In honor of The Quarterly’s one-year anniversary, we interviewed Roberta Koenigsberg, our Chief Administrative Officer, as she oversees, and is an integral part of, the Human Resources Department’s operations. Coming from a legal background focused on social justice, Roberta has always advocated for developmental disability community. Beginning in 1984, she worked with UCP of NYC on certain legal projects and learned a lot about how the agency functioned. At that time, she worked with our current CEO, Ed Matthews. She went on to work for another agency, but was delighted when Ed offered her a chance to return in 2015. Although she now supervises ADAPT’s HR and Compliance Departments, Roberta still provides guidance on real property and legal matters.
Even with her busy, and mostly unpredictable, schedule, Roberta still enjoys being a part of various projects and initiatives with different teams. It was gratifying for her to work on opening new programs, such as our Flushing Avenue and Pelham Bay day programs, and expanding the preschool to the second floor of 80 West End. Being part of the team that worked on the formation of ADAPT of the Hudson Valley was particularly rewarding, and in compliance, developing our HIPAA program and a new Code of Conduct for the agency has been very satisfying. Roberta has also thoroughly enjoyed working on the Quarter Century Club with HR.
When asked about connecting our community and encouraging employees to contribute to positive workplace culture, Roberta shared, “I like to start from the assumption that people want to do the right thing and so I try to find that essence in my coworkers. I think if we come from a positive place people will respond in kind ways. I also think that it’s to everyone’s benefit to learn about the people we work with. Sometimes it helps to understand that other people are struggling and perhaps we can help.”
