Keynote Speaker
Dawn M. Pinnock, Commissioner for the NYC Department of Citywide Administrative Services (DCAS)
Dawn M. Pinnock is the Commissioner for the NYC Department of Citywide Administrative Services (DCAS). As a proud native New Yorker, Dawn M. Pinnock is a transformative leader with more than two decades of experience at some of New York City’s largest municipal agencies. Prior to serving as Commissioner, Pinnock served as the Executive Deputy Commissioner for People Operations and Risk Management at DCAS, where she led the agency’s people-centered functions, including Administration, Citywide Equity and Inclusion, Citywide Human Capital, and Internal Audit. In her role, she maintained citywide oversight of services provided to the human resources, equal employment, and diversity and inclusion departments serving at every agency. Pinnock has also served as the Deputy Commissioner for Human Capital, overseeing all aspects of civil service administration and human resources operations. During her tenure at DCAS, she led teams that developed both the City’s remote work policy and the return to work policy, launched mandatory sexual harassment training for over 360,000 City employees, and made the City’s civil service process more accessible to current and potential City employees.
Prior to joining DCAS, Pinnock served as the Vice President of Human Resources at New York City Transit and as the Director of Human Resources at the New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA). She holds a Master of Science in Urban Policy Analysis and Management from The New School for Social Research and a Bachelor of Business Administration from Baruch College. She is a Certified Human Resource Professional, and a member of both the Association for Talent Development and the Society of Human Resource Management.
FIRESIDE CHAT WITH CUNY LEADERSHIP
Lauren Andersen, University Associate Provost of Careers and Industry Partnerships
Lauren Andersen is the University Associate Provost of Careers and Industry Partnerships at the City University of New York. In this role, she leads the University’s efforts to ensure postgraduate career success of CUNY students and support the recovery and growth of New York’s inclusive economy. Prior to assuming this role in July 2021, Lauren was the Executive Director of the NYC Tech Talent Pipeline (TTP), Mayor Bill de Blasio’s signature initiative to support the growth of the tech ecosystem by delivering quality talent for the city’s businesses and quality jobs for New Yorkers. Read Less
As head of the City’s tech industry partnership, she worked with the city’s leading tech employers, academic institutions, and training providers to support new and expanded education solutions and to ensure long-term alignment of workforce needs and educational opportunities through policy and partnerships. These efforts included the launch of a $24M initiative — CUNY 2x Tech — which successfully doubled the number of tech bachelors awarded across CUNY and improved the rate of employment among computer science graduates at seven senior colleges. As a part of these efforts, CUNY also launched the Tech-in-Residence Corps (TIRC), a group of industry professionals (from 60+ companies including Google, LinkedIn, Salesforce) who commit to teaching for-credit electives on in-demand technologies across 10 colleges. To date, TIRC has enrolled over 3,000 students across CUNY. Prior to working for the City of New York, Lauren served as a Policy Advisor in the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy where she worked on initiatives to broaden participation in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) fields and served as liaison to the White House Council on Women and Girls. Her previous work experience also includes positions on the Youth Economic Opportunity team at Citi Foundation, the Obama for America campaign in Florida, and a variety of digital and broadcast media outlets. Lauren received her Bachelor’s degree from Northwestern University, and an MPA from Columbia University.
Rachel Stephenson, Chief Transformation Officer, The Office of Transformation (OT)
Rachel Stephenson serves as CUNY’s inaugural Chief Transformation Officer. The Office of Transformation (OT), established by Chancellor Félix V. Matos Rodríguez in June 2022, serves a vital purpose for the University: accelerating and catalyzing transformation that will magnify the collective impact of the 25 colleges within the University and amplify CUNY’s position as the nation’s premier university for equitable social, economic, and civic impact. Current OT initiatives, aligned with major priorities in CUNY Lifting New York, are generally focused on career success as well as diversity, equity, inclusion, wellbeing, and campus climate. Examples include the Career Success Fellows, a new cohort of faculty who have been charged with embedding more career-relevant information into their courses and serving as leaders on their home campuses; the AAS Redesign Initiative, supporting the seven community colleges and three comprehensive colleges as they redesign over 25 Associate in Applied Science degrees in order to improve student outcomes; the systemwide Anti-Hate Initiative, which is providing funding to the colleges in order to address religious, racial and ethnic bigotry, including antisemitism, at the University; the Black, Race, and Ethnic Studies Initiative; and the CUNY CARES (Comprehensive Access to Resources for Essential Services) demonstration project in the Bronx, which will implement and evaluate a new approach to meeting the health and social needs of students on the three Bronx CUNY campuses beginning in September 2023.
From 2019 to 2022, Rachel served as Assistant Vice Chancellor for Academic Strategy and Operations / Chief of Staff to the Executive Vice Chancellor and University Provost. In this role, she was a thought leader and partner who worked with senior leadership and affiliated administrative and deliberative bodies of the Office of Academic Affairs to advance the Executive Vice Chancellor’s strategic and operational priorities. As AVC, Rachel led the development and implementation of multiple University-wide strategic initiatives, including the Black, Race, and Ethnic Studies Initiative (BRESI) and the Graduate Education Task Force (GETF) as well as cutting-edge student-centered policies and programs. She supported the establishment of an intentional organizational culture focused on educational equity, empathy, accountability, and inclusive excellence. She also functioned as a convener, discussant, and servant-leader for chief academic, student affairs, and enrollment management leaders across CUNY’s 25 colleges as well as unit leaders within the 1,000-person Office of Academic Affairs.
Rachel served as Assistant Vice Chancellor for Strategic Partnerships from June 2017 through June 2019. In this role, she drove a range of University-wide priorities and initiatives focused on campus climate, diversity, equity and inclusion. She also played a major role in CUNY Health for Academic Success & Engagement (CHASE), an initiative urging University stakeholders to address the link between student wellbeing and academic success, as well as CUNY Service Corps Puerto Rico, a program that, in partnership with Governor Cuomo, has sent hundreds of CUNY students and staff to rebuild in Puerto Rico since summer 2018. In addition, Rachel facilitated projects aiming to serve undocumented students at CUNY, improve access to college for adult students and map the transfer process.
Prior to her role as Assistant Vice Chancellor for Strategic Partnerships, Rachel was the founding university director of the CUNY Service Corps (2013), TheDream.US Scholarship Program (2014), the Program for DREAMers at CUNY (2015) and the CUNY Cultural Corps (2016). She began her professional life at CUNY in continuing education and workforce development supporting the design and implementation of innovative and holistic programs, including Jefferson Houses Jobs-Plus (2009).
Before joining CUNY in 2009, Rachel worked as an educator and program director in NYC-based college-access, youth development, and community-serving organizations, including the Central Park Conservancy and Legal Outreach, Inc. She was also a language arts middle school teacher.
Outside of her recent work at CUNY, Rachel has written and spoken about grief after giving a TEDx talk called “Against Grieving in Silence” in 2015 in New York City. Rachel has a B.A. in English (summa cum laude) from Trinity University and an MFA in Nonfiction Writing from Columbia University. She lives in Queens, New York, with her husband and three daughters.
Candid Careers and Conversations: Industry and Alumni Panel Discussion
Career Champions Faculty Presenters
