A Life of Public Service – Meet Inez Samantha Cofield

Sep 12, 2019

Today, Dr. Cindy sits down with Inez Samantha Cofield. Samantha makes no excuses for setbacks in life. Born and raised in Brooklyn, New York, Samantha is a caregiver to her family and knows when life throws you unexpected changes, you simply work through it.

In this episode, Dr. Duke and Samantha discuss the importance of creating funeral plans for dying loved ones, before it’s too late. They also talk about the importance of continued education, knowing your value at your job, and deciding when it might be appropriate to make a career change.

Samantha is a Decedent Affairs Caseworker & Investigator for the Public Administrators Office in Queens County, New York. She’s also an Auxiliary (volunteer) Police Officer for the New York City Police Department (NYPD).

As a caseworker, Samantha works with families who have deceased loved ones, helps them coordinate funeral arrangements and executes the passing on of their estates. As a volunteer Police Officer, for the NYPD, Samantha works security for large-scale events such as the New Year’s Eve Ball Drop in Times Square and the Macy’s Day Parade. She is also an active member of the NYPD Guardians Association - a Black organization representing Officers and civilians of the NYPD. As an executive Board member of the organization, she serves as the Corresponding Secretary and plays a major a role with Social Media and Marketing of the organization (Twitter and Instagram).

Samantha attended college in New Orleans, majoring in Pre-Medicine. Due to family and financial changes, she returned home after two years. After the death of her mother, she put aside dreams of becoming a doctor and stepped up to the plate for her family while working to complete her college education. So, she went on to earn her Associate Degree in Criminal Justice-Corrections, Bachelor’s Degree in law enforcement leadership and a Master’s Degree in Criminal Justice. She continues to be ahead of the game and is currently taking courses in Cybersecurity Technology. Samantha is also an active member of the Alpha Phi Sigma National Honor Society for Criminal Justice.

 

Highlights:

• Preparing for your loved ones’ funeral arrangements while they are still alive.
• The Top 5 things that you should do in anticipation of your future funeral arrangements.
• Volunteering to help protect your community.
• The freedom of online education.
• Reaching out to potential employers, not waiting for them to post job openings.
• Breaking stereotypes.
• Is there such a thing as becoming ‘overqualified’?
• How your family dynamic shapes who you are as a person.
• Creating time in your busy life to unwind and have fun.

 

GriPSSI

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