Bay Area Regional Homelessness: A Data Sharing System to Accelerate Impact

Kerry Abbott has been working with unhoused people for nearly three decades. She helped establish services and housing programs in San Francisco, managing supportive housing sites and deploying needed services at the Tenderloin Housing Clinic and City Housing, Inc. from 1993 until 2005. She established a consulting practice in 2006, providing technical assistance and policy development in the nine Bay Area counties, working with national and local community-based organizations and government partners. From 2016-2019, she acted as the inaugural Deputy Director for Programs in San Francisco's newly founded Department of Homelessness and Supportive Housing. In late 2019, Kerry joined the Alameda County Health Care Services Agency to establish the new Office of Homeless Care and Coordination to consolidate the work within Health Care and other agencies to serve our homeless residents. Kerry's focus at OHCC has been on the development and implementation of systems planning grounded in racial equity, to improve access to services and housing.

 

 

Chris has deep experience in the field of housing and homelessness. He was the founding Executive Director of Charities Housing Development Corporation in Santa Clara County, where he served for 15+ years overseeing affordable housing development. Additionally, he was a founding board member of Destination: Home, a respected public-private partnership working to reduce homelessness in Santa Clara County. Prior to joining Tipping Point, Chris served as Founding Director of Coordinated Entry at Episcopal Community Services (ECS) in San Francisco and developed a first-hand, on-the-ground appreciation for the skills and complexities involved in direct services for people experiencing homelessness.

 

Debbie comes to Tipping Point with a background in housing finance and housing policy. Most recently, Debbie was a Senior Investment Officer at Nonprofit Finance Fund, where she financed nonprofits across a wide range of sectors. Prior to that, she served as Assistant Vice President at Union Bank, where she provided debt and equity financing for affordable housing development in Northern California. Earlier in her career, she researched housing policy strategies including accessory dwelling units and inclusionary zoning. Debbie received a BA and a Masters in Public Policy from UC Berkeley.

 

 

Cynthia Nagendra is the Executive Director of the UCSF Benioff Homelessness and Housing Initiative. She has worked in the field of homelessness for over 15 years in direct services, national policy, advocacy, and capacity building, and technical assistance. Cynthia’s experience includes working with over 40 communities across the country in order to improve homeless systems and programs, learn what works to prevent and end homelessness in those communities from system leaders, practitioners, people with lived experience, and provide guidance, training, and technical assistance to reduce homelessness. She has worked closely with federal and local policy-makers and elected officials, helped in building system capacity to provide effective rapid re-housing, emergency shelter, and supportive housing; led system-level strategic planning and design, and planning and implementing coordinated entry systems; and improving data systems to measure system performance. Most recently, she served as the Director for the Center for Capacity Building at the National Alliance to End Homelessness, a leading national voice on the issue of homelessness. Before working at the Alliance, Cynthia worked in other homelessness-focused agencies including as a staff attorney for Homebase to advance solutions to homelessness, and St. Anthony Foundation in San Francisco to provide direct services to people experiencing homelessness. She holds a BA in English from Vassar College and a JD from Brooklyn Law School.

 

Nikka Rapkin has over a decade of experience in public health, non-profit management, system, and program design to respond to global social challenges. As Executive Director of Homebase, she works with federal, state, and local partners to develop and implement policies that enhance equity of access to housing, health, and well-being for persons experiencing and at-risk of homelessness. Her work engages mainstream and public institutions in developing integrated solutions to end homelessness and supports communities of all sizes in building robust systems of care. She is a skilled trainer and has worked globally to design and disseminate best practices, partnering with local leadership, cross-system stakeholders, service providers, and program participants to translate policy to practical reality.  Before joining Homebase, Nikka was a senior litigation associate at Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe, program director at Bay Area Community Resources (BACR), and the co-founder and executive director of the International Cardiovascular Health Alliance (ICHA). She holds a BA in English and History from UC Davis and a JD from UC Berkeley.

Vivian is responsible for the day-to-day operations of Abode Services. Through close collaboration with directors and community stakeholders, she helps advance Abode's mission by overseeing all programs and securing strategic opportunities to increase the supply of affordable housing options. Vivian’s rich history and experience are a crucial benefit to the organization. She began working at Abode in 2006, becoming director of housing in 2008 before being promoted to associate director in 2012. Vivian formerly worked in the areas of foster care, hospice, and international community development. Vivian holds a Bachelor's degree in sociology from UC Davis and a Master’s degree in social welfare management and planning from UC Berkeley.

 

Amanda Wehrman is Deputy Director at Homebase, providing cross-team support and coordination. Amanda has nearly a decade of homeless policy experience working directly with communities and agencies, providing technical assistance and training on a wide variety of issues, including coordinated entry, grants management, program design, and implementation, system-level evaluation, strategic planning, Homeless Management Information System (HMIS) implementation, Continuum of Care (CoC) governance, and development of performance measurements. She has significant expertise with system redesign and integration, including with behavioral health programs and between housing and health care systems. Amanda holds a BA in English and International Political Economy from UC Berkeley and a JD from Georgetown University Law Center.

This program is open to NCG members and nonmember funder.