Search Results for: coordinated entry

Contact HSH

For general inquiries about the department, please contact the Department of Homelessness and Supportive Housing at 628-652-7700 or dhsh@sfgov.org.

Are you experiencing homelessness? Get information about how to access our services.

Do you want to express neighborhood concerns? Learn about our response systems and the best way to get in touch.

Mailing List

Media Inquiries

For media inquiries, please contact the Communications and Legislative Affairs Team at 628-652-7700. Inquiries may also be directed via email: HSHmedia@sfgov.org

Public Records Requests

All public records requests shall be directed to the Public Information Officer in writing, who will coordinate the Department’s response.

Requests may be directed to the Custodian of Records via e-mail: HSHsunshine@sfgov.org

Participant Grievance Policy

Housing and services providers are required to have an internal grievance procedure through which complaints are handled. Program participants must attempt to resolve the issue by raising the grievance directly with the provider responsible. After a participant has exhausted the agency’s internal grievance procedure, the participant can file a grievance with HSH based on the following grounds: (1) unsatisfactory services or poor treatment, (2) discrimination, and/or (3) unfair procedures.

If a participant has reason to believe they received unsatisfactory services or poor treatment, discrimination occurred, and/or the assessment procedure was unfair, they should file a written grievance which states the following information, if known:
• The type of grievance they are filing,
• Names of all relevant staff involved in the grievance,
• Agency employing the staff, and
• Specific details that resulted in the grievance.
The written grievance should be addressed to the Programs Division Manager. All grievances will be received at: hshgrievances@sfgov.org

or:

Programs Division Manager: Housing, Coordinated Entry, or Other
Department of Homelessness and Supportive Housing
440 Turk Street
San Francisco, CA 94102

Participant Grievance Policy English

Participant Grievance Policy Spanish

Participant Grievance Policy Chinese

Participant Grievance Policy Tagalog

Subpoena Services

The Department of Homelessness and Supportive Housing accepts subpoenas for records and appearances related to official Department business only. No subpoenas concerning personal matters shall be accepted.

All subpoenas must be served as per the California Evidence Code and cannot be accepted through mail or electronic delivery.

Subpoenas must be served to City Hall, 1 Dr. Carlton B. Goodlett Place, Room 200.

Leadership

Shireen McSpadden, Executive Director

Shireen McSpadden is the Executive Director of the Department of Homelessness and Supportive Housing for the City and County of San Francisco. She was appointed by Mayor London N. Breed in April of 2021, after a nation-wide search.

Her experience and connection to communities helps the Department meet its strategic goals of serving our most vulnerable residents. Shireen has over 30 years’ experience providing services to people with disabilities and seniors, in both the nonprofit and public sectors. In 2020, she was recognized for her anti-ageism work by Time Magazine, named as one of 16 people and groups fighting for a more equitable America. She has served on several boards and committees including the Glide Foundation, the San Francisco Palliative Care Work Group, the California Association of Area Agencies on Aging and USAging.

As a member of Governor Newsom’s Master Plan for Aging Stakeholder Committee, Shireen helped shape California’s Master Plan for Aging. Shireen was appointed by Secretary Mark Ghaly to California’s Disability and Aging Community Advisory Committee. She also currently serves as a board member for Openhouse, which builds community by centering the voices of LGBTQ+ older adults. She is a founding board member for Capstone Community Solutions, which seek to help build communities through empowerment and indigenous leadership. She recently joined the Leadership Council of the National Alliance to End Homelessness.

Shireen holds a Master’s Degree in Nonprofit Administration from the University of San Francisco.

Marion Sanders, Chief Deputy Director

Marion Sanders, a public administrator and social worker, serves as HSH’s Chief Deputy Director.

Homelessness is personal to her. Marion’s mother experienced several episodes of homelessness, including multiple stints on Skid Row throughout Marion’s childhood and career in homelessness services. She discovered the core reason for her commitment to ending homelessness in response to a question asked by her professor in a social work seminar course. The question was, “Who are you trying to save?” The answer for Marion, then, was her family. Her answer now is that she is trying to save the family system.

