervising Attorney, Housing and Public Accommodations

Stephanie Rivera
Supervising Attorney, Housing and Public Accommodations

Christopher Turner
Supervising Attorney, Housing and Public Accommodations

Anna Martinez
Disability Service Facilitator, Project Equal Access

Administrative Services

Mariela Salazar
Deputy Commissioner

Anthony Castro
Chief Technology Officer

Taiwo Onabanjo
Executive Director of Human Resources

Sheshe Segar
Executive Director of Finance & Chief Contracting Diversity Officer

Communications and Marketing

Nimer Basha
Video Production and Website Manager

Rosa Lee
Graphic Designer

Khalil Waldron
Marketing and Social Strategy Manager

General Counsel

Annie Meredith
General Counsel

George D. Adames
Deputy General Counsel

Elizabeth J. Shampnoi
Director of Mediation and Conflict Resolution

Policy and External Affairs

JoAnn Kamuf Ward
Deputy Commissioner

Hillary Scrivani
Senior Policy Counsel

Cataydra Brown
Policy & Impact Advisor

Michael Griffin
Policy Counsel

Yeshi Mitiku
Policy Analyst & Adjudications Coordinator