Experience

Destination: Home

• United States
• Non-profit Organizations
• 1 - 100 Employee

• Chief Program Officer

  • Aug 2020 - 3 years 5 months

  Santa Clara County, California, United States Executing strategic initiatives to end homelessness in Santa Clara County. http://www.destinationhomesv.org • Drive system solutions that prevent and end homelessness, including: o County-wide Homelessness Prevention System that serves 1600+ families annually, with 97% still housed after 1 year. Strategic direction, fundraising, oversight, quality improvement and more for an effort involving 70 employees across 20 partner agencies. Model being replicated across the Bay Area region… Show more Executing strategic initiatives to end homelessness in Santa Clara County. http://www.destinationhomesv.org • Drive system solutions that prevent and end homelessness, including: o County-wide Homelessness Prevention System that serves 1600+ families annually, with 97% still housed after 1 year. Strategic direction, fundraising, oversight, quality improvement and more for an effort involving 70 employees across 20 partner agencies. Model being replicated across the Bay Area region (annual operating budget: $16.7 Million) o Award-winning COVID-19 rapid relief effort that distributed more than $85 Million to nearly 20,000 vulnerable families through 70 networked partner organizations. Efforts continue with innovative collaborative mediation court in partnership with judges, legal services providers, landlords, and service providers o Living-wage job pathway platform for recently housed individuals to support an array of Rapid-Rehousing and interim housing providers, including rapid employment, vocational training, supported employment, and job placement and creation (budget includes $1.5 Million in braided public and private funding) • Co-Chair of the 2020-2025 Community Plan to End Homelessness, leading community-wide implementation of strategies to double the number of temporary, interim, and transitional housing solutions to serve 2,000 additional households each night, and improving the quality of life of our unsheltered residents and creating healthy neighborhoods for all. • Leading effort to shift power to people with lived experience and advance anti-racist policies and practices to address root causes of homelessness, inequity, and injustice. Efforts include creation of the Lived Experience Advisory Board to advance policies, inform funding decisions, and develop leaders in governance bodies, organizational leadership and political office, and development of grantmaking strategies and program design to address disproportionality.

• Senior Director

  • Jan 2019 - Aug 2020

  Santa Clara County, CA

• Director

  • Dec 2016 - Dec 2018

  San Jose, CA



Downtown Streets Team

• United States
• Non-profit Organization Management
• 1 - 100 Employee

• Project Director

  • Jan 2012 - Dec 2016

  Hayward, CA • Built the East Bay community from scratch, forging all stakeholder relationships, enlisting members for volunteer work-experience program, diversifying funding streams, and expanding throughout the East Bay and Central Valley • Co-Founder of a social enterprise coffee business (Kartma) as a living-wage job creation platform for formerly homeless individuals, including raising $100K seed funding, building Advisory Board, and all permitting, operations, development, partnership building,… Show more • Built the East Bay community from scratch, forging all stakeholder relationships, enlisting members for volunteer work-experience program, diversifying funding streams, and expanding throughout the East Bay and Central Valley • Co-Founder of a social enterprise coffee business (Kartma) as a living-wage job creation platform for formerly homeless individuals, including raising $100K seed funding, building Advisory Board, and all permitting, operations, development, partnership building, marketing, sustainability aspects of early-stage business startup • Led Case Management and Employment Services teams of up to 18 employees, including hiring decisions resulting in 95% retention • Procured and maintained $1.9M budget ($4.5M agency budget) pertaining to salary, programs, flex funding, administrative, and operating over 9 contracts and grants • Negotiated program proposals, grants, and budgets: met or exceeded all contract objectives related to individuals housed, regular employment found, case management hours provided and more, and grew budgets year after year across 3 communities and 2 large collaborative housing projects • Created at least 200 employment opportunities annually for high-barrier unhoused individuals by building long-term relationships with employers, and by establishing an ever-strengthening service team built on best practices and whatever it takes approach • 93% of individuals receiving services felt their participation has increased their self-worth and that their goals are achievable through the resources available, according to a bi-annual survey administered anonymously by peers Show less



Peninsula HealthCare Connection

• Outreach Case Manager

  • May 2012 - Feb 2014

  Palo Alto, CA • Made 653 contacts with homeless men and women within 12 months at 4 hours per week in creek encampments, parking garages, and street dwellings; built trust-filled relationships and connected individuals to medical, psychiatric, diabetes care, and more



InnVision the Way Home

• United States
• Non-profit Organizations
• 1 - 100 Employee

• Case Manager

  • Dec 2009 - Dec 2011

  San Jose, CA • Maintained a caseload of 25 unhoused individuals, transitioning them through the use of a temporary subsidy from shelter/streets to self-sufficiency with an 80% sustained success rate after 12 months • Consistently the top performer in data quality and audit proof documentation for strict HUD funded grant



Santa Cruz Answering Service

• Operator/Dispatcher

  • 2004 - 2005

  Santa Cruz, CA • Answered hundreds of calls daily for medical offices and various other businesses, dispatched for three local towing companies via radio. Included initial response on suicide hotline.



First Alarm

• United States
• Security and Investigations
• 100 - 200 Employee

• Service Manager

  • 2001 - 2004

  Aptos, CA • Started as emergency dispatcher answering alarm calls and notifying the appropriate emergency personnel; promoted to service dispatcher coordinating alarm system installations and repairs; promoted to service manager, overseeing two in-office employees and three dozen field technicians covering Northern California. Implemented new processes, addressed problem situations, maintained business relationships with large accounts, became NICET fire alarm testing certified, performed all day-to-day… Show more • Started as emergency dispatcher answering alarm calls and notifying the appropriate emergency personnel; promoted to service dispatcher coordinating alarm system installations and repairs; promoted to service manager, overseeing two in-office employees and three dozen field technicians covering Northern California. Implemented new processes, addressed problem situations, maintained business relationships with large accounts, became NICET fire alarm testing certified, performed all day-to-day management duties, including time-cards, reviews, conflict resolution, etc. Show less



Cisco

• United States
• Software Development
• 700 & Above Employee

• Database Administrator

  • Jun 1997 - Dec 2000

  San Jose, CA • Worked in channel marketing department, specializing in data entry and maintaining database integrity for client database containing over 100,000 records. Part of a team transferring the database from Oracle to the internet. All general customer service, technical support, and clerical duties.