She has spent the past decade as a systems leader and thought partner in the creation of effective programming and policy designed to remove barriers for people experiencing homelessness in Los Angeles County. She held various roles at the Homeless Outreach Program Integrated Care System (HOPICS); in her latest role as Deputy Director, she was responsible for a $30 million+ portfolio of services, including government and private funders. Marion is one of the original architects of the South LA Coordinated Entry System (CES). She developed the SPA 6 Demographic Report to monitor what homelessness looked like in South LA and keep stakeholders informed.

In 2022, she completed a policy fellowship with Urban Leader Fellows, working with the State of Indiana’s Office of the Chief Equity, Inclusion, and Opportunity Officer on a plan to embed equity and inclusion into the fabric of state government.

Marion earned her Bachelor of Public Administration from CSU Dominguez Hills, her Master of Public Administration from CSU Long Beach, and her Master of Social Work from the University of Southern California.

Gigi Whitley, Chief Deputy Director for Administration and Finance

Gigi Whitley manages the HSH division responsible for Finance, Contracts, Information Technology, Human Resources, Facilities, and Data and Performance.

Gigi has worked in San Francisco government since 2006, starting in the Mayor’s Budget Office as both an analyst and as Deputy Budget Director. From 2009 to 2014, she served as the Chief Financial Officer and Deputy Director of the Mayor’s Office of Housing and Community Development, implementing the City’s first Housing Trust Fund and protecting more than $100 million in local affordable housing funding after the 2012 dissolution of the San Francisco Redevelopment Agency. During her tenure, she also worked on funding strategies for the HOPE SF Initiative and the plan to transform public housing in San Francisco. Most recently, she served as the Deputy Director for Administration and Finance at the Office of the Assessor-Recorder.

Gigi holds a Master’s degree in Public Policy from the Goldman School of Public Policy, University of California, Berkeley and a Bachelor’s degree from the University of Virginia. Prior to joining the public sector, she spent her early career as a local newspaper reporter in the Washington, D.C. area.

Anthony Bush, Chief Equity Officer

Anthony Bush is serving as the inaugural Chief Equity Officer for the Department. In this new role he will oversee all the training and equity work conducted by the department. His appointment underscores HSH’s commitment to ensuring equity within the homelessness response system.

Most recently, Anthony was the Director of Diversity and Inclusion at St. Joseph’s Prep, an all-boys Jesuit school in the heart of North Philly. While there, he led student and staff-facing programming that increased community members’ cultural competencies on issues of race, misogyny, sexuality, privilege, and oppression.

Anthony’s passion for social justice began at a young age but was cemented during his senior year of high school when he was selected as a Posse Scholar to attend Dickinson College in Pennsylvania. There he majored in American Studies, and further developed his interest in social justice and identity. His concentration was race, gender, and sexuality. Anthony wrote his senior thesis on how queer black sexuality was silenced in the mainstream media via “No Homo” in hip-hop culture and the DL narrative in film. His thesis advocated for Black Queers to reclaim their voice, and take-up space with increased depictions of successful and nuanced representation in the media.

Anthony is a Los Angeles native, and is very happy being back on the west coast. He hopes his intersectional experience allows him to advocate for substantive change and shift the climate of HSH to ensure our values of Compassion, Courage, and Common-Sense are executed with Equity and Justice at the heart of all we do.

Emily Cohen, Deputy Director for Communications & Legislative Affairs

Emily Cohen serves as the Deputy Director for Communications and Legislative Affairs where she oversees internal and external communications, and legislative affairs.

Prior to rejoining HSH in March 2020, Emily served as Mayor Breed’s Policy Advisor on Homelessness where she focused on local, state, and federal policy to expand and improve the local Homeless Response System. Before joining the Mayor’s office, she was the Manager for Policy and Special Projects at HSH from 2016-2019. In this capacity, she managed government affairs at the local, state, and national levels for the Department. Emily also supported the communications and community relations work of the Department, as well as serving as the Deputy Director of the Mayor’s Office of Housing, Opportunities, Partnerships, and Engagement (HOPE) under Mayor Ed Lee.

Cynthia Nagendra, Deputy Director of Planning & Strategy

Cynthia Nagendra, Deputy Director of Planning and Strategy, was recently appointed by San Francisco Mayor London Breed to the executive leadership team of San Francisco’s Department of Homelessness and Supportive Housing. She brings over 15 years of experience in designing homeless response systems and programs. She has focused her career on effectuating systems change at all levels of government using outcomes-based analysis and program design, with the goal of preventing and ending homelessness and advancing housing justice. She has worked on homelessness policy, planning, data-driven program design and evaluation, advocacy, developing cross-sector partnerships, and research in dozens of communities across the country.

