JASA, the go-to agency serving older New Yorkers, announced today that Wayne A. Francis will become its new Chief Operating Officer, leading operations across JASA’s 2,000+ employees that support over 40,000 New York City older adults. Wayne is joining JASA from Legal Services NYC (LSNYC), the nation’s largest Public Interest Law Firm, where he served as Chief Operating Officer. At LSNYC, Wayne was responsible for Central Operations, Facilities Management, IT, HR, Diversity, and Compliance, and led the firm’s operational efforts in response to COVID-19 restrictions.
Wayne will bring his decades of executive leadership experience from organizations such as LSNYC, Teach for America, and Boys and Girls Club of Harlem to help JASA provide over 20 different services to NYC’s seniors, from housing to home-delivered meals.
“I’m thrilled to be joining JASA and highly looking forward to working with the dynamic team of professionals that I encountered during my journey to get here,” said new Chief Operating Officer Wayne A. Francis. “It was my goal to find an organization that I could find mission alignment with, in addition to an environment that would be receptive and appreciative of the myriad skills and contributions that I’m eager to offer the communities and clients that JASA serves, in an effort to help enhance the Operations and take JASA to new levels.”
“JASA’s operations are spread across more than 2,000 staffers in Brooklyn, Queens, Manhattan, the Bronx, and Long Island, and we’re excited for Wayne’s leadership to continue delivering such a wide range of services for New York City’s older adults,” said JASA CEO Kathryn Haslanger. “Wayne’s focus throughout his career on fighting for social justice and building anti-racist organizations are important to JASA, and Wayne will make JASA stronger for both our employees and our clients.”
Throughout his career, Wayne held various senior leadership roles. Before working at LSNYC as COO, Wayne served as Managing Director for Strategy and Operations at Teach For America, Executive Director and Chief Professional Officer at the Boys and Girls Club of Harlem, and worked in the Criminal Justice Reform and Anti-Recidivism arena at the Center for Employment Opportunities. Wayne received his Bachelor of Arts in History from Hunter College and holds a Master of Science from Brooklyn College, where he graduated summa cum laude.
Wayne was hired after a competitive search process beginning with a pool of over 150 applicants, conducted using policies developed through the Belong@JASA initiative designed to ensure fair consideration of all applicants.
