STATEN ISLAND — After a 45-year career at the Staten Island Developmental Disabilities Services Office (DDSO) and years of active service with our union, Jeanette Mitchell is retiring.
Born in a small Georgia town in the 1960s and raised in a tight-knit family of 28 grandchildren, Mitchell brought Southern grit and heart to everything she touched in her career at the Staten Island DDSO and as president of our union’s Staten Island DDSO Local.
Mitchell began her journey at Staten Island DDSO as a direct support professional, eventually rising to serve three terms as union president.
Known for her open-door policy and fierce dedication to fairness, Mitchell was a lifeline to members, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic.
She recalls one call from a member, who told her he felt overwhelmed and unclean during quarantine.
“If I could just take a shower and brush my teeth, I’d feel better,” he told Mitchell.
Mitchell sprang into action, using her own money to buy toiletries, scrubs, and essentials, making multiple runs to deliver dignity to homes that had none.
“I just needed to do something,” said Mitchell. “And when he called me back to say he felt better, I knew I had done the right thing.”
But it wasn’t just members who leaned on Mitchell — it was the entire system. During the early days of the pandemic, when staff were told to reuse personal protective equipment (PPE) for weeks and wear the same scrubs day after day, she confronted management head-on.
“How dare you put this on them?” Mitchell had demanded.
Her leadership helped spark emergency meetings with the state Office for People With Developmental Disabilities (OPWDD) management, ultimately leading to the acknowledgment of PPE shortages and delivering vital equipment to front-line workers.
Among her proudest memories are chairing our union’s Human Relations Committee, which brought then-Gov. David Paterson to the Institute for Basic Research (IBR), meeting John F. Kennedy Jr., and mentoring new leaders like Rondell Radcliffe, whom she confidently passes the torch to in leading the local.
She credits mentors like Abraham Benjamin and the Hunter sisters—Akisha and Shemeeka—for helping her grow as a leader and understand the rules and nuances of union advocacy
Mitchell also served on CSEA’s statewide Education Committee, the Metropolitan Region Women’s Committee, and is currently the Recording Secretary of the New York Chapter of the Coalition of Black Trade Unionists (CBTU).
A proud mother of six—Jasheva, Jermaine, Jenise and extended children Kimberly, Corey and Adonis—and loving partner to Oriel Kellerman, she now looks forward to retirement, front porch mornings and trips with her travel group, Black Entertainment, which recently took her to Africa.
Asked how she wants to be remembered, Mitchell answers without hesitation.
“As a fair and just president who took everyone’s problems seriously,” said Mitchell.
And perhaps just as importantly, as someone who never stopped showing up—even when it meant spending her own money, raising her voice, or carrying PPE boxes herself.
— David Galarza