Most recently, Cynthia was the founding Executive Director of the Benioff Homelessness and Housing Initiative (BHHI), a research and policy center at the University of California San Francisco (UCSF) focused on homelessness, housing, and public health, where she built an organization of multi-disciplinary experts to provide research and equitable policy recommendations to strengthen the public sector’s response to the most critical issues facing unhoused people. Prior to leading BHHI, she was the Director of the Center for Capacity Building at the National Alliance to End Homelessness (NAEH), a leading national policy and advocacy organization. At NAEH, Cynthia worked closely with federal policy makers and local community leaders from across the country to design evidence-based policies and interventions to more effectively respond to homelessness. She designed and delivered technical assistance and capacity building to dozens of communities to educate policymakers, practitioners and thought-leaders on outcomes-driven system design, data and performance measurement, and program practices. She began her career in San Francisco providing direct services to people experiencing homelessness as a Program Manager at St. Anthony Foundation, a direct services organization and later, as a staff attorney at HomeBase, a HUD TA provider. She earned a J.D. from Brooklyn Law School, where she worked on immigration, criminal justice re-entry, and women’s rights issues and a B.A. from Vassar College, where she majored in English.

Dee Rosado-Chan, Deputy Director for Programs

Dee hails from the South Bronx and is an accomplished professional with a wealth of experience that will serve her well at HSH. Over the course of her career, she has served at an executive leadership level at numerous nonprofit organizations, most recently Planned Parenthood Northern California, where she was the Senior Vice President of External Affairs.

Dee has more than 20 years of experience in the supportive and affordable housing field, having worked previously as Vice President of Housing Services at The Health Trust in San Jose, Regional Director of Resident Services across six states at Rainbow Housing Assistance Corporation and as Director of Resident Services at Citizens Housing Corporation. She briefly served as the Interim CEO for San Francisco’s own Project Homeless Connect, and earlier in her career served as the Executive Director of two alternative Jr. and Sr. High Schools in Florida.

Dee has dedicated her professional life to improving the lives of under-resourced adults, families, and children. In her own words, she considers this to be a vocation rather than work, and she is excited to continue in this vein by contributing to the vision and mission of HSH. Dee earned a Master’s degree in Public Administration from California State University and a Bachelor’s of Science degree in Psychology from Mercy College in New York.

Mecca Cannariato, Director of Outreach and Temporary Shelter

Mecca Cannariato is the Director of Outreach and Temporary Shelter with the Department of Homelessness and Supportive Housing. Originally from San Diego, she has over two decades of work experience in social services in both nonprofit and government sectors all in San Francisco. Mecca began at Haight Ashbury Free Medical Clinic, where she assisted in triaging youth and adults living with mental health, substance use, and complex medical diagnoses. She has also worked at Positive Resource Center and Lutheran Social Services, running housing sites, such as permanent supportive housing, substance-use treatment programs, and a domestic violence safe house. Most recently she worked for the Department of Public Health as the Program Director of the Windsor Hotel in the Tenderloin. During that time she worked with a multidisciplinary team of case managers and nurses to ensure formally homeless clients have a safe and healthy place to call home.

Mecca has dual graduate degrees from San Francisco State University; a Masters in Public Administration with an emphasis on Urban Public Policy, and a Masters in Social Work with an emphasis on clinical work. She has served in a volunteer capacity on the Board of Directors of TARC, Tenderloin AIDS Resource Center, Coalition of Clinical Social Work, and the Northern CA Chapter of the American Association for Psychoanalysis in Clinical Social Work. Mecca very much enjoys working for the Department of Homelessness and Supportive Housing and values its focus and dedication to ending homelessness.

Nikon Guffey, HSH Director of Coordinated Entry, Prevention and Problem Solving

Nikon Guffey is the Director of Coordinated Entry, Prevention, and Problem Solving. She is a Bay Area native who grew up in San Francisco and the Peninsula. She began with the San Francisco Human Services Agency and has over two decades of work experience in social services, as well as non-profit experience as a mental health wellness coordinator. During her time with the San Francisco Human Services Agency she worked closely with family, youth, and young adults and co-lead many dynamic teaming structures, which include the Multi-Agency Services Team (MAST) and the Commercially Sexually Exploited Children (CSEC) Steering Committee for Family and Children Services. Nikon has also guest lectured at the University of San Francisco, Peralta College, and the College of Marin.

