D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser has tapped Thennie Freeman to serve as interim director of the Department of Parks and Recreation.
Freeman has over 15 years of experience leading teams and executing large-scale social service programs for youth and young adults, according to the mayor’s office. She started in the city government as an out-of-school time coordinator for the D.C. Public Schools.
From 2012 to last year, Freeman served as the associate director for the Office of Youth Programs at the Department of Employment Services. She has been credited for increasing the program’s productivity and enhancing services provided to serve young people in neighborhoods.
Freeman also worked with the city’s Marion Barry Summer Youth Employment Program and has been noted for increasing host sites and expanding the offering of a new cohort of young people. Late last year, she joined the DPR as deputy director of recreation services.
Freeman replaces Delano Hunter, who on March 30 became the acting director of the Department of General Services.
In addition to Freeman, Bowser appointed Natasha Dupree as the executive director of the Mayor’s Office on Women’s Policy and Initiatives; Nancy Hapeman as the interim chief procurement officer of the Office of Contracting and Procurement; and Michael Rupert as the interim chief technology officer of the Office of the Chief Technology Officer.