Shamis Abdi has been named chief of staff by FAMU President
Elmira Mangum. She began her post on May 1.
Abdi comes to FAMU with more than 16 years of experience in
management, operations and consulting. She most recently served as the director
of operations at the Girls Preparatory Charter School of New York, an
“A”-ranked school by the New York City Department of Education.
In her capacity as director of operations, Abdi was
responsible for the school’s financial operations, human resources, facilities
management, information technology, purchasing, event management, compliance,
reporting to the city and state and all school operations.
Abdi began her career as a human resources management consultant specializing in compensation plan design at Towers Perrin in Philadelphia, Pa. She went on to specialize in workforce effectiveness, business process re-engineering and executive coaching at Hay Group in Arlington, Va. Her consulting clients included Fortune 500 companies, quasi-government and government agencies, non-profit organizations and small businesses.
Prior to her tenure at Hay Group, Abdi served in various
operational roles at Banc of America Securities in New York and went on to
serve as vice president of capital introduction in the corporation’s prime
brokerage division. As vice president of capital introduction she helped hedge
fund managers find access to investor capital, served as the liaison for
compliance and overhauled the division's client relationship management
database.
Abdi obtained her MBA with a concentration in
leadership/management and strategy from the Johnson Graduate School of
Management at Cornell University. She obtained her bachelor’s degree in
sociology from the University of Pennsylvania.
Abdi dedicates her free time to volunteerism and is
passionate about mentoring and enriching the lives of young people. She has
volunteered in communities around the nation and world, such as Senegal, West
Africa and Costa Rica, with the goal of ensuring that students are provided
with the opportunities necessary to become well-rounded members of society.
Abdi is a two-time recipient of the National Association of Securities
Professionals New York Chapter’s Financial & Scholastic Training Track
Program "Mentor of the Year" award.