Mayor Eric Adams on Monday announced his new pick to head the city office that works with nonprofit organizations, following the quiet departure of its former leader last year.
Johnny Celestin will be the new executive director of the mayor’s Office of Nonprofit Services, replacing Karen Ford, who served as the office’s inaugural leader for a year until she left for unclear reasons in December.
Celestin, who most recently served as deputy director for the mayor’s office of Minority- and Women-Owned Business Enterprises, takes the helm of an office created in 2022 aimed at bridging a gap between city agencies and the network of nonprofits that New York relies on for billions of dollars’ worth of contract work. Mayor Adams has had mixed success trying to tackle the city’s chronically late payments to those nonprofits, a major issue for the industry.
Celestin has previously worked at nonprofits like the Robin Hood Foundation and the Clinton Foundation and worked extensively in his native Haiti, including on efforts to rebuild following the nation’s 2010 earthquake, according to the mayor’s office and Celestin’s LinkedIn. He will report to Ana Almanzar, the deputy mayor for strategic initiatives.
The office of Nonprofit Services is intended to be “the primary hub for communicating with the sector,” charged with gathering their concerns and communicating policies to nonprofits, according to the city.
Ford, Celestin’s predecessor in the role, left the office as many nonprofits complained of worsening payment problems as the city shifted more of its contracts to the online platform PASSPort. Officials at the Mayor’s Office of Contract Services admitted this month that nonprofit vendors may face continued pain due to budget cuts that have hamstrung the office’s work.
At a City Council hearing this month, one homeless services provider said her organization, Breaking Ground, is owed $23 million by the Department of Homeless Services — including $12 million in repayments from invoices submitted to PASSPort.
Adams has touted some progress on the payment problem, including by clearing billions of dollars in backlogged payments and slashing some processing time for contracts funded by the City Council.
Adams, in a statement, said Celestin has “led by example” through decades of work in the nonprofit sector. His duties will include advancing the recommendations of the Joint Task Force to Get Nonprofits Paid on Time, which Adams led alongside Comptroller Brad Lander.
Celestin said he was “humbled” to take on the new role, and said he had been prepared well through his work boosting opportunities for MWBEs.
“Together, we can ensure the office fulfills its multifaceted mission head-on, including streamlining funding access for nonprofits to promoting equity and maximizing community impact,” Celestin said.
In addition to nonprofit work, Celestin is active in Haitian pro-democracy efforts and is a spokesman for the international group Defend Haiti’s Democracy.
Nick Garber , 2024-06-17 21:18:14
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