City of Birmingham
When Jamilah Woods was a kid growing up in the Collegeville community of Birmingham, she wanted to be a pilot. Though she had visions of slicing through clouds and sailing the skies, her career pivoted toward her steering a craft of different type: the City of Birmingham enterprise. Woods was recently named the deputy director of the Department of Human Resources.
In her role, she is responsible for everything operational, she said, “and it’s a lot.” Her task is to make sure things are done with excellence for the more than 3,500 city employees.
“I have a servant’s heart,” said the married mother of two, “and find joy in making a difference in the lives of the people I serve.”
Prior to her new role, Woods had worked for the Birmingham Public Library since a 10th grader at Carver High School. She started out at the North Birmingham Public Library shelving books, then went on to the Powderly location where she was assistant to the branch manager. She went on to downtown central library serving as personnel tech and then the personnel officer.
Although none of her job titles ever included being an actual librarian, Woods would often be reading, she said. But it wasn’t books about faraway lands or by literary greats. “It was always something about HR and what you can offer employees,” she said. “I knew I wanted to be a public servant.”
Woods attended Troy State University where she received her undergraduate degree in social science and a master’s degree in public administration with a specialization in public human resource management. Today, she’s using that knowledge to not just serve the library system, but the 27 other city departments as well.
On her first day as Deputy Director of HR, Woods sat in the chair of her new office and was pretty nervous. “It took me a week to get out of that,” she said with a laugh. “I had to pray.”
Now she is finding her rhythm, she said. “I am over that initial shock and every day I am learning something new.”
Woods prides herself in the role she plays in supporting the city’s motto of “Putting People First.” “If I make the employees happy to come to work and get to the root of what motivates them, they are better equipped. That helps the public as well,” she said. “Our employees are our greatest asset. I guess I am piloting, huh?”
