The Team

Azul (they/them) will have the opportunity to engage deeply with affordable housing residents and developers alike to support voter registration and engagement. Azul believes in elevating the voices of community members to ensure affordable housing is accessible and equitable.

Prior to joining NPH, Azul worked at MEDA, a direct service nonprofit focused on cultural place keeping and affordable housing in San Francisco’s Mission District. Azul managed the Artist’s Accessing Affordable Housing program and supported folks in renting and purchasing below market rate units through MOHCD & HUD programs. Azul is interested in advancing affordable housing opportunities for marginalized communities and believes in the power of intergenerational wealth building.

Azul is proud to be a Queer/NB, first generation Latinx professional from la frontera de Baja California. They hold a B.S. in Community and Regional Development from UC Davis. In their free time, Azul loves to travel, be a brujx and spend time with their partner.

azul@nonprofithousing.org

415.989.8160

Amie joined NPH as the Executive Director in January 2015 after more than 20 years in affordable housing and community development. Amie has led NPH’s strategic growth into new, groundbreaking electoral strategy; campaigns to grow public support and drive public will for affordable housing; and programs to strengthen the affordable housing industry and movement. Under her leadership, NPH has secured significant new resources for Bay Area affordable housing investments — winning more than $2 billion from three Bay Area County measures in November 2016 and more than $6 billion from the statewide and local measures in 2018. She grew NPH’s regional partnerships and legislative policy advocacy in Sacramento, resulting in collective regional and state wins including the Historic Housing Package of 2017, the CASA compact backed by a multi-sector coalition, and the 2019 3Ps legislative package of 10 state and regional bills that promote the holistic 3Ps framework of Production, Preservation, and Tenant Protections. Under Amie’s direction, NPH has grown capacity building programs for the industry and movement, including new affordable housing resident voter programs, launching the Bay Area Housing Internship Program (BAHIP,) and the development of an industry-wide Racial Equity Action Plan.

Prior to NPH, Amie served as the Executive Director of East Bay Housing Organizations for almost nine years, where she initiated major affordable housing advocacy campaigns, launched a resident organizing program, and grew their membership and coalition work. Amie also worked as the Director of Supportive Housing at Mission Housing Development Corporation for 10 years, directing supportive housing programs and community organizing collaborations for homeless and formerly homeless adults and families.

Amie holds an MPA in public policy analysis with a focus on affordable housing and community development from the Wagner School of Public Service at NYU.

 

amiefishman@nonprofithousing.org

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Pedro directs NPH’s legislative and regulatory advocacy, working closely with state legislators and elected officials to make the Bay Area a more affordable place to live. In his first year, he successfully shepherded reform of California’s Surplus Land Act, through AB 1486 (Ting), to prioritize surplus public lands for affordable housing, and led our work on a $500 million expansion of the state’s low-income housing tax credits through AB 10 (Chiu) and zoning reform to build more homes through SB 50 (Wiener). Pedro also oversees NPH’s regional work having championed the incorporation of an affordable housing-focused Action Plan for the region’s 25-year Plan Bay Area and authored “On Track Together,” NPH’s plan for linking transportation and affordable housing investments. Before joining NPH, Pedro worked with the Association of Bay Area Governments (ABAG) on Plan Bay Area, documenting the region’s housing issues and trends, and creating technical resources for local government. Prior to that, he worked as a policy advisor for two San Francisco Supervisors and founded El Proyecto Voz Latina, a grassroots organization focused on Latino voting and representation.

Pedro holds a B.A. in Politics from Whitman College and a Master’s in Public Policy from Harvard University.

 

pedro@nonprofithousing.org

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Alina joins NPH to develop strategic communications in support of the organization’s advocacy and policy goals and lead communications collaboratives in developing coordinated messaging and aligned outreach opportunities. She comes to NPH after working with affordable housing advocates in Santa Clara County to support public outreach and engagement, building momentum with a successful Affordable Housing Week and culminating with the passage of 2016’s Measure A for Affordable Housing campaign.

Before joining our affordable housing community in Northern California, Alina worked in Oregon to develop and implement strategic communications campaigns in support of economic and social justice issues. Prior to her work as a consultant, Alina served as the Communications and Research Manager at Our Oregon, managing communications across diverse coalitions and developing digital and media campaigns to support legislative and ballot measure campaigns. She managed  The Sockeye, Oregon’s progressive blog, from 2011- 2014.

Alina graduated cum laude from the College of William & Mary with a B.A. in English and holds a Master’s degree in Public Administration from Portland State University.

 

alina@nonprofithousing.org

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With over six years in the marketing, advertising and communications world, working with consignment and clothing retailer Crossroads Trading Company, Londre has been on the forefront of the field’s transition in the digital sphere. Londre has worked to hone his skills in the industry by utilizing paid digital advertising and organic placements via social media and managing company reputation through Yelp and direct customer emails. More recently he has built his skills to include overseeing email marketing strategies, blog content and implementing editorial calendars to better organize company wide marketing efforts.

