Gov Business Review: Specials Magazine

Yama Paillere brings more than a decade of public-sector experience to the City of North Miami. As Chief of Staff, she works across departments to connect people, priorities and purpose, while strengthening communication, mentoring and staff development throughout the organization. Her leadership balances accountability with genuine support, helping foster a workplace culture built on collaboration, consistency and a shared commitment to the City’s mission. Seeing the Whole Organization For Yama Paillere, the work of a Chief of Staff begins with seeing the whole organization without losing sight of the people inside of it. At the City of North Miami, that means moving across departments, understanding how their responsibilities intersect and making connections visible to employees whose daily work can otherwise become siloed. Throughout her career in public service, she has developed an approach centered on four principles: consistency, purpose, organization and employee support. “One of the greatest gifts that I have is being a chief of staff, not just for a department, but for the entire city,” states Paillere. The breadth of that role gives her an unusual vantage point. She can step into a department, observe how its work is unfolding and understand how a project or responsibility connects to what another team is doing. She sees that visibility as part of the job itself. It is easy for employees to work in silos, particularly when they do not see how one department’s work connects to the next. Her task, then, is not merely to coordinate priorities but to help people understand the larger system in which their work sits. The Four Principles That perspective shapes how Paillere engages with employees. She believes consistency matters because leadership is measured not only by what happens on a good day, but how a leader shows up when circumstances are less predictable. Purpose gives employees a reason to see their work as more than a series of task