Nikon holds a bachelor’s degree from San Francisco State University in social work; a master’s degree in clinical social work; and is a licensed clinical social worker (LCSW). Nikon values collaborative work and believes that with partnership housing insecurity can be rare, brief, and one-time.

Salvador Menjivar, Director of Housing

Salvador Menjivar currently serves as the Director of Housing for the Department of Homelessness and Supportive Housing. In his position he oversees a portfolio of over 8,000 units of Permanent Supportive Housing and hundreds of housing subsidies under the Rapid Rehousing Program. He also oversees the Housing Ladder program and leads both the Family and Youth Implementation teams within HSH.

Prior to HSH Salvador spent 11 years in the position of Executive Director at Beneficial State Bank Foundation, a socially responsible bank specializing in providing loans that promote affordable housing, renewable energy and financial services in low-income communities. From 1997 to 2007, Salvador served as Executive Director of Hamilton Families in San Francisco, where he pioneered Housing First and Rapid Re-Housing programs for homeless families and individuals. He became a passionate advocate for housing solutions for low income and homeless people during his time as Housing Director and Service Director at Catholic Charities. Salvador holds a degree in Economics and Politics New School University in New York and an M.B.A from the University of San Francisco. He has received several awards, including a local award from the Full Circle Fund for innovation in the development of affordable housing, and a National Achievement Award from the National Alliance to End Homelessness for his work on ending homelessness for families and children. During the last two decades Salvador has served on several Boards of Directors and City Commissions in the cities of San Francisco and Berkeley.

Meet the Commissioners

Dr. Jonathan Butler, Chair is a research faculty member in the Department of Family and Community Medicine and the Center for the Study of Adversity and Cardiovascular Disease (NURTURE Center), Department of Medicine, Cardiology Division at the University of California San Francisco (UCSF). He is the associate director of UCSF’s Black Health Initiative. He is the 1st Vice-President and Health Committee Chair of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) San Francisco Branch. He is Young Professional Board member of the American Heart Association Greater Bay Area. He is a former appointed member and co-chair of the Sugary Drink Distributors Tax Advisory Committee (SDDTAC) of San Francisco representing the medical institution seat.

He is an associate minister at the historic Third Baptist Church of San Francisco, the executive director of the San Francisco African American Faith Based Coalition and San Francisco Students’ Back on Track Tutoring program.

Dr. Butler earned his Masters of Divinity and Doctor of Philosophy in Sociology at Howard University. He earned his Bachelor’s of Business Administration from the Jesse H. Jones School of Business at Texas Southern University in Houston, Texas. He is also an avid reader, habitual gym-goer, and lover of music.

Bevan Dufty, Vice-Chair began a 40-year public service career in 1976 when he joined the staff of legendary Brooklyn Congresswoman Shirley Chisholm (D-NY), the first African-American woman elected to Congress and 1972 Presidential candidate.

Bevan then became Chief Legislative Assistant to freshman Rep. Julian Dixon (D-CA) in 1979. Dixon served on the House Appropriations Committee and led the effort to fund the Metro Red Line, returning rail transit to Los Angeles.

Over the next eight years, Bevan coordinated the Southern California delegation’s efforts to appropriate Metro Rail funding and then served from 1989-1993 leading all federal affairs for the LA Metro agencies.

In 1993, Bevan returned to the Bay Area (he graduated from Menlo-Atherton H.S. and UC Berkeley) and helped his friend, Susan Leal, win appointment to the San Francisco Board of Supervisors. This began a 23-year City Hall career, including Legislative Aide to Supervisor Leal, Director of Neighborhood Services for Mayor Willie Brown, and his election to the Board of Supervisors for two terms (2002-2011) representing District 8.

From 2012-2015, Bevan served as Director of HOPE for the City and Mayor Lee, to innovate the City’s response to homelessness and he established the Navigation Center model and helped lead the effort that has housed over 500 formerly homeless veterans in San Francisco. Bevan partnered with Larkin Street Youth Services to open the Castro Young Adult Housing program that continues today at the Perramont Hotel. Bevan has worked extensively with families helping them to overcome hurdles and barriers in the below-market rent and SF Housing Authority housing placements.

