Profile
Dr. Barrios-Paoli came to Hunter in 2016, after several decades in the top ranks of New York City government and the nonprofit sector. In successive posts during the Koch and Giuliani administrations, she headed four city agencies: the Departments of Employment, Personnel, and Housing Preservation and Development, and the Human Resources Administration. Mayor Bloomberg named her Commissioner of the Department for the Aging, and during Mayor de Blasio’s first term, she was Deputy Mayor for Health and Human Services.
In the nonprofit sector, Dr. Barrios-Paoli was President and CEO of Safe Space NYC Inc., an organization that serves more than 25,000 children and their families. Prior to that, she was Senior Vice President and Chief Executive for Agency Services at United Way of New York City. She was also Executive Director of Lincoln Hospital in the South Bronx, and subsequently chaired the Board of NYC Health + Hospitals, the country’s largest municipal healthcare system.
She serves on the Boards of Good Shepherd Services, whose programs help youth and families in struggling neighborhoods, and SEEDCO, which promotes economic opportunity for people, businesses, and communities in need. She also served as a member of the NYC Charter Revision Commission, which completed its work in 2019.
Dr. Barrios-Paoli graduated from the School of Anthropology of Universidad Iberoamericana in Mexico City She earned her master’s and doctoral degrees from The New School, where she is a former Trustee.