Vivian Wan, Chief Executive Officer, Abode Services
As Chief Executive Officer of Abode Services, Vivian leads one of the largest, most impactful organizations working towards ending homelessness throughout the Bay Area. Vivian has been a leader at Abode for 17 years, transforming Abode Services from a small nonprofit serving close to 1,000 people experiencing homelessness every year to an industry leader now serving more than 15,000 people a year through sustainable housing solutions. Her commitment to excellence, growth of evidence-based practices, and authentic partnerships have helped expand Abode’s impact throughout seven Bay Area counties. Vivian’s passion for ending homelessness, strategic vision, and deep understanding of its complex and impactful operations have made her uniquely qualified to lead Abode Services.
Vivian’s work remains focused on ending homelessness by embracing data and robust evaluation to ensure that Abode is pursuing the most impactful strategies, seizing opportunities to leverage private and philanthropic resources to maximize the reach of public funding, and continually expanding their reach by piloting new and promising interventions, serving new communities, and doing more of what works whenever possible. Her success relies heavily upon partnerships and collaborations with a range of stakeholders, including local government representatives, State and Federal policymakers, community-based organizations, advocates, and people with lived experience of homelessness – partnerships that help ensure that Abode’s programs are truly reflective of the diverse perspectives, priorities, and needs of the communities that we serve.
Vivian holds a Bachelor’s degree from University of California, Davis in Sociology, Comparative Studies and World Development and a Master’s degree from University of California, Berkeley in Social Welfare, Management and Planning.