Mike Lindberg grew up in Astoria, OR, and graduated from the University of Oregon in 1964. From 1973-79, he was Director of Public Works and subsequently Director of Planning and Development for the City of Portland. Mike served on the Portland City Council from 1979 until 1997. Some of the achievements of those years included managing the following: •The Convention Center and Performing Arts Center, including the creation of the Metropolitan Exposition Recreation Commission, included being the city’s negotiator (along with Mayor Bud Clark) for constructing the Rose Garden Arena. •Parks and Recreation Bureau, which led the effort to build Pioneer Square and passed the first parks levy in 40 years. •Environmental Services Bureau, negotiating a complex clean-up plan for the Willamette River with the Environmental Quality Commission •Arts and Culture Commissioner, later becoming chair of the Oregon Arts Commission and winning the Governor’s Arts Award for the person in public service doing the most for the arts. •Emergency Management, leading the city’s efforts to respond to the Mt. St. Helen’s volcanic eruption and the largest ice storm in 50 years. •Water Bureau launched the initial water conservation programs, managed the city through the largest drought in 100 years, and obtained federal legislation banning logging in the Bull Run Watershed. The Archives and Records Management Division of the City Auditor’s Office operates the City of Portland Archives and Records Center, making city administrative and historical records accessible to the public and City employees. The Archives started the oral history program in 2022 to gather and preserve stories documenting the projects, activities, and policy decisions made by the City government. Mike was their inaugural interviewee.

A Boise native, Dave practiced law in public and private practice in Boise and Sandpoint, Idaho, from 1990 to 2003. He also served in the Idaho Legislature from 1999 to 2003. He was elected the 55th Mayor of Boise in 2003 and served from 2004 until 2020, becoming Boise’s longest-serving mayor. He also served on the board of Boise’s urban renewal agency. During his tenure as mayor, the City of Boise built four neighborhood libraries, a multimodal transit center, and 15 new parks. Boise’s efforts to help the unsheltered during Mayor Bieter’s time in office included a free community detox and crisis mental health center where around 60% of the patients lack housing, Project CATCH, now the non-profit CATCH Inc., where churches and civic groups partnered with the city to give housing to families in need, and Idaho’s first housing first projects that house 70 chronic homeless individuals and veterans. Given Boise’s limited finances, Mayor Bieter developed a collaborative approach he often called “barn raisings” because without the help of area businesses, government, hospitals, and non-profits, success on issues as challenging as those surrounding homelessness was unattainable. Since leaving public office, Dave has been employed by Gardner Group, which develops residential, commercial, and industrial projects in the Boise area.

Mark focused on homelessness throughout his 31-year career in the Federal government, which began as a Presidential Management Fellow. He served as the Deputy Director of the US Interagency Council on Homelessness and at HUD in various positions, including the director of the homeless office, Deputy Assistant Secretary, and for his last two years in Federal Service, President Obama asked him to serve as Assistant Secretary. In these various roles, he helped create HUD’s homelessness programs and policies. Mark has been recognized in multiple capacities for his service, including being awarded the Samuel J Heyman Service to America Medal. Since leaving Federal service in 2014, he has: 1) worked directly with various communities nationwide on reducing and ending homelessness; 2) served as commissioner and vice chair of the Salt Lake County housing authority; and 3) advised the Secretary of the US Department of Veterans Affairs, as the national Chair of VA’s Advisory Committee, on ending veteran homelessness and 4) most recently, served as the Jordan Country Director in the Middle East for Latter-day Saint Charities in strategically providing humanitarian aid.

Julia Orlando, CRC, Ed.M, MA, DRCC is the Director of the Bergen County Housing, Health and Human Services Center in Hackensack, NJ. The mission of this nationally recognized and award-winning Center is to end homelessness in Bergen County. In 2016, Ms. Orlando provided leadership for the successful community-wide effort to end veteran homelessness in Bergen County as part of the Mayor's Challenge. Bergen County is the first jurisdiction in the state and among the first 28 nationally to achieve this goal and was recognized at the White House for their successful contributions to the Opening Doors Initiative to end Veterans Homelessness. Ms. Orlando also provided leadership that led to Bergen County becoming the first in the nation in 2017 to successfully reach functional zero for chronic homelessness in Bergen County and the only community to date to sustain zero for more than four years. Ms. Orlando is the recipient of numerous awards including the 2023 New Jersey Women of Achievement Award from the New Jersey Federation of Women’s Clubs, 2022 and 2023 ROI Business Influencer, 2019 “Larry Inserra Leadership Award” from Holy Name Medical Center, “Hometown Hero” for the 5th District in NJ by Congressman Josh Gottheimer, “Distinguished Citizen of the Year” from the Hackensack Chamber of Commerce, “Woman of Action” award from the YWCA of Bergen County and the recipient of the “Citizen Community Service Award” by the Bergen County Bar Foundation. Ms. Orlando currently serves as the Chair of the Board of Trustees for New Bridge Medical Center and as an advisor to the NJ Coalition to End Homelessness. She has also been an adjunct professor at the Silberman School of Social Work at Hunter College since 2012 and founded Julia Orlando Consulting, LLC in 2020 to help communities around the country achieve their goals to end homelessness.

