Who
We Are

Lindsey is a humanitarian leader with more than 10 years of experience leading and designing programs in housing, disaster response, food stability, refugee resettlement, and immigration. She is passionate about creating a culture of innovation and compassion, bridging the gap between technology, government and nonprofits, and enabling people to utilize their strengths for community well-being. Lindsey has established and built strong partnerships with federal, state, and local governments, charitable foundations, businesses, and technology companies. Lindsey has extensive experience leading large temporary and permanent innovative housing solutions, emergency response programs; including responses to California wildfires, floods, COVID-19 relief, housing rental assistance, house sharing, and homelessness alleviation. She speaks Spanish and has experience living and working internationally, mainly India and Guatemala. She holds a BS in Psychology; Minor in Women's Studies and earned her MBA with concentrations in Strategy, Entrepreneurship and Consulting from the University of North Carolina – Chapel Hill.

Evi is a resettlement practitioner with over 10 years of experience supporting refugees and other Office of Refugee Resettlement eligible populations with case management, employment, and housing assistance. She believes in local expertise and finding local solutions – stemming from her many years working on the local level in refugee resettlement. Her national work uplifts affordable housing opportunities for newcomers, including oversight of resource creation for newcomer tenants, resettlement affiliates, and landlords, as well as housing program design. She is also CWS' point of contact for various corporate housing partnerships and believes most things are best accomplished in collaboration with good partners. Evi is passionate about easily digestible and customized training and technical assistance to improve housing solutions for newcomer tenants, support staff working directly with communities and improve processes for landlords. A lover of languages, Evi is bilingual in Spanish and English, with experience working and living internationally in Honduras and Chile. She graduated from Millersville University, holding her bachelors in Spanish, and minors in Latino Studies/Linguistics.

Grace is a Florida-based multimedia communications professional and international law specialist with experience in both the public and private sectors. She discovered her interest in international relations and law while completing her BA in Journalism and Media at the University of South Florida St. Petersburg. This led her to pursue an MA in Diplomacy and International Law at the American University of Paris, focusing on human rights, humanitarian, and refugee law. During this program, she also completed a human rights law intensive at the University of Oxford where she further developed an expertise in refugee law. Grace joined RHS under Church World Service following more than three years living in France, during which time she spent a year working in communications at the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) in Paris.

Lizzie is a housing strategist with more than eight years of expertise forming dynamic partnerships to increase access to affordable, low-barrier housing for the refugee settlement, disaster response, and homelessness sectors. She spent several years working in Greece during the height of the European refugee crisis and upon moving back home to the United States, supported new refugees in their housing search and access. She has created nationally acclaimed Landlord Engagement models to increase the utilization of tenant-based rental assistance. Lizzie has consulted with various nonprofit, government, and private sector entities to design collective-impact initiatives across the country to ensure equitable access to shelter and permanent housing for vulnerable populations. She believes that change moves at the speed of trust and is honored to foster change at a systems level. She holds a Bachelor's in Psychology and earned an Master's in Emergency Management from Arizona State University. Lizzie is based in Nashville, TN.

Zoe is a California-based housing specialist with five years of experience in the affordable housing sector. She has designed educational content, stewarded community partnerships, and preserved existing housing stock through programs under her management. Zoe joined RHS from Habitat for Humanity, where she expanded the volunteer program by 300 volunteers while executing more than a dozen home repair projects targeting critical health and safety needs of low-income homeowners. She is passionate about accessible education and spent years working with folks living in affordable housing to provide free access to after-school programming for school-aged youth. Zoe speaks Spanish and has spent time living abroad in Argentina. She holds a BA in Global Studies from the University of California, Santa Barbara.

Nathalie is a strategy professional with 10 years of experience managing the planning of real estate projects and helping management teams make data-driven decisions to drive sustainable growth. Nathalie joins RHS under Church World Service following her previous experience as a Development Manager at Marriott International in Dubai, where she was involved in growing the company’s property portfolio in the MENA region and providing project development guidance to private and institutional investors in the hospitality sector. Nathalie holds a BA in Business Administration from the American University of Beirut and earned an MS in Global Affairs from New York University. She speaks English, Arabic, and French and is based in New York, NY.

