Page 6 - 2019 Annual Report

DEVELOPING OUR TEAM
JACKIE RAMOS
Human Resource Director
Jackie is an accomplished, energetic,
bilingual (Spanish) Human Resource
Professional with close to thirty years of
Human Resource experience in a
Generalist and Management capacity.
Before joining New Neighborhoods, she
worked as a Human Resource profes-
sional in various industries. She has her
SHRM-SCP certification and has been a
SHRM member since 2005.
Jackie gained both her Master’s Degree
and Bachelor’s Degree in Human
Resource Management from The State
University of New York at Stony Brook,
concentrating on Employee Relations,
Labor Relations and Human Resource
Management.
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Personnel
Our greatest resource is our people and as part of our mission we promote personal development through
continual training and education opportunities for all our employees. As a priority, we promote a diverse,
team-oriented atmosphere through hiring, managing, and team building activities. Investing in our people
has significantly contributed to our success in all areas of the organization. Multiple factors have helped us
grow our workforce and strengthen our team, including reducing our dependence on outside consultants
and contractors, expanding our recruitment strategies, and more.
Staff
We increased the number of employees from 17 to 30 full-time employees by the end of 2019, bringing most
of our work in-house that was previously performed by consultants, contractors or temporary employees. We
have hired a mixture of seasoned professionals along with young talent, and are focused on developing this
talent to grow and promote from within the organization. In 2019, we hired three industry certified special-
ists, three recent college graduates, and two residents who now serve their former neighbors. We expanded
our recruiting strategies in a very difficult hiring market that included two candidates who successfully
received H-1 Visas, which are work visas for international workers. We also included a military hire, as we not
only support veterans as a part of our mission, we also hire them.
Education and Training
To be able to promote from within the organization we offer continuous learning through education,
training and certifications. We started the New Neighborhoods Tuition Reimbursement Program that has
already allowed one of our employees to finish her bachelor’s degree and another employee is on pace to
complete his undergraduate degree next year. Dozens of our employees have participated in specialized
training that includes industry specific certifications and every employee is trained on important topics such
as Fair Housing, Workplace Harassment, and REAC, on an annual basis.
Through all these developmental programs, hiring tactics, and team strategies, we have been able to build
a diverse, highly educated, professional team that is the cornerstone of our operations. There are at least ten
members of our team with Master’s Degrees, and another eight employees having earned a Bachelor’s
Degree. Collectively our team holds dozens of industry certifications and speak nine different foreign
languages plus international sign language, allowing us to serve anyone who walks through our doors.
Christian Krog - Army Reserve
Christian Krog joined New Neighborhoods in July of 2019 as an
Administrative Assistant as part of our rotation management training
program. Christian is also a member of the Army Reserve and was notified
he would soon be called up for deployment the same week we offered him
the job. As part of our mission is to support veterans, we felt it was equally
important to support and hire individuals like Christian who currently protect
our nation through military reserve programs.
Christian has proven to be an excellent team member in the six months he was with us before being
deployed and we are anxiously waiting for his return next fall when he completes his tour of duty.
Christian is a recent graduate from the University of Connecticut with a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science
and is fluent in Arabic. New Neighborhoods is proud to have Christian Krog as a member of our team.