Civic Participation in the Mamdani Era: A Conversation with Hunter Alums Sideya Sherman and Ahmed Tigani

Event details Date: Monday, September 14, 2026 Time: 6:00 PM to 7:30 PM Campus: Hunter College Type: Career / Professional About this event Promoting Civil Discourse & Intellectual Dialogue Series Civic Participation in the Mamdani Era: A Conversation with Hunter Alums Sideya Sherman and Ahmed Tigani Two senior leaders in Zohran Mamdani's City Hall, Sideya Sherman and Ahmed Tigani, are alumni of Hunter's Urban Policy and Planning department. This discussion will touch on the impact of their CUNY experiences on their professional development, their perspectives on New York City's housing emergency, and their thoughts on participation and civil discourse as part of an administration dedicated to new forms of engagement and inclusion. Panelists: Ahmed Tigani is the 27th Commissioner of the New York City Department of Buildings (DOB). As Commissioner, Ahmed works across the agency's divisions to advance the agency's mission and objectives, foster collaboration, ensure operational and programmatic alignment, and strengthen partnerships with external stakeholders in order to ensure DOB is a thoughtful steward driving building safety, efficiency, and innovation in one of the world's most dynamic urban landscapes. Prior to his appointment as DOB Commissioner, Ahmed served in several senior leadership roles at the New York City Department of Housing Preservation and Development (HPD). Most recently he led HPD as Acting Commissioner. Prior to that, he served as First Deputy Commissioner, Deputy Commissioner for the Office of Neighborhood Strategies, and Chief Diversity Officer. During his tenure in leadership at HPD, the agency achieved significant outcomes, including placing more than 13,000 formerly homeless households into permanent affordable housing; approving over 31,000 housing lottery applicants; issuing more than 6,600 Housing Choice Vouchers; completing or attempting over 2.4 million housing maintenance code inspections; and financing or preserving more than 44,000 housing units, 5,000 of which were Mitchell-Lama units in FY25 alone. Since 2021, the agency also completed over 70 ULURP or discretionary actions that have facilitated, or will facilitate, the construction of nearly 5,800 new housing units. Earlier in his career, Ahmed served at DOB as Chief of Staff to the Commissioner, where he was responsible for streamlining operations, accelerating project review, increasing transparency, and developing new tools to enhance construction and tenant safety. In this role, he also helped the agency navigate through the COVID19 pandemic response. Ahmed previously served as Senior Advisor for Housing, Economic Development, and Labor in the Mayor's Office of Intergovernmental Affairs during the de Blasio Administration, working closely with the Deputy Mayor for Housing and Economic Development on neighborhood rezonings, legislative priorities, and major development projects. Before that, he worked on community development, housing policy and land use i Official event details: https://events.cuny.edu/cec/civic-participation-in-the-mamdani-era-a-conversation-with-hunter-alums-sideya-sherman-and-ahmed-tigani/