Leslie joined the RHS team in early 2022 as the CWS liaison to Team Rubicon, whose volunteers and staff helped Afghans move into permanent housing across the U.S. This project was part of Operation Allies Welcome, and Leslie took up the liaison role not least because she lived in Afghanistan for six years. While wrapping up the active phase of the Team Rubicon partnership, Leslie is supporting RHS communications and partner outreach efforts.

Prior to joining RHS, Leslie acted as CWS Asia Regional Director for seven years and led a team of country representatives and national staff in six countries. Programs included grassroots community development initiatives to improve water, sanitation, hygiene, and agricultural livelihoods.

Leslie also previously worked with Save the Children for 15 years in leadership roles across South and Central Asia, the South Caucasus, and the Middle East. She was a Peace Corps Volunteer in Thailand and worked for the Minneapolis-based American Refugee Committee (now ALIGHT). She was also Peace Corps staff in Moldova and, because of her time there, Leslie is supporting CWS and member denominations’ efforts to shelter, feed, and protect Ukrainian refugees.

Wilson grew up near Pittsburgh in Beaver, Pennsylvania and is a 1976 cum laude graduate of Saint Mary’s College, for which she served on the President’s Alumnae Advisory Council and from which she received the 2006 Humanitas Award for her work for women and girls throughout the world. Leslie holds a master’s degree in organizational management from the University of Notre Dame and another in liberal studies from Northwestern.

Salena is a passionate social justice advocate with experience in the public sector, including the nonprofit sector, local government, and education. She has worked in a variety of nonprofits serving as an advocate for children who struggle with mental health, survivors of domestic violence and sexual assault, and with low- to moderate-income families to help find housing resources in their communities. Most recently, she served as a vital connection between the Metro Detroit community and Habitat for Humanity as Partners and Community Program Intake Specialist to provide affordable housing solutions and home repairs to families in need. Furthermore, Salena established her own nonprofit in 2020 that works to further sexual assault prevention education in the state of Michigan and distribute bed sheets to survivors of sexual assault. Salena holds a BS in Psychology from Michigan State University and a Master’s in Public Administration from Oakland University.

Hilina was born in Mekelle, Ethiopia and grew up in Seattle, WA. Being a first-generation immigrant, school has always been at the cornerstone of her life. She completed her Bachelor's in Biology at Franklin and Marshall College (Lancaster, PA), then spent a year working at CWS at a local resettlement office. Shortly after, she pursued her Master's in Public Health at Columbia University where she studied Epidemiology and Biostatistics. Hilina enjoys working with data to help find real-life solutions. When she's not working, she enjoys reading and hiking.

Jesse is an innovative servant leader with 13 years of experience working in human services and housing, specifically for homeless, developmental disability, and refugee populations. He has initiated, executed, and launched housing and mental health programs in partnership with local, statewide, and federal partners. Jesse has extensive change management experience and is a regarded lecturer with a methodical focus surrounding personal and spiritual development. Based in Atlanta, GA, Jesse holds a BA in Marketing, an MS in Theology, and a Ph.D. in Psychology.

Yasmine has worked on housing-focused initiatives and capacity-building efforts. She has collaborated with local governments on affordable housing policies and has been involved in projects addressing food insecurity and housing. With a background in urban planning, she understands the importance of safe and affordable housing in building a strong society. Yasmine holds a BS in Public Administration and an MS in Urban and Regional Planning.

Lynette is a United States Marine Corps veteran with 17 years of experience in affordable housing and property management. As a single mother who lived in public housing, she understands that finances should not determine the quality of one’s housing. Her passion for safe and clean accommodations – regardless of financial situation – guided her into a career path in housing. Lynette's creation of the first wrap-around services for the Dallas Habitat for Humanity affiliate helped the agency secure $20 million of housing revitalization funding, and she led and developed a poverty simulation program and pre- and post-purchase educational training for Habitat's central affiliates. Lynette joins RHS under Church World Service following her previous experience as a housing consultant at Molina Healthcare and as the Director of Programs with Community LINC, where she oversaw the Emergency Rental Assistance Programs (ERAP), family self-sufficiency programs, transitional housing, and the homeless shelter program. Lynette holds a BS in Criminal Justice and a MA in Human Services from Bradley University.

Isabel is based in New York City and has professional experience working in nonprofit communications. Isabel graduated from Messiah University and holds bachelor's degrees in International Relations and Spanish.