Nell Colón

Nell Colón was appointed Deputy Commissioner of Programs and Community Partnerships in December 2024.

Prior to this role, she served as the Associate Commissioner of Programs and Community Partnerships, where she evaluated the performance and quality of programs delivered by the division, community partners, and contracted service providers. Ms. Colón ensured compliance with internal and external stakeholders, including the NYC Board of Correction, The Mayor’s Office of Criminal Justice, and the Nunez Monitoring team. She has over 15 years of experience in social and human services, including working as a teacher and mental health therapist. She joined the Department of Correction as an Associate Correctional Counselor assigned to GRVC, providing social services and group programming to persons in custody. Over her tenure with the agency, she earned seven promotions through the ranks of Counseling Supervisor of EMTC and RMSC, Deputy Director, Director, Executive Director, Assistant Commissioner, Associate Commissioner, and now Deputy Commissioner.

In this role, Ms. Colón will report directly to the First Deputy Commissioner and oversee all mandated and non-mandated services and programs afforded to individuals in the Department’s care. She will establish performance metrics to evaluate the effectiveness of programs, recommend procedural and programmatic improvements, and lead the planning and design of research and program evaluation initiatives across the department.

Ms. Colón earned her Master of Arts in Clinical Counseling and Dance/Movement Therapy from Columbia College of Chicago and a Bachelor of Arts from Rutgers University.