Celestin appointed as NYC’s leader of nonprofit organizations

NEW YORK—A second Haitian American has joined the ranks of Mayor Eric Adams’ top leaders with the recent appointment of Johnny Celestin, a long-time community leader, as executive director of the Mayor’s Office of Nonprofit Services.

With the appointment, Celestin joins Jacques Jiha, the city’s budget director, as a high-profile Haitian American in Adams’ administration. He is tasked with ensuring that the city’s nonprofits are paid, a perennial issue that many social services organizations have been raising for nearly four years, among other goals.

“Johnny will play a crucial role in ensuring our nonprofit partners work alongside us to strengthen our systems and have the support they need to thrive while delivering essential services to New Yorkers,” First Deputy Mayor Sheena Wright said in the June announcement. “His leadership for this office will further strengthen our city’s capacity to serve all communities and advance equity across New York City.”

Community members welcomed the news of another Haitian New Yorker rising in city leadership, while sounding a cautiously optimistic note. 

Gina Faustin, an entrepreneur who occasionally consults nonprofits, said she hopes Celestin receives support to succeed in the new role.

“Johnny’s very smart, but he’s inheriting a mess – just like Conille is inheriting in Haiti,” Faustin said. “Johnny has his work cut out for him. I wish that he gets a lot of help, but with 1,800 nonprofits that haven’t gotten paid in [years], he’s inherited a big chaos and mess. 

“Bon courage,” she added, Creole for “good luck.”

The Mayor’s Office of Nonprofit Services aims to provide critical information to nonprofits and develop and deliver capacity-building programs to support nonprofits to contract with the city more easily. Crucially, it is also tasked with coordinating activities to advance the recommendations of the Joint Task Force to Get Nonprofits Paid on Time. It is part of a larger effort to clear a backlog of city contracts that have left thousands of vendors unpaid for months, sometimes years, and a new reform for discretionary contracts that makes it easier for nonprofits that contract with the city to get paid on time.

Celestin has worked in the private, public, philanthropic, and nonprofit sectors. Before this role, he served at the New York City Mayor’s Office of Minority- and Women-Owned Business Enterprises (M/WBEs) as deputy director, where he developed policies to expand M/WBE opportunities and spearheaded strategic planning to streamline the delivery of services. Prior, he worked across the nonprofit sector, including at the Robin Hood Foundation, Atlantic Philanthropies, Haitian Center for Leadership and Excellence, Haitian Fund for Innovation and Reconstruction, and the Clinton Foundation.

Celestin earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration at Iona University and a master’s degree in International Affairs at the New School University.

“I applaud the Adams administration for selecting an outstanding choice in appointing Johnny Celestin as the executive director of the Mayor’s Office of Nonprofit Services,” said New York City Councilmember Rita Joseph, a Haitian American official whose central Brooklyn district included a large Haitian constituency. 

“Johnny’s expertise and dedication will be instrumental in improving communication with nonprofits, streamlining contracting processes, and ensuring timely payments,” she said. “His leadership is a significant win for our city and the vital work nonprofits do in our communities.” 

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