Meet the Commissioner - DYCD

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Meet the Commissioner

Keith S. Howard, Commissioner

Read more about Commissioner Howard’s appointment and background.

Keith Howard was appointed Commissioner of the NYC Department of Youth and Community Development (DYCD) by Mayor Eric Adams in June 2022. Commissioner Howard formerly served as NYC Department of Transportation (DOT) Associate Deputy Commissioner of the Sidewalk Inspection Management Division. He also was an Adjunct Professor at Queens College and the Joseph S. Murphy Institute for Worker Education and Labor Studies. Commissioner Howard has dedicated 30 years of his professional career to public service and held various senior level positions in New York City government.
While education and career are priorities in his life, there are more layers. As a child, he was taught by his parents about the importance of service to the community. So, in the summer of 2002, Commissioner Howard started the non-profit Harlem Group. The organization sponsored health fairs with government agencies and community-based organizations in the Bronx, Brooklyn, and Staten Island. In collaboration with Health Plus Incorporated, the Harlem Group successfully enrolled over 100 families in free health care programs underwritten by the New York State government.
As a member of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc., the first Black Greek fraternity, Commissioner Howard has seen the need to build on the fraternity and a commitment to community service by creating a non-profit organization called Servants of All (SOA). For ten years, SOA has escorted more than 700 underprivileged high school and middle school students on college tours to Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs). The goal of the tours is to bring college awareness to students who may not have the resources or access to visit college campuses across the country.
Commissioner Howard is married and the father of two young adults. He is a proud alumnus of John Jay College, where he was awarded a bachelor’s degree as well as a master’s degree in public administration.