To date Mayor Parker has appointed over two dozen members to the City’s leadership team
PHILADELPHIA – Mayor Cherelle L. Parker today announced the latest in a series of ongoing significant personnel announcements, as the Parker administration named its leadership team to manage education policy, a new City Representative and Director of Special Events, a Streets Commissioner and a Sanitation Commissioner.
“Today we announced our team to lead our efforts to ensure every student of any age or background has access to a high-quality education in our city schools,” Mayor Cherelle L. Parker said. “We also announced our new City Representative and Director of Special Events. Lastly, we’re doing something innovative with Streets and Sanitation, and we named separate commissioners for those duties today.”
“I went to Harvard recently for a conference assembled by the Bloomberg – Harvard City Leadership Initiative, for incoming mayors and senior city officials from across the country. I learned a piece of wisdom I’m focused on every day. ‘The first 100 days of your term will set the foundation for your success while in office. Make everyday count.’ We’re doing that every day as we assemble the Parker administration.”
Dr. Debora Carrera, Chief Education Officer:
Dr. Debora Carrera, the City’s new Chief Education Officer served the School District of Philadelphia for over 27 years, rising from teacher to principal to Assistant Superintendent. She then served the Pennsylvania Department of Education for over two years in several senior-level roles.
Dr. Carrera is a lifelong advocate and supporter of children and families. Dr. Carrera is charged with leading and implementing Mayor Parker’s education vision and agenda, which includes year-round education opportunities for children, meaningful out-of-school programs; preparing a strategy for school building modernization in concert with the School District, facilitating outreach to teachers, counselors and principals, and assisting the process of recruiting applicants to serve on the School Board.
Sharon C. Ward, Deputy Chief Education Officer:
Sharon C. Ward, will serve as the City’s newly-created Deputy Chief Education Officer. Ward previously served as Senior Policy Advisor for the Education Law Center. Ward works closely with ELC’s legal team that secured a favorable decision in the school funding lawsuit and coordinates the teams working to implement the court’s decision and bring Pennsylvania’s school funding system into constitutional compliance.
Ward served previously in the administration of Governor Wolf, as Director of the Budget Office, and also led a government transformation initiative to help state agencies use technology, data, collaboration and social policy innovation better. Ward is the founding Director of the Pennsylvania Budget and Policy Center; Pennsylvania’s premier state policy think tank and led the fight for an equitable state tax system.
Jazelle Jones, City Representative & Director of Special Events:
Jazelle Jones will serve as the City of Philadelphia’s City Representative and Director of the Office of Special Events. Jones has worked for the City for over two decades. Jones has held the positions of Deputy Managing Director and Director of Operations for the City of Philadelphia since 2005. Jones is responsible for the oversight, coordination, and execution of City services effectively, efficiently, safely, greener and cleaner for over 1,600 events annually, and chairs the Greater Philadelphia Film Office’s operations meetings for major motion picture film productions held each year in Philadelphia.
As City Representative, Jones will serve as the City’s Chief Ambassador, and will play a significant role as Philadelphia prepares to celebrate a myriad of events in 2026 including the 250th Anniversary of America’s founding.
Kristin Del Rossi, Streets Commissioner:
Kristin Del Rossi will serve as the City of Philadelphia’s Streets Commissioner. Kristin Del Rossi has risen through the Philadelphia Streets Department over the past two decades. She began her career in the Streets Department in 2003, as a District Traffic Engineer. Del Rossi became a Construction Engineer, then a Traffic Engineer, before being promoted to the Department’s Chief Engineer.
From March 2020 until now, Del Rossi served as Transportation Operations Director for Streets, in which she helped lead the direction and administration of all Department transportation operations activities and functions.
As Streets Commissioner, Del Rossi will direct and supervise core duties such as pothole repairs, roadway improvements and repairs, fixing and repairs thousands of broken street lights, and managing $225 Million in transportation infrastructure projects funded by the Biden-Harris administration.
Crystal Jacobs Shipman, Sanitation Commissioner:
Crystal Jacobs Shipman will serve as the City of Philadelphia’s Sanitation Commissioner, focusing on Sanitation’s core mission: Ensuring trash is picked up, on-time, across every neighborhood in the City. Jacobs Shipman will also be responsible for working daily with the Clean and Green Office under Carlton Williams to rid Philadelphia neighborhoods of illegal trash dumps and other quality of life nuisances associated with litter and debris.
Serving the City of Philadelphia as the Executive Director of Public Safety Programs for the Streets Department’s Transportation Division, Crystal Jacobs Shipman is responsible for leading and standing up the City’s Public Safety Enforcement Officer Program. She is also responsible for the management of the City’s School Crossing Guard program. Prior to this role, Crystal served as a Communications Director for the Department of Streets, tasked with the execution of a variety of plans and campaigns that support the Department’s mission for cleaner, safer, greener streets.
