Coalition Members
Homelessness Summit Leadership Group
Andy Brown
Travis County Judge
Since taking office, Judge Brown has significantly increased resources to historically underserved communities, including a mass COVID-19 vaccination effort prioritizing communities of color east of I-35 and during winter storm Uri directing food, water and utility support to the hardest hit areas in Travis County. Before taking office Judge Brown helped create the Sobering Center for intoxicated people as an alternative to the emergency room or jail, ran a successful law firm, and served on numerous boards and commissions. He grew up in Austin, is a lawyer, past legislative aide to former Texas Speaker of the House Pete Laney, previous campaign manager for Congressman Lloyd Doggett, past finance director and senior advisor to Senate and Presidential candidate Beto O’Rourke, past Travis County Democratic Party Chair 2008 – 2013.
Ann Kitchen
Community Leader
Ann Kitchen is a former Austin City Council member and Texas State Representative who is well versed in community health and homelessness issues. She is an attorney and healthcare consultant, currently serves as a Travis County Commissioners Court appointee to the Central Health Board of Managers.
Kitchen served on the Austin City Council since from 2015 until 2023 as chair of Mobility Committee and serves on the Austin Energy Committee, Public Utilities Committee, and vice chairs the Housing & Community Development Committee. While on City Council she championed the HEAL initiative.
Ashton Cumberbatch
Equidad ATX / McGinnis Lochridge, LLP / Agape Christian Ministries
Ashton Cumberbatch, Jr., special counsel at McGinnis Lochridge, LLP, also serves the region in diverse ways, including as executive pastor at Agape Christian Ministries, and President of Equidad ATX, a catalyst for holistic, transformative, sustainable and equitable redevelopment of Austin’s Eastern Crescent.
Bill Brice
Downtown Austin Alliance
Bill Brice joined the Downtown Austin Alliance staff in October 2003 and is currently the Vice President of Investor Relations. The Downtown Alliance has been working to address the issue of homelessness since its inception in 1993, and Bill has been the staff lead on this issue ever since he joined the organization. The Downtown Alliance’s homelessness efforts center around advocacy for improved policy and planning, leading and participating in collaborations, and directly funding new programs and housing projects such as Community First Village, The Terrace at Oak Springs, the Salvation Army’s Rathgeber Center, and a Healthcare for the Homeless partnership with Integral Care. Through its direct services team – the Downtown Ambassadors, the Downtown Alliance, for more than 17-years, has provided full-time employment opportunities for people with barriers to stable employment with a specific emphasis on employing people experiencing homelessness.
Chas Moore
Austin Justice Coalition
Chas Moore is the founder of Austin Justice Coalition, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit and grassroots, activist-led organization aimed at demanding criminal justice reform and building community at the local, state, and national levels. An advocate for the underserved, Chas champions efforts that deliberately meet community needs. Chris Harris, Texas Appleseed’s Criminal Justice Project / People United for Mobility Action (PUMA)
Chris Harris
Community Activist
Chris Harris is a native Texan, proud son, pro basketball fanatic, hip-hop head, and passionate advocate working to transform the criminal legal system. He currently serves as the Associate Director of Advocacy at the Texas Civil Rights Project. He has served as a representative on the City of Austin’s Reimagine Public Safety Task Force, and as a board member for People United for Mobility Action (PUMA). He previously served the City of Austin on the Public Safety Commission and the Police Oversight Working Group, and Travis County on the Indigent Legal Services Working Group.
David Gray
David Gray is the Director of the City of Austin’s Homeless Strategy Office, according to the City of Austin’s Homelessness/Social Service Initiatives. His role focuses on leading the city’s strategic efforts to address homelessness, aiming to make it rare, brief, and nonrecurring. He previously held roles within the city’s Economic Development, Planning, and Housing and Planning departments.
Fang Fang
Greater Austin Asian Chamber of Commerce
Fang is the CEO of the Greater Austin Asian Chamber of Commerce with a diverse background in journalism and government. She has previously served as a partnership specialist with the U.S. Census Bureau and before that she was an entrepreneur, founding ZFF International LLC, a media company producing blogs and podcasts on culture, news, and travel. She was also a co-founder of Austin e-commerce startup Big Plan Inc. and has worked at
marketing and public relations consulting firm Edelman and government news service Voice of America. Fang is a board member of Visit Austin, the Community Action Network, and the Network of Asian American Organizations.
Lynn Meredith
MFI Foundation (Chair)
Lynn Meredith, President of MFI Foundation for the past 22 years, has participated in many community impact initiatives primarily in Austin. With her strategic planning and organizational development lens, she has chaired and served on numerous non-profit boards and capital campaigns. She works collaboratively to invest in and change lives for the better in the Austin community.
Lyric Wardlow
Lived Experience
Lyric Wardlow works in partnership with a wide variety of organizations who work to end homelessness in the nation for youth and adults. From her own personal experience as a homeless youth for almost 9 years, she now consults service providers on best practices for working with people who have lived experience. Working together to push new programs, policies and legislation that will further support people who are homeless. Every day she strives for transparency, compassion and innovation to make our world a better place for future generations to come.