Maxine Dexter, MD, grew up in a working-class family, is the first in her family to go to college, and realized her dream of becoming a doctor with the support of her community, a union job, and a strong drive to succeed. She earned two BAs in Political Science and Editorial Journalism from the University of Washington, as well as her Medical Degree. She completed her residency, chief residency, and fellowship training at the University of Colorado and earned a Certificate in Public Health. Rep. Dexter served six years on the Northwest Permanente Board of Directors (2.5 years as the first female Chair of the Board in the company's history). She is a pulmonary and critical care physician, a mother, and a state representative who firmly believes we all have a right to health. Health includes strong schools, clean air, clean energy, and affordable healthcare and housing for all. She currently serves as Chair of the House Committee on Housing and Homelessness while continuing her work as a physician at Kaiser Permanente.

State Representative Dr. Thuy Tran’s family came to this country from South Vietnam when she was a young child. From growing up in a low-income, immigrant household, she understands the critical need for support families need to ensure they succeed, especially those who are living on low incomes, whose first language is one other than English, and/or are from BIPOC communities. Learning that historical policy decisions have systematically negatively affected families like hers led to Representative Tran’s desire to bring these perspectives into decision-making spaces. Through hard work and community investments, Representative Tran earned a doctoral degree in Optometry and opened her own small business and Optometry clinic – serving the residents of the NE Portland Hollywood neighborhood since 1994. She has continued her commitment to giving back to the community, serving on the Parkrose School Board and as a Lieutenant Colonel in the Oregon Air National Guard. Representative Tran is proud to represent House District 45 (Including NE and SE Portland, Maywood Park, Parkrose, Argay Terrace, Montavilla, and Cully) in the legislature, where she leads on health care access, criminal justice and victim advocacy, childcare and early learning, and ensuring opportunity for all. She proudly serves as Co-Vice-Chair of the House Committee On Emergency Management, General Government, and Veterans. She also serves on the Joint and House Committees on Conduct, House Committee On Behavioral Health and Health Care, and House Committee On Judiciary. In her spare time, she enjoys mountaineering and spending time with her three adult children and partner.

Lisa Gomez brings nearly 30 years of experience in real estate development and finance to her position as L+M Development Partners’ Chief Executive Officer. In this role, she oversees the company's day-to-day operations and its construction and property management subsidiaries. Lisa also leads the company's growth strategy and has positioned L+M Development Partners as a nationally recognized affordable housing developer. She has been with L+M for over 15 years in various capacities, most recently as chief operating officer. Before joining L+M, Lisa was in senior management at the New York City Housing Development Corporation (HDC), overseeing $1 billion annually in bond financing and mortgage insurance. Lisa is interim Chair of the Dormitory of the State of NY (gubernatorial appointee), the Brooklyn Navy Yard Development Corporation, and is a member of the Apollo Theater real estate committee, among others. She has also served on many civic and industry boards, including the NYC Planning Commission and the New York State Association for Affordable Housing. Lisa strives to help under-represented people find a path in commercial real estate through her work at L+M and volunteer activities.

Norm McGillivray founded Beddown in late 2018 with a view of helping the homeless, particularly those who sleep rough. Norm’s dad lost his life homeless on the streets of London; he was aged 42 when he suffered a heart attack; Norm was 11 at the time. Nearly 40 years later, he was shocked to find out in 2018 that the average life expectancy of someone homeless sleeping rough in Australia was just 47 years of age. This was unacceptable to Norm, and he had to do something about it. Beddown looks to provide access to a bed through an innovative approach by activating accommodation at night in non-traditional empty, vacant, dormant, and under-utilized spaces that provide safety, shelter, security, services, and a great night’s sleep for our guests whilst treating people as people through empathy, compassion, and love. Collaborating with other value-added services such as medical, laundry, addiction services, employment services, and longer-term accommodation to help provide pathways out of homelessness that change and save people’s lives. Gaining national and international attention for Beddown, the first space activated was an empty car park in Brisbane CBD, which at night became a homeless shelter, a world’s first. He was nominated and a finalist for 2022 Australian of the Year Queensland, recognized as one of the Top 50 most inspirational men in Southeast Queensland 2023 and nominated for the Australian of the Year Queensland 2024. Originally from the UK, Norm’s background has seen him work in the Automotive Industry for Jaguar and Land Rover. In Australia, Norm has worked in Industry, Government, and the Not-for-Profit sectors, and he has a master’s in engineering business management.

Matt Wechter is a Deputy Public Defender with the San Diego Office of the Public Defender and Supervisor of PACC - the Pretrial Advocacy and Community Connections Unit. Matt acts as a liaison between the Public Defender, Superior Court, District Attorney, City Attorney, and Homeless Court Providers (HCPs), represents San Diego's homeless population during monthly Homeless Court sessions and resource fairs, and executes the annual Homeless Court @ Stand Down, San Diego's annual 3-day homeless veteran event. Matt is also a member of the San Diego County Continuum of Care Advisory Board, Alternatives to Incarceration Workgroup, and an Advisor to the American Bar Association’s Commission on Homelessness and Poverty, which provides policy guidance and technical assistance to replicate the ABA/San Diego HCP model in jurisdictions across the country, including most recently Portland, OR. At heart, Matt is a technology junkie - leveraging high-tech solutions where possible to support efficiencies with tight resources and to serve as many clients as possible to work toward housing as many people as possible.

We are an alliance of organizations and individuals working collectively across sectors to achieve SHELTER NOW. We’re learning, organizing, and building power and visibility to effectively advocate for diverse housing solutions for diverse community needs. Our Core Team, represented by people with lived experience of houselessness, business, community-based organizations, service providers, neighborhoods, and, serves as the coordinating body, providing governance, strategy, and advocacy leadership. Action Teams are engaged in multiple public initiatives and opportunities to advance solutions.