Vivian Brady-Phillips
Executive Director
Vivian Brady-Phillips is the Executive Director of the JCHA and an experienced public administrator committed to delivering quality affordable housing and innovative social service programming. Under her leadership, the JCHA has attracted new grants and investments to renovate and redevelop affordable housing, reduced vacancies across its portfolio, and developed strong partnerships with nonprofits, government agencies and educational institutions to expand resources for residents. These efforts include: a HUD-approved and grant-funded vacancy reduction strategy; a strong focus on safety and security, including the establishment of a new Jersey City Police Department Housing Unit dedicated to the JCHA and new, integrated security enhancements across sites; the continued redevelopment of the former Montgomery Gardens site and a multi-phase community visioning process for Holland Gardens; the launch of a digital inclusion initiative that offers digital literacy training and new computer labs across sites with the support of the Electronic Access Foundation; and an array of new, comprehensive youth development programming.
Ms. Brady-Phillips previously served as a Deputy Mayor of Jersey City and, in that capacity, oversaw social services, community park improvements, grant acquisition and external partnerships, and launched a number of public-private initiatives focused on workforce development, education, and community justice. She led city’s grant team, advising departments city-wide on grants strategy and the development of Jersey City Youth Works, a comprehensive, multi-program employment and enrichment initiative that serves 1000 young people annually in partnership with the local businesses, public schools, youth-serving nonprofits, and universities. She also worked closely with the Jersey City Municipal Court and the Center for Court Innovation to help establish both a community court and a youth court program that helps first-time youth offenders get back on track.
Ms. Brady-Phillips currently serves as the Vice Chair of the Jersey City Economic Development Corporation and also serves as a member of the Jersey City Affordable Housing Trust Fund, and on the New Jersey Regional Advisory Board of NPower, a national nonprofit that enables young adults and veterans to embark on technology careers.
Before joining the Mayor’s Office, Ms. Brady-Phillips was the Executive Vice President for External and Legal Affairs at the NYC Leadership Academy, a nationally-recognized nonprofit that prepares public school leaders and advises school districts. A lawyer by training, Ms. Brady-Phillips practiced litigation at several prominent New York City law firms after earning J.D. from NYU School of Law, where she was a Root-Tilden-Snow Public Interest Scholar. She lives in Jersey City with her husband and daughter.
Allison Strobel
Chief of Staff
Allison Strobel came to JCHA from the Jersey City Mayor's Office where she was responsible for facilitating private-public partnerships and intergovernmental collaborations to advance and support initiatives related to workforce development, youth employment, violence reduction, restorative justice, and community development. Ms. Strobel also coordinates the Jersey City Youth Planning Task Force, a stakeholder group supported by the NJ Office of the Attorney General with the broad aim of decreasing juvenile crime and violence and promoting positive youth development. JCHA is a member of the Task Force, and many of the other member organizations partner with JCHA to provide programs and services to young JCHA residents.
Ms. Strobel’s duties at JCHA include oversight of the Department of Resident Empowerment and Community Engagement. As Chief of Staff she also coordinates interdepartmental collaboration and operations. She is a licensed social worker and received her master’s degree in social work with concentrations in policy and human services management from Rutgers University.
Stephen F. Cea
Director of Development
Stephen F. Cea is a New Jersey attorney with over twenty years of HUD related and Public Housing experience as well development experience. He is the Director of the Department of Development, Modernization and Sustainability, and the point person between national development companies and the JCHA regarding the planning and repositioning of outdated Public Housing, including mixed-finance developments and RAD conversions. Prior to joining the JCHA, Mr. Cea was the Senior Development Manager for the Newark Housing Authority for 3 years and worked as an attorney specialized in real estate and HUD program contracts for 13 years. Mr. Cea attended St. John’s University where he received a bachelor of arts in English and Political Science. He received his law degree from Seton Hall Law School in 1992 and is a member of the bar in both New Jersey and Pennsylvania. Mr. Cea has lectured on public housing development and planning for the New Jersey Executive Director Classes at Rutgers University.
Doreen M. Tucker
Director of Human Resources
Luz Santana
Director of Compliance
Luz Santana has worked for the Jersey City Housing Authority since 1992. She is responsible for developing, implementing and monitoring systematic internal and auditing systems to ensure compliance with HUD, local and federal regulations. She works with departments across the organization to develop, implement and monitor compliance functions. This includes applicant selection, real estate/asset management, maintenance operations, low income public and assisted housing family and senior residential programs. She also monitors and oversees the Public Housing Units in the Mixed Finance Sites and the Applicant Selection Department, and monitors the Public Housing and HCVP Arrest Reports. Ms. Santana earned an associate’s degree in business management from Hudson County Community College and a bachelor of science degree with a business management concentration from New Jersey City University. She has NAHRO certifications in Property Management and Property Based Budgeting for Property Managers, is QUADEL certified in LIHTC Compliance and Mixed Finance as well as in Public Housing Occupancy, Hearing Officer Specialist, and she holds specialist certificates in Essential Risk Management Techniques in Public Housing, Maintenance Management, Understanding UPCS Protocol Inspector, and PBM Essentials for Property Manager. Ms. Santana received a Mayor’s Women of Action citation award from the City of Jersey City in 2005.
