Department of Probation Commissioner Ana Bermudez. Image credit: NYC Department of Probation
Ana Bermudez was named DOP Commissioner in April 2014. Born in the Guaynabo suburb of San Juan, Puerto Rico, Bermudez grew up with her mother’s commitment to social justice and a belief that humans have a responsibility to care for each other. Bermudez left Puerto Rico in 1982 to attend college at Brown University and later Yale Law School. Originally intending to become a hospital administrator, Bermudez quickly found a passion for trial work through Yale’s public interest clinics, specifically representing children and teenagers in family court.
After graduating Yale in 1992, Bermudez first worked for the Legal Aid Society, but felt “something was missing for me” with the legal process as it was. An open position at the Center for Alternative Sentencing and Employment Services finding an alternative to family court for juveniles proved to be the missing piece for Bermudez. “A lawyer by profession but a teacher by vocation” in her words, Bermudez worked at CASES for ten years before moving on to Children’s Aid Society, eventually joining the Department of Probation as Deputy Commissioner for Juvenile Operations in 2010.
