Starting in Direct Service  

I joined the movement to end homelessness in the summer of 2010 as an AmeriCorps VISTA with the City of San Jose. In those early years, I organized resource fairs, did street outreach, worked as a case manager, and eventually designed and supervised programming. 

My plan was to stay in direct services, but in 2016, I made an unexpected pivot into government. This happened at the same time I was coming to terms with a difficult truth. From my vantage point, I was watching people get jobs and housing all the time. We were solving homelessness every single day. However, at a community and system-level, the overall numbers kept getting worse. 

I didn’t understand what was happening and felt powerless.

 Shifting to Local Government 

I wanted to learn and better understand what was driving this crisis. Fortunately, the City I started working for was on board. They let me: 

✔ Write a newsletter unpacking the underlying issues driving homelessness

✔ Convene and lead community workshops and educational opportunities

✔ Go on field trips, attend conferences, and host national thought leaders  

The insights that emerged seemed to resonate. Within a few short years, Engaging Local Government Leaders (ELGL), a local government professional association of over 4,800 members from all 50 states, named me the “Top Influencer in Local Government” for my work breaking down, communicating, and educating about homelessness, while also mobilizing community engagement around solutions.

Sharing All the Lessons Learned

I have learned so much over the years from so many different amazing leaders, organizations, and communities, and my primary focus now is creating, synthesizing, and sharing insights, tools, and frameworks to empower community transformation by:

✔  Writing a book.

✔  Creating earlier versions of this website.

✔  Developing an online training course for civic leaders.

✔  Teaching a "systems thinking" and strategy class at UC Berkeley

Your financial support on this website helps me have the time and space to continue to research, develop, and iterate new and improved resources for our movement. However, I also feel extremely uncomfortable creating a monetary barrier for any Change Maker trying to end homelessness. If you need help accessing anything on this site, please reach out.