Patricia Ramirez
Director of Housing Choice Voucher Program
Patricia Ramirez has over 25 years’ experience in the Housing Choice Voucher Program (HCVP), budgeting, grant applications and Section 8 housing choice voucher program management. Patricia was appointed HCVP Director in 2008 after serving as the JCHA’s Assistant HCVP Director for one year. Ms. Ramirez leads a staff of 20, implementing programs with annual appropriations of more than $30 million. As Director of HCVP, Ms. Ramirez has secured 300 vouchers for non-elderly families, 600 Rental Assistance Demonstration vouchers, 70 Veterans Administration Supportive Housing (VASH) vouchers, and 38 vouchers for homeless individuals in the County and most recently 50 811 Mainstream Vouchers. Ms. Ramirez has a Business Administration Degree and has received Certifications for completing HCVP Executive Management Course, HCVP Quality Standards Specialist, Rent Calculations Specialist, HCVP Accounting and Budgeting Course and a Certificate for UPCS-V Training.
Patricia has strong leadership and organizational management style which has contributed to being able to maintain a “High Performer” score for the HCVP for the past 9 years. , in 2000, Mayor Schundler recognized her with a Certificate of Appreciation for her outstanding contributions and lifelong commitment to improve quality of life in our community.
Nehru Nadella
Director of Information Technology
Nehru Nadella has over 18 years of housing experience, serving as the Director of Information Technology at JCHA for the past 3 years. In this role, Mr. Nadella is responsible for planning, organizing, and execution of all IT, telecommunications, video surveillance, and related functions at the Jersey City Housing Authority. Under his leadership, the IT department supports the JCHA’s mission by implementing cutting edge technology and ensuring a reliable, secure, and stable IT environment. Mr. Nadella has successfully overseen the migration to VOIP, implementation of disaster recovery, and the ongoing expansion of a video surveillance system throughout JCHA’s properties. He is also responsible for improving and enhancing features to JCHA’s housing software. Prior to joining the team at JCHA, Mr. Nehru served as Senior Network Administrator for largest Housing Authority in New Jersey and 10th largest public housing authority in the country.
Mr. Nadella holds a Bachelor’s degree in Accounting and holds various Information Technology related certifications.
Ken Pinnock
Purchasing Agent
Ken Pinnock has over 25 years of extensive experience in both the public and private sectors, specifically, in the fields of procurement, materials management, information technology, and logistics. Mr. Pinnock’s career with the JCHA started in 1993 as the Material’s Coordinator supervising all aspects of repair and maintenance supplies for 12 JCHA developments and 300 maintenance/trade staff. Since 1997, he has lead the Procurement and Contracts division in the acquisition of services and supplies including: supervision, monitoring and training of the purchasing and JCHA staff, all aspects of the procurement process such as development of bid specifications, proposal statements of work, solicitations, and contract execution. He manages the JCHA Procurement Policy updates and keeps it in compliance with federal, HUD, NJ State and local policies, procedures and regulations. Since 2011 Mr. Pinnock has served as the JCHA Risk Administrator where he leads and manages a team of JCHA staff to develop and analyze policies, procedures, and processes to protect, reduce and/or eliminate risk for JCHA staff, residents and facilities. Mr. Pinnock is a NJ State Certified Qualified Purchasing Agent “QPA” with a dual degree (BA) in Business Administration and Organizational Management from Ashford University.
Antoin Evans
Regional Asset Manager
Antoin Evans serves as the Regional Asset Manager at the Jersey City Housing Authority since 2016 and has accumulated over two decades of experience in public housing asset management. In his role as Regional Asset Manager of JCHA, Mr. Evans is responsible for the ongoing oversight of the JCHA’s public housing properties and daily operations, providing overall portfolio analysis and risk mitigation to the Executive Director, and supervising a staff of over 90 employees located on site and centrally. Before joining the JCHA, Mr. Evans worked as an Asset Manager with the largest housing authority in New Jersey and the 10th largest public housing authority in the country. Mr. Evans has extensive experience with the organization, development, and implementation of comprehensive resident relocation plans, participating in the successful depopulation and relocation of three properties totaling over 650 families. In 2010, Mr. Evans participated in the first Stop-Loss conversion to Asset Management in the nation. Mr. Evans is a veteran of the United States Navy and hold various certifications including: Registered Housing Manager, Certified Occupancy Specialist, Certified Occupancy Specialist of Public Housing, Certified Manager of Housing, Certified Manager of Senior Housing, Certified Manager of Maintenance, Management Occupancy and Review Specialist, and Certified Site-Based Budgeting Specialist.