JERSEY CITY – Mayor Steven M. Fulop has appointed Stacey Lea Flanagan to be the new director of the city’s Department of Health and Human Services. Flanagan, a Jersey City resident who begins her new job on July 29, most recently worked at Public Health Solutions, where she managed New York state’s Women, Infants, and Children program, which served more than 50,000 clients.
In Flanagan’s 20-year career, she has worked with several nonprofit organizations dedicated to poverty alleviation and result-oriented programming, including Abraham House, Big Brothers Big Sisters of New York City, One Stop Senior Services, Share Our Strength, the Leader to Leader Institute, and the U.S. Peace Corps. Flanagan has also taught at St Peter’s University in Jersey City since 2006.
In her spare time, Flanagan is a member/owner of the JC Food Coop, participates in the Downtown Harvest Community Supported Agriculture program, and works on efforts to strengthen the regional food system as a member of the Governance Committee of the Food Systems Network of New York City.
Flanagan graduated from Michigan State University with a BA in political science and holds a masters in nonprofit management from the New School for Social Research.
Fulop’s office said Flanagan applied for the position of Health and Human Services director through an online resume system the mayor set up through his campaign website before he took office on July 1.
“When I met Stacey after she applied online in the public resume drop, I was immediately impressed with her knowledge of public health and the issues facing urban areas such as Jersey City and her distinguished background,” Fulop said. “To have a leader that ran the largest program in New York state like this wanting to work for our administration to help build our Health and Human Services Program into a world-class model is really exciting.”
Flanagan replaces current Health and Human Services Director Harry Melendez. She will earn 114,753, according to city spokeswoman Jennifer Morrill.