Our Team

_{(From Top) Commission staff at 2019 NYC Pride Parade (Photo credit: Nancy Siesel Photography); Commission staff speaking at African Diaspora townhall, September 2019 (Photo credit: Afrikanspot); Commission staff at Hispanic Heritage Month event, October 2019 (Photo credit: Afrikanspot); Commission staff distributing literature during a day of action, June 2017 (Photo credit: Adrienne Nicole Productions).}

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

Shanny Spraus-Reindhardt
Deputy Commissioner for Strategic Initiatives

JoAnn Kamuf Ward
Deputy Commissioner for Policy and External Affairs

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, Public-Initiated Housing and Public Accommodations Cases

Katherine Greenberg
Special Counsel

Alberto Rodriguez
Supervising Attorney, Employment

Demoya Gordon
Supervising Attorney, Public Accommodations and Policing

Dustin Frankel
Supervising Attorney, Housing and Public Accommodations

Christina Piaia
Supervising Attorney, Gender-Based Harassment Unit

Elizabeth Fusco
Supervising Attorney, Early Intervention Unit

Paul Keefe 
Supervising Attorney, Employment (Fair Chance Act and Criminal History Discrimination)

Effat Hussain
Supervising Attorney, Employment

Martha Perez-Pedemonti
Supervising Attorney, Housing and Public Accommodations

Sudarsana Srinivasan
Supervising Attorney, Housing and Public Accommodations (Discriminatory Harassment)

Elizabeth Osley
Administrative Counsel

Anna Martinez
Disability Service Facilitator

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