I am thrilled and honored to begin my new role as director of Hamilton County Job and Family Services. I look forward to working with leaders from all over the community to make sure HCJFS continues to be the same effective safety net that Hamilton County residents have relied upon since 1947.
I am proud to be this agency’s first Black director. I thank a short list of previous leaders who helped teach me and inspired me to make this my career, including Cynthia Smith, Charles Woode, Tim McCartney, Lora Jollis, Moira Weir and Barbara Manuel. I am committed to fostering the same kind of environment for our future leaders. That’s why I helped start our agency’s new mentoring program.
I have worked in Child Support, Children’s Services, Workforce Development and Public Assistance. One of my greatest passions is our work with fathers. Through the Fatherhood Collaborative of Hamilton County, we help dads by connecting a network of people and organizations that serve fathers to better understand their needs and aspirations and how to meet them.
My promise to this community: I will bring my authentic self to this position every day. I will focus on making HCJFS more inclusive and equitable for employees and clients. I will lead this agency with a commitment to helping people not just survive, but to be able to grow economically and help sustain themselves and their communities.
I’ll continue to bring you weekly notes about the agency, our people and our community service. I look forward to working with you.