Mandy brings over 10 years of experience in creative system-level development of homelessness response systems to reduce and prevent homelessness. Prior to joining Focus Strategies, Mandy led homelessness initiatives for the City of Hillsboro, Oregon, a community that is uniquely composed of some rural areas while also falling within the urban Portland Metro area. This work included community wide stakeholder engagements, strategic program and policy planning, and project management of large-scale system initiatives. She also served as the Housing Director at the lead homelessness response agency in Yamhill County, OR, overseeing a spectrum of homelessness response programming. In this role, Mandy accomplished significant system wide development benchmarks including design and creation of the coordination entry system, significant reductions in veteran homelessness county-wide, and implementation of the first programs in the county dedicated to those experiencing chronic homelessness.
As a consultant, Mandy leads and supports homelessness response system improvements with communities including conducting equity-driven community research and system analysis, engagement and facilitation of stakeholders towards shared goals, and developing content for reports and other publications.
Mandy holds a Bachelor of Social Work and a Bachelor of Arts in Philosophy from George Fox University in Newberg, OR. She also has a Master of Social Work degree with a concentration in community health from Jane Addams College of Social Work at University of Illinois Chicago.