In 2016, Bevan was elected to the BART Board of Directors representing the East Side of San Francisco and he was re-elected in 2020. Bevan has supported new approaches to engage with and help unhoused individuals such as the Ambassador program and addition of Crisis Intervention Specialists.

Bevan was born in New York City. His Father was a newspaperman and later co-authored “Lady Sings the Blues” with Bevan’s godmother, Billie Holiday. His Mother, Maely, managed Jazz musicians and worked in the Civil Rights Movement for A. Philip Randolph and the 1963 March on Washington.

Bevan is the proud parent to Sid Goldfader-Dufty along with co-parent, Rebecca Goldfader, NP.

Katie Albright is an attorney and children’s advocate with more than twenty-five years of legal and non-profit executive experience.

She served as the CEO and President of Safe & Sound for the past sixteen years, joining at the time it was called San Francisco Child Abuse Prevention Center. She now serves as Senior Advisor to focus on statewide policy to improve the well-being of children and families in California. Safe & Sound is a SF-based non-profit dedicated to improving the safety, health, and well-being of children and families through service, education, collaboration, and advocacy.

Katie’s prior experiences include SF Deputy City Attorney representing our public schools; SF Education Fund Policy Director leading a campaign to improve teacher quality and increase student retention; and, Preschool California Co-Director of Policy & Outreach campaigning statewide for universal preschool. Prior to serving as an associate at Latham & Watkins and clerking for the United States District Court in Maryland, she co-founded and taught in the Kayole-Gitau Nursery School & Community Center in Nairobi, Kenya. Katie earned her B.A. in History graduating with honors from Williams College and J.D. as a Public Interest Law Scholar graduating cum laude from Georgetown University Law Center. She is an inaugural Ascend Fellow with The Aspen Institute, received a Social Entrepreneurship SEER Fellowship at Stanford University, and served as Chair of the Board of Trustees of SF University High School. She was recently named as Commissioner to the SF Homeless Oversight Commission, and previously served on the boards of NARAL Pro-Choice America, NARAL Pro-Choice California, Planned Parenthood Golden Gate, SF Board of Appeals, SF Juvenile Probation Commission, and SF Day School.

Dena Aslanian-Williams immigrated to San Francisco from Tehran Iran as a teenager and fell immediately in love with this city. After attending Lincoln High School in the Sunset, she enrolled at City College and San Francisco State before entering the working world.

She has, in her long business career managed and owned exercise studios, coffee shops, restaurants and athletic clubs in many parts of San Francisco and the Peninsula ending her career in management with the prestigious Western Athletic Clubs.

Since 2001 she has been a full-time Realtor, first with Coldwell Banker, then Pacific Union and now Compass.
One of the things that Dena learned from her Armenian parents, is to give back wherever she is planted.
To that end she got involved in her Forest Hill Neighborhood Association and board, serving as a Director. She has been a delegate from her neighborhood to the West of Twin Peaks Central Council eventually serving as Vice President and President of that body in 2020, 2021 and 2022. (West of Twin Peaks represents 20 neighborhoods on the West Side of San Francisco.)

Giving back to her industry, Dena immediately became involved in Women’s Council of Realtors eventually serving as President Elect and President of the local chapter and District Vice President of the California State Chapter. For the past decade she has been a member of San Francisco Association of Realtors Governmental Relations Committee serving as chair and vice chair
in 2021 and 2022. She is currently running as a Director for the San Francisco Association of Realtors.

Ms. Aslanian Williams is also elected for the second time to the board of directors of Mount Davidson Cross and Genocide Memorial, owned by the Council of Armenian American Organizations.

Dena was appointed to the Commission on Homelessness and Supportive Housing by Mayor London Breed; her appointment was unanimously approved by all 11 members of the Board of Supervisors. Her position fills the seat reserved for someone representing neighborhoods and small businesses.

Dena is a widow, having lost her husband to cancer a few years ago, she has an adult son who lives in Puebla Mexico.

