About the Dept. of Neighborhoods

Kym Douglas is the Director of the Department of Neighborhoods where she works to promote collaboration and engagement to resolve community concerns, tap into and enhance the potential of every Columbus neighborhood, and empower residents by connecting them with vital information as well as city resources, services and programming.

Director Douglas came to the City of Columbus from the Maryland Stadium Authority where she championed workforce development initiatives, formed productive partnerships with state and local governments, led community engagement efforts as part of a tri-county redevelopment endeavor, and bolstered internal capacity to perform additional functions. Before that, she was the deputy chief of staff for the mayor’s office in the City of Baltimore and held numerous positions ranging from special advisor to policy manager and chief of staff in state agencies in Maryland and Ohio. She launched her career in government as a legislative analyst for Columbus City Council.

She graduated from Fort Valley State University with a bachelor’s degree in political science before attending the University of Akron, where she earned a Masters of Applied Politics.

The Department of Neighborhoods Executive Team consists of the Director of the Department of Neighborhoods Kym Douglas, and Deputy Director Todd Dieffenderfer.

Deputy Director Todd Dieffenderfer

Todd Dieffenderfer currently serves as Deputy Director of the Department of Neighborhoods. Through his work, Todd is focused on how the Department can empower residents to be actively involved in their community and create partnerships to address challenging issues facing our neighborhoods.

Prior to joining the Department of Neighborhoods, Todd was United Way of Central Ohio's Senior Vice President of Community Impact and Chief Alignment Officer. In these roles, he worked to advance pathways out of poverty in Central Ohio. Todd has also served as Special Advisor to former Ohio Treasurer and Attorney General Richard Cordray, Legislative Aide to former Columbus City Council President Matt Habash and an aide in the Ohio House of Representatives.

In 2013, Todd graduated from Leadership Columbus' Signature Program. He previously served on the boards of the Central Ohio Community Improvement Corporation and the Ohio Center for Law Related Education. A graduate of Centennial High School, Todd was a student member of the Northwest Civic Association. Todd has a Master of Arts in Public Policy and Management from the John Glenn College of Public Affairs at The Ohio State University.

311 Customer Service Center

Carmen Duckens
311 Service Manager
(614) 645-3111
311@columbus.gov

Administration

Sabah Al
Human Resources Manager
(614) 645-2037
SAAl@columbus.gov

Beserat Berhane
Management Analyst II
(614) 645-3956
BEBerhane@columbus.gov

Jamie Edwards
Executive Assistant
(614) 645-1996
JAEdwards@columbus.gov

David Fox
Management Analyst II
(614) 645-7179
DAFox@columbus.gov

Gale Gray
Neighborhood Program Specialist
(614) 645-1950
GAGray@columbus.gov

Sherry Offenbaker
Administrative Assistant
(614) 645-1993
SEOffenbaker@columbus.gov 

Civil Rights Investigations

Pedro Mejia
Neighborhood Program Specialist
(614) 645-8141
PDMejia@columbus.gov

Community Planning

Patrice Allen Brady
Neighborhood Strategies Manager
(614) 645-5335
PABrady@columbus.gov

Nick Plouck
Neighborhood Program Specialist
(614) 724-2040
NEPlouck@columbus.gov

Noelle Britt
Neighborhood Program Specialist
(614) 645-5449
NHBritt@columbus.gov

William I. Wilder
Community Planning Analyst
(614) 645-6943
WIWilder@columbus.gov

The Commission on Black Girls

Nicole Harper
Neighborhood Program Coordinator
(614) 645-1991
NNHarper@columbus.gov 

Rise Up CBUS!

Bruce Black
Rise Up CBUS! and Mobile City Hall Program Manager
(614) 645-8927
BTBlack@columbus.gov

Derrick Hessler
Rise Up CBUS! Community Relations Coordinator
(614) 645-7116
DJHessler@columbus.gov 

Neighborhood Liaisons

David Hooie
Neighborhoods Program Administrator
(614) 645-7343
DEHooie@columbus.gov

Stacey Buttel
Neighborhood Liaison
(614) 724-1900
SJButtel@columbus.gov

Devin Deal
Neighborhood Liaison
(614) 645-7964
DDDeal@columbus.gov

Rebecca Deeds
Neighborhood Program Coordinator
(614) 645-6016
REDeeds@columbus.gov

Katherine Cull
Neighborhood Liaison
(614) 645-5220
KHCull@columbus.gov 

Olabisi Eddy
Neighborhood Liaison
(614) 935-6375
OSEddy@columbus.gov

Lynne LaCour
Neighborhood Liaison
(614) 724-0100
LDLaCour@columbus.gov

Jesús Ovalle
Neighborhood Liaison
(614) 645-7131
JDOvalle@columbus.gov

De Lena Scales
Neighborhood Liaison
(614) 645-0699
DPScales@columbus.gov

Lisa Snyder
Neighborhood Liaison
(614) 724-5566
LMSnyder@columbus.gov

New American Program

Abdi Soofe
New American Program Coordinator
(614) 645-1952
AHSoofe@columbus.gov

Lindora Howard-Diawara
Community Relations Coordinator
(614) 645-3284
LKDiawara@columbus.gov

For media requests, please contact 614-645-1993.