Londre has a BA in Communication with an option in Media Production from California State University, East Bay.  While attending the university, Londre was pivotal in creating and growing a digital presence for Cal State East Bay’s housing department by implementing and managing the department’s social media platforms.

 

londre@nonprofithousing.org

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Monica joins NPH to lead the Bay Area Housing Internship Program (BAHIP) and to maintain a racial equity focus on NPH’s member programs and organizational work. Before joining NPH, she administered the Neighborhoods programs and the Below Market-Rate Housing program for the City of Mountain View. She started her housing career at nonprofit organizations in Seattle working on racial equity initiatives and affordable housing development. While there, she had the opportunity to help launch a program to provide tiny houses for people experiencing homelessness. She is a San Francisco native who has dedicated her career to encouraging equitable development and affordable housing for all.

Monica holds a B.A. in Liberal Arts from Soka University of America with an urban anthropology focus and a Master of Urban Planning degree from the University of Washington with a focus on affordable housing development.

 

monica@nonprofithousing.org

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Morgan is excited to be a part of the NPH team as the Program and Events Associate. She will help coordinate and organize NPH’s trainings, programs, and signature events, including the Annual Affordable Housing Conference and Affordable Housing Leadership Awards. Morgan brings experience in event planning, management, and operations — most recently, as Sales Manager for event services at the San Francisco Marriott Marquis. Before joining The Marriott, she moved from Michigan to the Bay Area to start her career in event execution. Morgan has a strong passion for bringing people together in an inclusive and diverse environment. She’s very happy to join a team that strives to educate and advocate for affordable housing for everyone. Morgan holds a degree in Hospitality and Tourism Management from Grand Valley State University.

morgan@nonprofithousing.org

415.989.8160

Peggy leads the team that manages NPH’s operational and programmatic work, including fundraising, capacity building programs, fiscal management and human resources, and office management. She joined NPH in 2007 as the Grants Manager and became the Deputy Director in 2012. Peggy also plays a key role in two of NPH’s new capacity building programs – the Bay Area Housing Internship Program (BAHIP) and our new work to increase racial equity and inclusion in the affordable housing sector and movement.

Prior to joining NPH, Peggy worked at the Chinatown Community Development Center, a San Francisco nonprofit that develops, owns, and operates affordable homes across the city as well as organizes the community to focus on tenants rights, affordable housing, and transportation justice in San Francisco’s Chinatown. At Chinatown CDC, Peggy started as the Executive Assistant, supporting the Executive Director, Deputy Director, and Board of Directors, and later became the Grants Associate. Peggy is also a former board member of the East Bay Housing Organizations (EBHO) and the Coalition on Homelessness San Francisco.

 

peggy@nonprofithousing.org

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Verna is thrilled to be on board at NPH. She brings story design, content production, and fluff cutter skills to help NPH’s audiences take affordable housing issues to the next level.

She loves inspiring folks to click call-to-action buttons, open up pocketbooks, and sign the dotted line — with compelling story, visuals, and interactive tools. Her biggest pet peeve is when good work gets buried under fluff. She honed her impatience for cognitive overload entrepreneurially in various story-focused businesses. At her latest venture, Field Station Media (a video production company), Verna helped innovative companies and organizations get acquired, raise brick-and-mortar funding, and be seen on national networks. In crafting video for EBALDC and the Unity Council, and creating BACLT’s web design and copy, she discovered a passion for affordable housing. It reconnected her to earlier years capturing grassroots leaders’ stories in the Bay Area’s most marginalized communities, as cofounder/principal of See Change Evaluation. A West Berkeley resident since 1998, she’s been alarmed by the impact of displacement in her own neighborhood. Her goal in the 2020s is to fight despair with actionable hope for changemakers at large — visually, verbally, viscerally.

Verna’s been questioning worldviews ever since inhabiting the .02% Asian population in New Mexico and wondering what it was like to not be Asian. Her Stanford M.A. work in Cultural Anthropology empowered her to ask people nosy questions about how they make sense of themselves through media. Her Sweetie, dogs, classical trio Cavercaphoto, and lovingkindness meditation group keep her feet on the ground when she gets too far in the clouds.

 

verna@nonprofithousing.org

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Hilda helps manage all things administration and operations at our NPH office. She is a motivated member of our team and is very excited to join NPH after making a life change to pursue a passion of volunteer work and nonprofit support. She most recently tutored and taught essay writing to high school students via 826LA, Echo Park.

Before joining NPH, Hilda worked in account, event, and office management at San Francisco startups. She has a strong background in writing and editing, and has worked in freelance copy and content writing for 5 years.