Christin Evans is a small business owner and homeless advocate. In 2018, Commissioner Evans served as a legal proponent for Our City Our Home (Proposition C) which raises approximately $300 million annually for housing, behavioral health, homeless prevention and shelter. She has been a volunteer with the Coalition on Homelessness and has observed over 100 encampment resolutions and sweeps. As owner of Booksmith and Alembic in the Haight-Ashbury, she has worked with local outreach workers to help homeless folks connect with appropriate resources in her community.

Joaquin Guerrero is a mediator, and housing justice advocate. Born in Mexico, Joaquin immigrated to Vancouver, BC before moving to San Francisco to work on gender and housing justice initiatives. As the Inaugural Director of Our Trans Home SF- a BIPOC led trans housing program- he led the opening of the first Transgender Navigation Center in the US and helped to envision the “End Trans Homelessness” initiative- the first “functional zero” initiative of it’s kind for trans and gender non-conforming people. Joaquin previously served on the Trans Advisory Committee of the Office of Trans Initiatives and the City and County’s Shelter Monitoring Committee. He currently is a Program Officer for the Arlene and Michael Rosen Foundation, a mediator in supportive housing for the San Francisco Bar Associations Conflict Intervention Services, and is a Capacity Coach for the Transgender Strategy Center with a focus on professional development for TGNC, BIPOC and formerly incarcerated people.

Sharky Laguana is an entrepreneur and musician with a diverse background and varied career path. As a youth he had foster parents and left home at an early age. He experienced homelessness, eventually securing a room in a single room occupancy (SRO) hotel on Market Street, where he also worked as the night clerk for several years while pursuing his passion for music. He started a band, Creeper Lagoon, which signed a major label recording agreement in the late 90s, but after a few rollercoaster years the band broke up in 2001. After working another series of entry level jobs, Sharky started a small business called Bandago in 2003, which rents passenger vans to touring musicians. He continues to run the company to this day. In 2019, he was appointed by Mayor Breed to the Small Business Commission, and was elected President of the commission by his fellow commissioners for each of the following three years 2020-2022. He also served on the Economic Recovery Task Force in 2020, and the Prop K committee in 2022. He was appointed by Mayor Breed to the Homeless Oversight Commission in 2023.

Vacancies in Permanent Supportive Housing

Permanent supportive housing (PSH) is long-term affordable housing with support services. On a given night, HSH houses over 9,000 individuals in PSH. Some PSH is site-based in specific buildings, while other PSH units are located in scattered sites across the city. Get more information about HSH’s housing programs and access an inventory broken out by housing and household type.

Vacancies happen when tenant leaves a PSH unit or when a new unit comes online. Tenants may move to other housing options, pass away, or, in rare cases, abandon their unit. HSH works with providers to minimize the number of vacancies and length of time that units are vacant.

Vacancy Data

The first dashboard shows details about the number and status of vacant units in site-based PSH for the most recently reported month.

Some of these units are online and available for referral.

Some units are online and have a referral pending – a client is on the path to move in.

Other units are held offline for maintenance, inspection, or other reasons and are not available for referrals.

When sites are opening units, we count these buildings as being in lease-up phase for the first four months after tenant move-ins start.

The second dashboard shows how many units have been vacant each month since January 2022. Use the “Reporting Period” slider to explore vacancy data in different time frames.

The vacancy percentage is calculated by dividing the number of vacant site-based units by the total number of site-based PSH units in HSH’s portfolio. Use the toggle in the top right corner to switch between vacancy numbers and the vacancy percentage.
The vacancy percentage does not include new buildings that are in the process of leasing up. Newly opened buildings typically take a few months to fully lease up and for new tenants to move in. By excluding these buildings from our vacancy percentage calculations, we are able to more accurately monitor vacancies that result from turning over units and referring new clients.
Use the expand arrow on the bottom right bar to make the dashboard full screen.

Access documentation

Reducing Vacancies

HSH has set a goal vacancy rate of 7%. We are working to overcome the challenges that create vacancies in our system to meet that goal:

We implemented a policy to lower requirements for the documents clients need to move into housing.
We added new Access Points to increase services that support clients to navigate the housing process.
We implemented a policy outlining the length of time units can be offline for repairs.
We are working to better monitor the length of time units are vacant by improving vacancy tracking in our data systems.
We continue to improve the quality of our PSH buildings to help increase the rate at which clients accept referrals to vacant units.

