Biography
A native New Yorker from the Bronx, Janelle Hobson's resume shows a career dedicated to community leadership. In the past she has established and directed after-school programming for two nationally recognized non-profit's as well as working on a University lead project to improve family dynamics. More recently she has worked for two New York City Council Members representing Brooklyn as a Community Liaison and is the Project Director for Operation Preserve Community Legal Housing Clinic at New York City College of Technology.
Janelle is well aware of and in touch with the community she hopes to serve
in the future as City Council Member for the 41st District. During her tenure
with the City Council she assisted constituents with issues such as immigration,
housing, employment and utility overcharges, as well as organize special events
to introduce available resources to the local community. Through experience
Janelle knows the importance of quality child care/after-school programming,
cultural enrichment for children and learned about the difficult balance between
work and time at home that parents strive to maintain in order to have a positive
relationship with their child(ren). In addition she is in tune to the many
housing struggles Brooklyn residents are facing at a rapidly increasing pace
and the need to promote home ownership education to prevent further housing
struggles. It is all a constant battle, one that she has been a part of all
her life and a fight she is determined to overcome.
In the early 1980's, Janelle's parents left the Bronx, NY for Plainfield, New Jersey her father's hometown to provide a better life for her and her younger sister Lesley. Janelle's parents worked two jobs each to ensure that she and her sister attained the tools necessary to lead successful lives. They wanted their children to have careers they enjoyed and not jobs they went to everyday just to earn a living. They faced challenges many parents continue to face today in regards to child care, education and housing to name a few and took creative steps towards addressing them.
It was recognizing the challenges of her parents and others in the area she grew up in that encouraged her desire to influence change. Janelle attended Mount Vernon College in Washington, DC but was forced to transfer back home to New Jersey due to a lack of finances. At one point she worked as many as three jobs to pay her way through undergraduate and graduate school. Earning a BA in Political Science from Montclair State University in 2000 and in 2001 returned to her native New York to earn her MS in Urban Affairs from Hunter College, City University of New York where she has resided since.