Hilda studied Journalism and rowed Division I crew at Gonzaga University, and studied Broadcasting at San Francisco State University. She lives in San Francisco with her partner and two dogs.

 

hilda@nonprofithousing.org

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Beilul joins NPH as the policy associate who will support NPH’s legislative and regulatory advocacy. Before NPH, Beilul worked as a project manager at NeighborWorks Sacramento, building affordable homeownership in Sacramento and surrounding regions. Beilul also advocated for enforcement of the Surplus Land Act in Sacramento as a member of the Environmental Council of Sacramento (ECOS). She grew up in Hercules, CA in Contra Costa County and has a B.A. in Public Policy from Brown University.

beilul@nonprofithousing.org

415.989.8160

Rodney Nickens joins NPH as a member of our policy team, where he is excited to support our regional advocacy work, build coalitions across the Bay Area and conduct policy research to make the Bay Area a more affordable place to live. He is especially looking forward to advancing progressive affordable housing policy advocacy and campaign initiatives to achieve racial justice in Northern California and move NPH’s state legislative priorities to advance affordable and market-rate housing production, preservation of affordable homes, and protect tenants from displacement.

Before joining NPH, Rodney worked at Public Advocates, where he provided leadership on a number of affordable housing campaigns, working directly with lawyers, community organizers, and low-income residents to advocate for aggressive implementation of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing Rule. Rodney has also worked as a Legislative Aide in the California State Senate, as a Field Organizer for a gubernatorial campaign, and as a Legal Extern at the California Department of Justice in the Office of the Attorney General.

Rodney holds a BA in History from UC Merced, an MA in African-American Studies from UCLA, and a JD from the University of California, Hastings College of the Law.

rodney@nonprofithousing.org

415.989.8160

Rachel joined NPH in 2015 to manage all accounting aspects, including financial reporting for management and the board, and audit requirements and reports. Rachel thrives on streamlining and organizing systems to create more meaningful financial reporting. She has been a full charge bookkeeper/accountant for a variety of small businesses in a number of different industries since 2002 and has been working in the nonprofit sector since 2009. Rachel also works part time at The Leakey Foundation  and Global Footprint Network. She previously has worked seven years in the financial markets as a licensed associate and five years as an office manager. A Maine native, Rachel moved to the Bay Area in September 2010 and lives with her partner and son.

Rachel holds a BA in Business Administration from the University of Southern Maine.

rachel@nonprofithousing.org

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A seasoned political consultant, JR Starrett has directed winning campaign programs across the country on the municipal, state and federal levels. Recognized in 2014 as a Rising Star by Campaigns and Elections magazine, JR has worked with a number of progressive candidates to develop winning electoral strategies in an effort to better communities throughout the country. JR most recently served as the Senior Director of State Government Affairs for Common Sense Media. In this capacity, JR led state legislative and political advocacy efforts in policy areas that affect children’s access to digital literacy education.

JR is excited to join the NPH team knowing the impact affordable housing has on the communities throughout the Bay Area. He looks forward to bringing his passion for movement building to this issue and working with the many community organizations, advocates, and NPH members to build upon our recent electoral success.

JR currently lives in San Francisco with his wife Morgan, son Henry, and dog Lucky. JR is a frequent contributor to Campaigns and Elections Magazine, contributing to the Campaign Insider column.

JR@nonprofithousing.org

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Estephanie organizes, manages, and leads NPH’s signature events, including the Annual Affordable Housing Leadership Awards and Annual Affordable Housing Conference. Additionally, Estephanie manages and develops critical ongoing professional development and capacity building programs that support NPH members and affordable housing professionals, including the Brown Bag Training Series, the Resident Services Professional Development Training Series, and the Emerging Leaders Peer Network (ELPN). Since joining NPH in 2016, Estephanie has organized NPH’s largest Annual Awards and Conference to date, and continues to be an integral member of the operations team.

Before joining the NPH team, Estephanie worked with Hamilton Families to provide case management and to develop youth programs supporting formerly homeless families and youth. Prior to that, Estephanie managed an at-risk youth program in SF’s South of Market, oversaw oversaw youth services, connected newly migrated families with local resources.

Estephanie holds a B.A. in Politics from the University of San Francisco.

estephanie@nonprofithousing.org

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Daniel is thrilled to be a part of the NPH team, where he will help coordinate fundraising activities and membership engagement. Before joining NPH, Daniel worked in community reentry for the formerly incarcerated, where he managed fund development and took a special interest in addressing barriers to safe and secure housing faced by young people with a history of incarceration.

Daniel earned a BA in International Studies from the University of Iowa and a Master of International Affairs degree from UC San Diego’s School of Global Policy and Strategy.  He is an AmeriCorps and community college alumnus and the proud holder of a GED.

daniel@nonprofithousing.org

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