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DaMia Harris-Madden, M.S. ’07, M.B.A. ’22, works to improve life for New York communities.

“I wake up every day feeling privileged and honored to work in state government,” said Dr. DaMia Harris-Madden, M.S. ’07, M.B.A. ’22, commissioner of the New York State Office of Children and Family Services (OCFS) since May 2024. “I also feel massive responsibility.” Named a B��Ԫ Alumni of Distinction honoree in 2024, she has spent more than 20 years working for community and government organizations serving youth and families.

As commissioner, Harris-Madden plays a pivotal role in shaping OCFS policy to achieve its mission of promoting the safety, permanency and well-being of New York children, families and communities. OCFS provides oversight and support to all local DSS and child welfare agencies, 18,000 childcare providers, domestic violence shelters and just about all programs relative to childcare and child welfare services, foster care, juvenile justice, youth development and the Commission for the Blind. “It’s a vast agency that touches the lives of residents at all ages — ‘from twinkle to wrinkle’,” she explained.

In her first nine months in the role, Harris-Madden has driven forward many OCFS priorities, which include afterschool programming, funding resources and opportunities for young people in the juvenile justice system, paving the way toward universal childcare and supporting the most vulnerable populations, including runaway, homeless and trafficked youth.

A lucky conversation brought Harris-Madden to study at B��Ԫ and put her on a path to a career in government. She was working at Gap, Inc. in human resources at the time and planned to apply to law school. For some reason, she ended up at a Mercy open house and heard about the master’s degree in human resource management. “The next thing I know, I applied and got accepted!” she said. “That totally changed the trajectory for me.”

Her experience as a young mother completing her degree gives her a unique perspective on the necessity of Governor Kathy Hochul’s childcare initiatives. “I wrote my thesis on youth employment with my baby daughter on my lap, typing with one hand,” she laughed. “I know that lots of parents attend Mercy, and I appreciate the governor’s initiatives promoting access to childcare so parents can further their education and realize their dreams.”

With a passion for helping people prepare for the workforce, Harris-Madden soon moved into the nonprofit world and then into government. After working as an assistant program director at the Urban League of Westchester County, she took a job with the City of Mount Vernon. She worked for the city for 14 years, serving in four mayoral cabinets, including executive director of the Mount Vernon Youth Bureau.

Next, Harris-Madden moved to the county level. She was one of the first leaders recruited to serve in then County Executive and now Congressman George Latimer’s Cabinet and served for six years as the executive director of the Westchester County Youth Bureau. In this role, she managed the financial and technical resources deployed to hundreds of programs supporting children, youth and families across Westchester County and established for the first time in 30 years, three new municipal Youth Bureaus, mental health in afterschool programs, and a number of violence prevention, STEAM initiatives, amongst other things.

When Harris-Madden returned to Mercy to pursue her M.B.A., she appreciated how applicable her courses — especially accounting and quantitative analysis — were to her day-to-day work. “It’s not easy to manage an organization that has vast fiscal responsibility and oversight,” she explained. “Even though I lead a large team, I still need to deeply understand budgets and financial documents. The M.B.A. program formalized that learning for me.”

Harris-Madden finds ways to stay connected to Mercy today. In October 2023, for example, the Westchester County Youth Bureau hosted its inaugural Youth MedTech Conference on Mercy’s Westchester Campus. At the event, 250 middle and high school students explored high-growth industries that combine medicine and technology. This event continues today.

With a new federal administration, the political landscape is changing, but Harris-Madden is keeping her eye on doing good work for state residents. “We want New Yorkers to feel like they’ve received high-quality educations and can land good jobs here,” she said. She encourages Mercy students and alumni to consider careers in state and local government: “We need good people to join our team and help us do this important work for all New York residents.”

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