Héctor Batista joined CUNY as the University’s executive vice chancellor and chief operating officer on July 1, 2019, bringing with him more than 25 years of experience leading prominent organizations of all kinds – public, private, nonprofit and government – that have helped the city and its residents thrive.
Mr. Batista was a trailblazer in each of his two previous positions – the first Latino president and chief executive officer in the 100-year history of the Brooklyn Chamber of Commerce and, before that, the first Latino CEO of Big Brothers Big Sisters of New York City, the nation’s first and New York’s largest youth-mentoring organization. In his eight years at BBBS, from 2010 to 2018, he expanded the organization’s presence throughout the city, opening modern new offices in the four outer boroughs, growing recruitment of volunteers there and doubling the number of children served.
Mr. Batista has devoted most of his professional life to government and public service. He began his career with local economic development organizations in Brooklyn before joining the Brooklyn Borough President’s office, where he held senior management positions in development and finance over the course of seven years. In 1996, he moved to City Hall, serving as deputy commissioner and chief operating officer of the city’s Housing Preservation and Development Department.
In 1999, Mr. Batista left government for the private sector, joining Jeffrey M. Brown Associates, a building and construction management firm, as managing director and chief operating officer. In that position, he was responsible for projects in eighteen states and an operating budget of $450 million. He moved back into the public service sector as executive vice president for the New York metro region of the American Cancer Society. In that role, he was an influential voice in the successful campaign to ban smoking in most New York City restaurants and public spaces. He next spent five years as CEO of the Vocational Foundation (now The Way to Work), a leading workforce development program for economically and educationally disadvantaged young adults in New York City.
Mr. Batista has served on the boards of St. Francis College and Bishop Loughlin High School; on Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s Young Men’s Initiative; and the Battery Park City Authority, a post to which he was appointed by Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo. He was the 2016 recipient of the Community Leadership Award at the Crain’s Custom Hispanic Executive & Entrepreneur Awards, and the 2011 recipient of the “El Award,” an honor given by El Diario/La Prensa to the most outstanding men in New York’s Latino community.