Rochelle’s multi-sector career has a common thread of focusing on policies and programs that seek to identify solutions to ending the cycle of poverty in vulnerable communities. She has had the privilege to serve individuals, families, and children through work in government, nonprofit and philanthropic sectors with an expertise in anti-poverty programs that span from birth to adulthood.
Rochelle began her career at the United Spinal Association working on legislation in the areas of affordable, accessible housing for people with disabilities. While her career in New York City government extended from affordable housing to social services where she worked to guide policies and improve operations for public benefit programs including a tenure as Chief of Staff at NYC’s Department of Homeless Services.
After 10 years in municipal government, Rochelle pivoted to the philanthropic and nonprofit sector. First, she joined 100 Resilient Cities-Rockefeller Foundation, where she led global operations and strategy for the City Practice Management team and was responsible for the delivery of the 100RC core program which included leveraging global partnerships and practices to ensure successful implementation. She later served as Vice President of the US Social Impact team at Sesame Workshop, where she developed and led the scaling strategy of the Sesame Street in Communities initiative which expanded from 3 to 13 cities and regions serving over 75,000 vulnerable kids and families.
Rochelle is currently the Managing Director of What Works Cities at Results for America. What Works Cities was launched in 2015 by Bloomberg Philanthropies and established the first-of-its-kind global standard of excellence for data-driven, well-managed local government with over 200 cities in the network and 83 Certified cities throughout North, Central and South America. She is also an independent social impact consultant focused on strategic planning, analysis and public affairs for government, nonprofit and philanthropic sectors with an emphasis on anti-poverty and economic mobility policies, programs and initiatives. Rochelle resides as a Board Member of the University at Albany’s Rockefeller College of Public Affairs & Policy. She recently completed a 8 year tenure as an Advisory Council Member of the School of Public and International Affairs at Princeton University