Transcript of Laura Rog’s Interview

A Conversation with Laura Rog

As New York City’s Chief Service Officer, Laura Rog leads NYC Service, the division of the Mayor’s Office charged with inspiring a culture of service across the five boroughs. Her team places AmeriCorps members at nonprofits and city agencies, supports volunteer programs, and helps everyday New Yorkers step into meaningful roles in their communities.

She joined Tutors, Mentors, and the City, hosted by Kevin “Dotcom” Brown through The City Tutors, to talk about what NYC Service does, her winding path from Western New York to City Hall, why she’s so open about going to therapy, and what she wants young people to know as they move from high school into college and careers.

Kevin “Dotcom” Brown:
Let’s start with the backdrop behind you: “NYC Service – nyc.gov/service.” Who are you, and what is NYC Service?

Laura Rog:
I’m Laura Rog, and I have the absolute privilege of serving as the Chief Service Officer for the City of New York.

NYC Service is a division of the Mayor’s Office. Our job is to inspire a culture of service across New York City—where everyday residents take care of each other, feel responsible for the city, and act on that responsibility.

Every year we place about 150 AmeriCorps members full-time at nonprofits and city agencies. We also run community programs for youth, support nonprofits in building volunteer programs, help city agencies that use volunteers, and work with businesses that want to engage their employees in service. We are never short on work.

Kevin:
“Chief Service Officer of New York City” sounds incredibly impressive. How do you even get a role like that? Is it something you apply for? Is it appointed?

Laura:
It’s an appointed position, and I took a pretty circular route to get here.

I first met NYC Service from the outside—I was working at a nonprofit that partnered with them. I loved the agency and the people, and eventually I joined the team in a different role. At that time I was working under the second Chief Service Officer the city had ever had.

Fast-forward about six years. We were toward the end of the pandemic. The CSO I was working for was tapped to work on another project, and my boss, Anusha, asked if I would be interested in the role.

For the first 48 hours my answer was “absolutely not.” It was year two-and-a-half or three of the pandemic; I was exhausted, our team was exhausted, and I couldn’t imagine having the energy to step into something bigger.

One night I was out walking—because I walked a lot during the pandemic—and it hit me that I was thinking about the job the wrong way. In my head I kept saying, “I can’t do this the way other people did it. I’m not them.” And then I realized: I don’t have to do it their way. I would get to create my own vision for the office.

From that moment, I embraced it. For years I’d been thinking, “If I ran the office, here’s what I’d do.” Suddenly it was, “Oh, I do run the office. Now I have to actually do those things.”

My background is in participatory action research—that’s what I did my master’s in. You design projects where the people you’re working with help set the questions and the answers, rather than you standing above them as the all-knowing expert. That’s how I’ve tried to lead NYC Service: by listening to communities and to my team and elevating the ideas that come from them.

Kevin:
How do New Yorkers find you? Is it mostly people reaching out saying, “We want to serve,” or you sending your teams into communities?

Laura:
It’s both.

We have our website, nyc.gov/service, and every year thousands of people find us just by Googling “volunteer opportunities in NYC.”

We also do a lot of proactive outreach. NYC Service is part of a larger Office of Engagement, and just about every city agency has outreach teams. People go to street fairs, town halls—any place where residents gather—to build relationships, share resources, and make sure communities know what the city can offer them. Our goal is for people to feel that city government is something they can access, not something far away.

Kevin:
For my future résumé here: since it’s appointed, does your job end whenever a mayor’s term ends? And, important question, is this volunteer or paid work?

Laura:
The Chief Service Officer is appointed by the mayor. I was first appointed in the previous administration toward the end of that term, and when Mayor Adams came in I was reappointed. So every administration chooses who fills the role.

And yes, it’s a full-time, paid position. Our staff are city employees. We’re in the pension system, we have strong healthcare, and the kind of stability people sometimes forget still exists in public service.

I grew up in a working-class family. My parents made sacrifices so my sister and I always had what we needed. Because of that, I’m very aware of how powerful things like a pension and health insurance are for long-term stability. Public employment gives you that and lets you do work that directly helps people, which matters a lot to me.

Growing Up Working Class, Moving a Lot, and Finding Home

Kevin:
Let’s talk about you. Where did you grow up and what shaped you before all of this?

Laura:
I call myself a Western New Yorker at heart. From fifth grade on, my family has been in Jamestown, New York—about an hour and a half from Buffalo—so I grew up in snow country. That’s where my mom is from, and my parents decided that once my sister and I were school-age, we needed to settle.

Before that we moved a lot. I lived in six or seven cities across three or four states. My dad would get laid off and we’d move wherever the next job was. When we got to Jamestown, they made it a priority to stay put so we could have stability in school.

I’m a daughter, sister, niece, granddaughter. Both of my parents come from big families—my mom is the youngest of five, my dad is the second of four—so I grew up surrounded by relatives.

I’ve lived in New York City for 13 years now. I joke that “New York City is my boyfriend”—I even have a tote bag that says that—but Western New York will always be my first home. I lived in Rochester for years, did my AmeriCorps service there, got my master’s, and worked in the school district.

Education-wise, I started at my local community college, then transferred to SUNY Geneseo. That public education really launched everything that followed.

High School, Imposter Syndrome, and Soccer

Kevin:
What were you like in high school? What did you do for fun, and how did school feel for you?

Laura:
I often describe myself as “untapped potential.”

