ALUMNI SPOTLIGHT
PA S S ION F OR PUB L IC S ERVI CE DINA SIMON ‘01 RETURNS TO HER ROOTS TO ENACT CHANGE IN NYC GOVERNMENT
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hen Dina Simon ’01 immigrated to the United States from Haiti at 9 years old, she faced a common set of challenges for immigrant children. She tagged along at doctor’s appointments and their first real estate closing so she could be her parent's English translator. She was forced to spend several years away from her parents when she had challenges obtaining a visa. She felt the pressure to create a better life as a firstgeneration college student and eventually become a doctor or lawyer. Simon’s true passion for public administration emerged with help from Long Island University, and her career in the public sector has come full circle. As the Chief of Staff for the New York City Mayor’s Office of Immigrant Affairs, Simon used her personal experiences to enact positive policy changes for the city’s immigrant community. “It’s been really interesting to live through that but also be able to affect policies that will help immigrant communities, and establish support systems that did not exist when I was growing up,” Simon said. Simon’s decision to earn her master of public administration degree at LIU dictated her career path from the very first class. Her first professor brought real-life examples of government and policy work to the classroom through his consulting with the City of New York. Simon was also surrounded by classmates who were working professionals and willingly shared their experience and knowledge. This experience inspired Simon to apply for a job with a city agency, and she landed her first position with the Administration for Children Services. From there, Simon went on to hold roles in human resources and labor
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LIUMAGAZINE | Spring 2022
relations in the New York State Education Department, New York City Comptroller’s Office, Department of Correction, Department of Veterans Services, and the Government of the United States Virgin Islands. While at the Department of Correction, Simon made history as the first woman to hold the position of First Deputy Commissioner. “My classes gave me the opportunity to think beyond traditional career paths, and Dina Simon to use work experience as credits in the program,” said Simon. “The master in public administration tied it all together for me and provided those core disciplines that I needed to be successful.” During her most recent appointment with Immigrant Affairs, Simon focused with the new mayoral administration on developing a new initiative to expand language services access to immigrant communities. She also served as Executive Director of the Pay Equity Cabinet, a new cabinet focused on improving wage equity and the pay gap among women and minorities in the workforce. Looking back on her impressive resume, Simon is most proud of her ability to mentor individuals who have become leaders in their field. She enjoys keeping a roster of three active mentees to develop and coach, and she encourages LIU students to connect with her on LinkedIn and seek mentorship as they build their careers. “Look for someone who is doing what you want to do, look at that person’s path and see how to connect with them or mirror that path,” said Simon. “Mentorship is important, but also give yourself grace and accept that everything won’t be clear at first, sometimes it’s about taking risks.”