Chief Equity Officer

About the City

The City and County of San Francisco is the City’s largest employer, with more than 35,000 employees in more than 60 different City departments. Through the provision of coordinated, compassionate, and high‐quality services, the Department of Homelessness and Supportive Housing (HSH) strives to make homelessness in San Francisco rare, brief, and one time. The Department provides assistance and support to homeless and at‐risk youth, adults, and families to prevent imminent episodes of homelessness and end homelessness for people in San Francisco. Services include outreach, homelessness prevention, emergency shelter, drop‐in centers, transitional housing, supportive housing, short‐term rental subsidies, and support services to help people exit homelessness.

With mindfulness about the racism and bias that has disproportionately created homelessness among people of color and LGBTQ people, HSH is committed to equity in our Department, systems, and programs. HSH is an equal opportunity employer and does not discriminate based on race, national origin, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, protected veteran status, disability, age, or other legally protected status.

About the Department

San Francisco is a pioneer in homeless services and a leader in providing supportive housing as a permanent exit from homelessness. The Department of Homelessness and Supportive Housing (HSH), founded in 2016, is a national leader in the movement to end homelessness by developing a coordinated, equity-driven, client-focused system of compassionate services while piloting innovative models, and implementing best practice solutions with measurable results. HSH’s Homelessness Response System (HRS) oversees and implements a system of care that serves 14,000 people daily. Major programs include: street outreach and service connection through the Homeless Outreach Team (SFHOT); 3,000-bed shelter system for adults and families including shelters for members of the LGBTQ community and survivors of domestic violence; Navigation Centers that provide temporary shelter to chronically homeless individuals using a low-barrier entry model; rapid rehousing rental subsidies for families, adults, seniors and transitional aged youth; the Problem Solving/Diversional programs including the Homeward Bound program which has helped 11,000 individuals return to stable housing in their city of origin; and robust supportive housing programs with over 8,000 units which provide permanent housing and services to formerly homeless individuals and families.

THE POSITION

The Department of Homelessness and Supportive Housing (HSH) is looking for a dynamic self-starter and bold leader to join our team as HSH’s first ever Chief Equity Officer. The Chief Equity Officer will report directly to the Department Head, will serve as a member of Executive Leadership Team, and will partner with the Deputy Director of Programs to develop and drive forward the key strategies of the organization. The position will supervise one Training Officer. The Chief Equity Officer will need to partner with the Deputy Director of Programs, HSH DEI Committee, HSH Human Resources, San Francisco’s Office of Racial Equity, HSH’s provider network, clients, and other stakeholders to advance HSH DEI initiatives. You will have the opportunity to create, strategize, and implement HSH’s Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) initiatives and play an integral role in creating housing justice. You will partner with internal and external stakeholders to design and enable a DEI strategy by thinking big and bringing ideas to propel HSH’s DEI work forward with long-term results in mind. After collaborating with the Executive Leadership Team and other stakeholders to develop the approach, you will lead the implementation.

The position includes the following responsibilities:

Manage and lead the development and execution of the business DEI strategy for San Francisco’s Homelessness Response System and build internal equity, in close collaboration with the Executive Leadership Team, HR, HSH’s DEI Consultant, HSH’s DEI Committee, HSH provider community and other business partners, to define priorities, goals, and measures of success.
Manage and lead the development and execution of HSH’s Racial Equity Action Plan and function as HSH’s lead Racial Equity Leader in all City and community forums. HSH’s Racial Equity Action Plan will focus on building internal equity for employees alongside work with partners and community to build equity ultimately for clients of services.
Act as a DEI subject matter expert by contributing perspective, insights, and knowledge, and taking a balanced consultative and systematic approach to enable the organization to achieve measurable results.
Provide leadership coaching to all levels of staff via one-to-one and group interactions including but not limited to inclusive leadership practices and implementation of DEI best practices in direct service work.
Develop and provide diversity, equity, and inclusion training to staff and community partners.
Influence and partner with cross functional working teams, including both internal and community partners and members, to launch timely, effective initiatives.
Define key performance indicators by developing metrics for DEI programs and processes, aligned with business and DEI organizational objectives.
Partner directly with HR Manager to develop DEI related HR metrics and assess progress against goals.
Partner directly with the Deputy Director of Programs to develop programmatic metrics and assess progress against goals.
Drive DEI goal attainment through program management and defined project plans; manage implementation activities, and develop processes, documentation and communications for program/process rollout and ongoing support.
Proactively identify risks/challenges, providing solutions, resolving risks/challenges, and overcoming hurdles to drive results.
Serve as an ambassador to partners and providers as needed for DEI initiatives.
Provide consistent updates on progress and goals to key stakeholders.
Establish and support DEI initiatives (employee resources groups, affinity groups, professional development communities, formal and informal initiatives).
Additional responsibilities as required.

