(Miami, Florida) – City of Miami Manager Pete Hernandez has announced the appointment of George Mensah, currently Assistant Director of Community Development Department to the position of Director, Community Development.  Mr. Mensah will assume his new role effective April 14th, 2008.

“I am confident that as Director of Community Development, George is prepared to effectively lead the department in providing dedicated service to the constituents of the City of Miami,” said Pete Hernandez City of Miami Manager. 

Mr. Mensah joined the department in January 2004 as a Housing Program Manager responsible for the re-establishment of our single family rehabilitation and homeownership programs. Among his accomplishments, George designed and implemented the Lead Hazard Control program, George designed the program, wrote the policies and procedures manual that was highly praised by State SHIP auditors. He successfully managed these two programs until his transition to the Property Manager position and subsequently to Contract Manager in charge of the Housing unit.  In March, 2007 he was promoted to Assistant Director.  In this role, he was responsible for Community Development Block Grants, HOME Grants, Housing Opportunities for Persons with AIDS (HOPWA), Section 8, SHIP, Inspections and overall customer satisfaction.  He has introduced business improvement processes that increase developer accountability and productivity.  He has also introduced a more transparent application process, improved customer service and he has worked closely with his staff to further develop skills, productivity and performance results.

Prior to joining the City, George worked for two years with the Florida Housing Finance Corporation (FHFC) as an Administrator of their Homeownership Program.  George also worked for Neighborhood Housing Services of New York City, a non-profit housing organization that managed housing programs on behalf of the City of New York for more than eight years.  While in New York, he was the Director of Lending and Program Services with responsibility for the management of the Multi-family and Single Family rehabilitation programs using HOME and CDBG respectively, as well as down payment and closing cost assistance programs. 

George holds a Bachelor of Science Degree in Civil Engineering from the University of Science and Technology in Ghana, as well as an MBA from New York Institute of Technology.