On one hand, I was a working-class kid. On the other, I was in the AP track. So I sat in classrooms with many of the wealthier kids in town. Jamestown is only about 30,000 people, but those divisions felt big.

At home we had a safe, well-kept house. My parents took good care of us. But I constantly felt like I had to prove I belonged in those AP classes and also hide parts of my background. That fed a lot of imposter syndrome.

Academically, I did enough to do well—I was a solid B student—but I didn’t always push myself because I thought, “These are the hard classes; maybe I’m not actually supposed to be here.”

The other big part of my high school experience was soccer. I played all four years. My freshman year, our school launched its first girls’ varsity soccer team, and I got to be part of that. We were new, we weren’t very good, and we played big Buffalo-area schools who usually beat us. But we loved it.

I loved the nights when it was sleeting and we were sliding around laughing, just trying to get through the game. Soccer taught me perseverance and showed me what happens when a group of girls and women support each other. Learning to trust that team and feel stronger together absolutely shaped how I lead now.

Therapy, Anxiety, and Making Adult Choices

Kevin:
You mentioned it took you into your 40s and “years of therapy” to work through some of what you felt back then. A lot of students struggle with anxiety around making big decisions, but they’re afraid of the word therapy. Can we unpack that a bit?

Laura:
I’m a huge believer in therapy, and I’m very open about it—with our staff, with friends, with anyone. Most of my close friends are also in therapy.

I started seeing my current therapist a few months before I was offered the Chief Service Officer role, and honestly it has been one of the biggest supports in being able to do this job. I get one hour a week that is just for me—where I can talk through how I’m feeling about work, family, friendships, whatever is on my mind. It’s a space where I can unpack things without worrying about burdening anyone, and where someone can help me see other perspectives.

We all go through hard things. Even the most “normal” life includes loss, conflict, family stress, big transitions. Therapy gives you space to process that, to heal, and to stop repeating patterns that might not be serving you. It’s not a sign that something is terribly wrong; it’s an act of taking care of yourself.

Community College, SUNY, and Discovering Service

Kevin:
After high school you went to community college. What did you study there, and where did you go next?

Laura:
At community college I did a social science associate’s degree. At that point I thought I was going to be a teacher.

From there I transferred to SUNY Geneseo. I entered their teaching program, got to the middle of my senior year, and realized I didn’t actually want to be a classroom teacher. I changed my major, stayed an extra year, and finished with a degree in English.

I still remember calling my mom to tell her. She didn’t say it at the time, but later she told me she got off the phone and cried. For her, teaching was a stable, understandable profession—pension, health insurance, a clear path. Me switching to English felt like I was stepping away from a safe future.

From my side, I just knew I didn’t want to teach or be a writer. I graduated thinking, “So what do I do now?” That’s when I found AmeriCorps.

AmeriCorps and Service Learning

Kevin:
For students who might not know, what is AmeriCorps and what did you do there?

Laura:
AmeriCorps is a federally funded national service program. You get a living allowance and an education award, and you serve communities here in the U.S.—it’s like a domestic version of service that’s an alternative to military service. There are a lot of different programs.

I joined AmeriCorps through the New York State Education Department and was placed at Albion Central School in Western New York. I worked out of the superintendent’s office, coordinating grants and helping teachers integrate service learning into their classrooms.

Service learning is where you combine academic goals with community projects. For example, if a teacher has to cover expository writing, their students might interview seniors at a local senior center and write up their stories instead of doing a generic essay. You’re still hitting the standards, but students are also learning about their community and contributing something meaningful.

I spent my AmeriCorps year helping districts start those programs and training teachers. Then the district hired me, and I stayed for a few years. That’s really where my service journey took off.

Graduate School and Identity Development

Kevin:
You also went on to get a master’s degree. What was it in, and how did it shape your work now?

Laura:
My master’s is in Teaching and Curriculum. I knew I didn’t want to get certified as a classroom teacher, so I focused it around youth development.

I became especially interested in adolescent and identity development—how young people become who they are. My research involved working directly with youth and looking at both the psychological and sociological pieces that shape identity.

That lens still influences how I lead. I’m always thinking about the different forces that shaped people’s lives, and how our programs can create affirming, empowering experiences rather than just “services” delivered from above.

What Young People Need to Hear

Kevin:
For students who are moving from high school to college, or from college to grad school or work, what do you most want them to hear? What’s the “secret sauce”?

Laura:
You do not need to have it all figured out right now.

When I look at my friends from undergrad, almost none of us are doing exactly what we studied. College—and even high school, in some ways—is a place to test things out. Take different classes. Notice which subjects you actually like engaging with, which conversations you want to join, which topics stick with you after class.

Life is a series of steps. At each step, you have a choice. Remember that you get to choose what you want for your life. Not what your parents, friends, or professors want—what you want.

That’s where your professors, mentors, tutors, and programs like The City Tutors come in. They’re there to help you figure out what you’re drawn to and support you in getting to your next step.

You’re allowed to change your mind. You’re allowed to take the scenic route. You don’t have to have the whole path mapped out to take the next right step.

Kevin:
Beautifully said. Laura, thank you for your time, your story, and your honesty. I appreciate you, and I know our viewers will too.

Laura:
Thank you. It’s my pleasure. What you’re doing—helping people unlock these “secrets” and seeing that they’re not really secrets at all—is so important. And if anyone listening wants to get involved in service, we would absolutely love to welcome you.