Fire Commissioner Laura Kavanagh Appoints Reverend Ann M. Kansfield as New Director of the Counseling Service Unit

May 23, 2024

Fire Commissioner Laura Kavanagh today announced the appointment of Reverend Ann M. Kansfield as the new Director of the Counseling Service Unit. As director of CSU, Rev. Kansfield will manage the operations of the FDNY's counseling services and employee assistance programs. She will directly supervise and support the care team, oversee the unit's budget, respond to emergencies as requested, and many other responsibilities.

"Reverend Kansfield is uniquely qualified to hold this role, having served for almost a decade in the FDNY, helping members and families in their time of need," said Fire Commissioner Laura Kavanagh. "She is well-suited to be a CSU director: she's started, owned, and operated a family therapy practice, and she's served as an executive director of a not-for-profit. She is an experienced pastor and holds many certifications beyond her Master's degree, including those specializing in first responders' and disaster chaplaincy. We are happy to have her serve the Department she loves in a new role."

"I am incredibly grateful to have served the members of this wonderful department over the past nine years. During this time, I have had the opportunity to build trust and goodwill and I hope the members already know how much I love and care for them," said Rev. Kansfield. "I'm excited to build on that trust and play a more direct role in ensuring our members have access to mental health care. FDNY members keep our city safe and in so doing so, experience significant stress and trauma. They deserve the best care available, and I will work tirelessly to support them."

About Director of the Counseling Service Unit, Reverend Ann Kansfield

Ann Kansfield has been an FDNY Chaplain since 2015. She was the first female and the first openly gay chaplain to be sworn into the role. During her tenure, she has played a critical role in FDNY ceremonies – including line of duty funerals and plaque dedication ceremonies – and assisted in arranging services for deceased members of the Department. She has provided solace and comfort to Fire, EMS, and civilian families, maintained contact with the kin of deceased members, responded to major fires and other emergencies when members have been seriously injured, and visited firehouses regularly to provide spiritual guidance and direction.

In addition to being a Chaplain with the FDNY, Rev. Kansfield is also the Pastor of the Greenpoint Reformed Church and the Executive Director of the Greenpoint Reformed Church Hunger Program. At the Greenpoint Reformed Church, she provides day-to-day pastoral care to her congregation and the wider community.

Rev. Kansfield is the founding member of the North Brooklyn Homeless Task Force, the Chaplain for the FDNY Pheonix Society, the FDNY Hispanic Society, and FireFlag, the Department's LGBTQ+ affinity group. She is an ordained Minister of Word and Sacrament and is certified in disaster chaplaincy with training through Metropolitan College and the National Disaster Interfaith Network.

She graduated with a B.A. with honors from Columbia College, and Master of Divinity from New Brunswick Theological Seminary, Summa Cum Laude. She received her Clinical Pastoral Education (CPE) from the Lutheran Theological Southern Seminary.

Rev. Kansfield resides in Hell's Kitchen with her wife of 20 years and co-pastor, Rev. Jennifer Aull, and their two children.