Mandy Chapman Semple
Clutch Consulting Group (Facilitator)
Mandy Chapman Semple, Founder and Managing Partner of Clutch Consulting Group, is a nationally recognized social systems transformation expert with skill in building working partnerships across housing, healthcare, employment, government, philanthropy, and other essential services in pursuit of collective impact goals. Mandy served as Houston’s first Special Assistant to the Mayor for Homeless Initiatives for three and half years under two Houston Mayors and was responsible for designing and co-managing the implementation of Houston’s nationally recognized homeless system transformation, resulting in a 60% reduction in homelessness in four years.
Matt Mollica
ECHO
Matt Mollica is the Executive Director of the Ending Community Homelessness Coalition, or ECHO. Austin ECHO plans and implements community-wide strategies to end homelessness in Austin and Travis County. ECHO works closely with nonprofits and government agencies to coordinate assistance and housing for people experiencing homelessness. Prior to joining ECHO Matt served as the Vice President of Housing Assistance for the Colorado
Coalition for the Homeless. He has also worked in San Francisco as a Housing Coordinator for the San Francisco Department of Public Health on the Direct Access to Housing Program and at Brilliant Corners. Matt uses his background in business administration and experience working in social service agencies to create efficient and community focused housing and service programs.
Quincy Dunlap
Austin Area Urban League
Quincy Dunlap is the President and CEO of Austin Area Urban League. He is an innovative and enterprising leader with a history of building programs and services that the community value, driving advocacy initiatives that succeed, developing messaging that inspires and delivering communications that builds bridges. He is sought after for consistently demonstrating strategic vision and effective follow through. He has a track record of efficiently and effectively managing projects and special initiatives, establishing lasting partnerships, growing the organization’s visibility and capacity. Extensive experience in the development, growth, team building and leadership of staff and volunteer personnel. Passionate servant leader and advocate, respected spokesmen, skilled marketer, and effective communicator.
Robert Lee
Pearlstone Partners
Robert is CEO of Pearlstone Partners with more than 35 years of commercial real estate and entrepreneurial experience. Robert has been responsible for over $500 million in transactions overseeing the development, construction, and sale of product types ranging from single-family, multi-family, condo, office, and light industrial. Robert has previously served as chair of the Greater Austin Asian Chamber of Commerce and has been active in the Greater Austin Chamber of Commerce. In addition, Robert currently serves on the board of Austin Habitat for Humanity, the Network of Asian American Organizations, and the Asian Real Estate Association of America.
Shuronda Robinson
Adisa Communications
Shuronda Robinson is a fourth-generation entrepreneur who actively leads civic causes in Austin and nationally. Shuronda is an award-winning public relations professional and a former journalist. She is a media and public relations expert who seeks equitable solutions to systemic issues, while working with community, business, and governments to implement programs and projects. She has served on the boards of the Boys & Girls Club, Black Leaders Collective, Neighborhood Longhorns, and the Paramount Theater.
Stephen Roberts
Downtown Austin Alliance, Clark Hill Strasburger
Stephen Roberts is the Chair of the Downtown Austin Alliance Homelessness Task Force and an attorney with the law firm of Clark Hill Strasburger.
Steven Brown
Medtronics
Clinical Specialist in Neuro and Spine Surgery. As a clinical consultant, he works with neurosurgeons to determine best practices in extracting brain tumors and other medical procedures using enabling technologies. Steven is a community leader involved in serving Austin people experiencing homelessness since he was in high school. Texas State graduate, serves on the board of ECHO and the Black Leadership Coalition. He was the recipient of the First Humanitarian Award given by HCA (Hospital Corporation of America) Healthcare in recognition of those who demonstrate a caring and commitment to improving human lives. Proud alumnus of Austin Community College and Huston-Tillotson University.
Summer Wright
Lived Experience
Summer Wright is a young adult with lived expertise in homelessness. She has worked in the third sector in Pittsburgh, Greater Manchester, and Austin and is a fierce proponent of the decriminalization of survival. Summer has specific interest in mitigating stigma and raising awareness of issues relating to homeless people, trans people, addicts, immigrants, and the sex and troubled teen industries. She currently serves as a member of the Young Adult Leadership Council, the Austin Youth Collective, the Austin Continuum of Care Membership Council, and as a researcher with the VOICE Project.
Tam Hawkins
Greater Austin Black Chamber of Commerce
Tam Hawkins is the President and CEO of the Greater Austin Black Chamber of Commerce, where she previously served as the Vice President of Corporate Engagement & Membership. Her background includes corporate sales & marketing management roles for some of the nation’s most admired companies. Although well versed in large corporate space, her personal entrepreneurial experience with commercial real estate development has left her well-versed in the needs of small- to medium-sized business owners.