NEW YORK, NY — Children’s Aid today announced Daniel “Don” Shacknai as its new chief operating officer. Shacknai will serve as a key member of the leadership team and will focus on ensuring Children’s Aid has the operational and technical controls, administrative and reporting procedures, and people systems in place to ensure operational excellence. 

“Don brings a great deal of experience to Children’s Aid from the nonprofit and government sectors,” said Phoebe C. Boyer, president and CEO. “His background highlights his collaborative, teambuilding approach, which I know will add value to our ongoing efforts to optimize our operations, improve outcomes, and make a lasting impact on the lives of New York City’s children and youth.”

Shacknai comes to Children’s Aid from New York City Housing and Preservation Development, where he was the first deputy commissioner. While there, he oversaw more than 1,700 staff across seven bureaus including technology, human resources, facilities, and budget.

Prior to his work at Housing and Preservation Development, he worked at the New York City Fire Department in a number of roles, including first deputy commissioner and general counsel. He was a key executive in the agency’s rebuild after the devastation of 9/11. Shacknai also served as deputy general counsel for the Administration for Children’s Services and worked at the law firm Simpson Thacher & Bartlett. He began his career as a child abuse prevention counselor.

Shacknai earned a J.D. from Cornell Law School. He received his bachelor’s in English literature from Bucknell University.

Children’s Aid is committed to ensuring that there are no boundaries to the aspirations of young people, no limits to their potential. After 165 years of serving New York City’s children, youth, and their families, we know what it takes to ensure children and youth grow up strong and healthy, and ready to thrive in school and life: excellent education and health care, social-emotional support, and strong stable families. Today, we serve nearly 50,000 children, youth, and their families in four under-resourced neighborhoods in New York City. For additional information, contact Anthony Ramos at (212) 949-4938 or anthonyr@ChildrensAidNYC.org.