WHAT THE DEPARTMENT IS LOOKING FOR

The department seeks a candidate who:

Has experience building effective multi-year DEI strategies, including full life cycle plans in the areas of recruitment, talent management, learning, and engagement
Understands how DEI strategies connect with and influence one another
Has strong project management, facilitation, coaching, consulting, written communication, and analytical skills
Has the ability to influence and partner cross-functionally with both HR, leaders, community partners and teams
Has the ability to develop ideas and perform the implementation steps to achieve results

THE IDEAL CANDIDATE:

A successful candidate will have experience building effective multi-year DEI strategies, including full life cycle plans in the areas of recruitment, talent management, learning, and engagement. You should understand how these strategies connect with and influence one another. You should have strong project management, facilitation, coaching, consulting, written communication, and analytical skills, and ability to influence and partner cross-functionally with both HR, leaders, community partners and teams. In a small department, the successful candidate will need to roll up their sleeves to not only think big, but also perform the implementation steps to achieve results.

SALARY: $59.95 – $76.14/hour; 10,339.00 – 13,197.00/month; $124,072 – $158.366.00/year

MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS:

1.) EDUCATION:

Possession of a baccalaureate degree from an accredited college or university; and

2.) EXPERIENCE:

Three (3) years of professional experience with an emphasis on implementing diversity, equity, and inclusion solutions or leading workplace diversity, equity, and inclusion programs which improves equity for staff and customers of services, including one year of experience coaching employees or providing consultation on DEI related matters.

SUBSTITUTION: Applicants may substitute up to 2 years of the required education with additional years qualifying experience. One year (2000 hours) of additional qualifying experience will be considered equivalent to 30 semester units/45 quarter units.

DESIRABLE QUALIFICATIONS:

The stated desirable qualifications may be used to identify job finalists at the end of the selection process when candidates are referred to hiring.

Two years of supervisory experience.
Experience with and understanding of the causes of homelessness and best practice solutions to create housing justice.
Experience supporting individuals reliving racial trauma while participating in DEI initiatives
Experience building a DEI strategy from the ground up, including design of roadmaps to drive incremental progress towards long-term vision and goals.
Experience in a client service or customer-facing leadership role, enabling organization to build and execute their DEI plan to achieve measurable results.
Deep understanding of societal systems of bias, and ability to apply this knowledge to invent, evolve, improve, and simplify business and HR processes.
Deep understanding of DEI analytics, including how to drive impact in recruitment, talent, and inclusion metrics.
Experience demonstrating sound judgment and working with confidential or highly sensitive subject matter.
Ability to manage multiple concurrent projects and drive them to completion using project/program management tools.
Excellent written, verbal communication, and interpersonal skills.

Applicants must meet the minimum qualification requirement by the final filing date unless otherwise noted.

HOW TO APPLY

This is a confidential process and will be handled accordingly throughout the various stages of the process. References will not be contacted until mutual interest has been established.

This position will be considered “open” until final selection is made. Candidates must apply by August 30, 2021, for first consideration. Electronic submittals to SF-HSHS-CEO@berkeleysearch.com are strongly preferred and should include a comprehensive resume.

Candidates may receive additional requests for information. Only the most highly qualified candidates will be invited to interview. Interviews may commence in September 2021. Detailed background checks and offer to the top ranked finalist is anticipated in October 2021. This timeframe is preliminary and subject to change.

Confidential inquiries and questions regarding this career opportunity should be directed to Toni Rodriguez at Berkeley Search Consultants trodriguez@berkeleysearch.com.

CONDITION OF EMPLOYMENT: All City and County of San Francisco employees are required to be vaccinated against COVID-19 as a condition of employment. For details on how it is applicable to your employment, please click here.