(Long Island City – January 5, 2021) Commissioner Lorraine Grillo of the NYC Department of Design and Construction (DDC) announced today that Rachel Laiserin has been named Chief Financial Officer (CFO) of the agency. As CFO, Ms. Laiserin will oversee all budgeting, contracting and procurement for DDC, which is the City’s leading capital construction project manager, building infrastructure and public buildings for more than 20 City agencies and non-profit organizations that receive funding from them. The appointment became effective on November 16, 2020.

DDC’s planned commitments for City FY 2021 exceed $2.5 billion and the agency has recently expanded its portfolio greatly by taking on the City’s Borough-Based Jails program and several coastal resiliency projects such as the $1.45 billion East Side Coastal Resiliency.

“Rachel has a broad range of budgeting and procurement experience across several City agencies, including as a former Budget Director, Assistant Commissioner and Chief of Staff at DDC,” said DDC Commissioner Lorraine Grillo. “Her recent experience overseeing a $5 billion portfolio of contracts at the Department of Information Technology & Telecommunications aligns her directly with our current effort to modernize DDC systems to make them more efficient and more useful to our staff in the field. I look forward to working with Rachel as she takes over this very critical position at DDC.”

"DDC does phenomenal work for the City of New York, improving and transforming our built environment,” said Ms. Laiserin. “I am proud to be returning to DDC as CFO and am looking forward to helping the agency navigate these fiscally challenging times while also tackling some large new initiatives, including the new design-build program.”

Prior to re-joining DDC, Ms. Laiserin was Associate Commissioner for Procurement and Vendor Management at the NYC Department of Information Technology & Telecommunications (DoITT), where she directed a team of 30 whose duties included the solicitation, evaluation and negotiation of contracts valued at more than $600 million annually. She is a former Senior Advisor to the Commissioner and Chief of Staff at DDC, having been promoted from Assistant Commissioner of Technology & Analysis. She was previously the Executive Director of White Roof Project and the President of GreenFlea Market in Manhattan.

Ms. Laiserin holds a B.A. from Cornell University and a Master’s in Public Policy from the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University.

The Department of Design and Construction is the City’s primary capital construction project manager. In supporting Mayor de Blasio’s long-term vision of growth, sustainability, resiliency, equity and healthy living, DDC provides communities with new or renovated public buildings such as firehouses, libraries, police precincts, and new or upgraded roads, sewers and water mains in all five boroughs. To manage this $15.5 billion portfolio, DDC partners with other City agencies, architects and consultants, whose experience bring efficient, innovative and environmentally-conscious design and construction strategies to City projects. For more information, please visit nyc.gov/ddc.