Giselle Routhier is a Research Assistant Professor in the Department of Population Health at NYU Grossman School of Medicine, where she co-directs the Health x Housing Lab. Her research focuses on the relationship between housing insecurity and health. Her work places a strong emphasis on community engagement and partnership with people with lived experience of housing insecurity and homelessness. Dr. Routhier’s research has been published in Housing Policy Debate, Health Affairs, the American Journal of Public Health, and the Journal of Urban Health. Dr. Routhier’s research interests reflect a career spent at the intersection of scholarship and practice; she worked for many years as the Policy Director at the Coalition for the Homeless in New York City.

Tom Byrne is an Associate Professor at the Boston College School of Social Work, where his research focuses on the causes, consequences and policy solutions to homelessness. Dr. Byrne’s work primarily employs quantitative and quasi-experimental methods to explore policy-relevant questions, including how housing market dynamics and interventions shape community-level homelessness rates; the effectiveness of prevention-focused approaches; and the interrelationships between housing insecurity, housing assistance, and health. His research has been published in high-impact journals that span a number of fields, and his work has been featured in local and national media outlets.  He holds a BA in economics from Boston College and an MSW and Ph.D. from the University of Pennsylvania.  

Alric (Al) Nembhard is a “homelessness survivor.” He is committed to the superordinate goal of ending hunger and homelessness for all New Yorkers. Currently, he is a director, an advocate, a volunteer, and a “resident O.G.” at Crossroads Community Services (CCS), which provides warm meals and healthy groceries to food-insecure New Yorkers in Midtown Manhattan. His goals are to: (1) prevent people from tumbling into homelessness (particularly seniors); (2) bring a harm reduction approach to the current ecosystem for addressing housing and food insecurity; and (3) reduce the dwell time of residents in the shelter system.

Previously, Al was a serial entrepreneur and a banker who spent 35 years working on Wall Street. In the not-for-profit world, Al has been a teacher, an anthropology field worker, an emergency medical technician, and a mayoral advisor. His NGO work has taken him to Asia, Africa, Europe, Central America, and Bayou Country, Louisiana.

Samara Scheckler is a Senior Research Associate working on projects related to community-based aging. Dr. Scheckler researches best practices to maximize health, independence, and quality of life for people with a range of abilities and needs. Her work pays particular attention to the influence of the physical environment on policy implementation as well as disparities in access to resources. Previously, Samara coordinated the care of individuals with disabilities living in both institutions and private residences. Samara received her Ph.D. from the University of Georgia in Public Administration and Policy.

Molly Bernstein is the Senior Director of Elder Justice at the New York City Department for the Aging (NYC Aging), the largest Area Agency on Aging in the country. Molly oversees citywide programs and policy initiatives supporting older adults impacted by crime, elder abuse, and those facing housing instability. She leads collaborative efforts to strengthen services across the aging, victim services, and housing systems, advancing person-centered approaches that help older New Yorkers remain safe, stable, and supported in their communities.

Molly brings over a decade of public sector leadership at the intersection of health, justice, and aging. Before joining NYC Aging, she advanced criminal justice reform initiatives and managed a multibillion-dollar capital portfolio to expand care for justice-involved patients. Earlier in her career, she led teams of direct service professionals, delivering homelessness prevention services to older adults and survivors of domestic violence in the South Bronx. Molly’s experience spans program management, systems design, and policy, with a focus on building cross-sector partnerships to improve outcomes for underserved New Yorkers. She holds a Master of Public Health from the University of Cape Town.

Nathalie Interiano leads the policy and advocacy efforts at Care For the Homeless, where she works to advance systems-level change across health care and housing. Since joining the organization in 2016, she has guided strategic initiatives aimed at improving policies that affect both the organization and the communities it serves.

She also facilitates the Consumer Advisory Board, a platform that empowers individuals with lived experience of homelessness to engage in public policy discussions and contribute directly to service design and improvement. Her work centers equity, human dignity, and the inclusion of community voices in shaping more effective and compassionate systems of care.

Nathalie holds a Master’s degree in International Affairs from The New School for Public Engagement and a Bachelor’s degree in Sociology from the University of California, Irvine. She is also an alumna of the We Are All New York Fellowship, a civic leadership program committed to building inclusive and equitable communities.

Dr. Troy Boyle began his work in community mental health in NYC in 1998 working in the New York City Shelter system, supportive housing and assertive community treatment programs. Dr. Boyle holds a master’s degree in social work from NYU and a Ph.D in Social Welfare from Yeshiva University. Dr. Boyle currently serves as the Chief Operating Officer of the Institute for Community Living. ICL provides behavioral health, substance use and supportive housing services to over 10,000 New Yorkers each year. Previously Dr. Boyle was employed with CRF Behavioral Health for 18 years in San Diego County, CA where he was a Senior Vice President of Clinical Services. His portfolio included supportive housing, assertive community treatment, short-term acute residential treatment, and crisis stabilization teams.

Cynthia English is a native New Yorker and advocate for the homeless who has both personal and professional experience with this topic. She spent 10 years navigating the challenges of street homelessness and three years in and out of the shelter system. Those years led her to volunteer and then pursue a career as a shelter specialist for the Coalition for the Homeless, an organization that is the driving force behind New York City’s “right to shelter” law (known as the Callahan Consent Decree). The Coalition is the court appointed monitor of the city shelter system, conducting inspections of shelter conditions and advocating for the rights of residents.  

Cynthia recently retired from her full-time position but continues to fight for fair and equitable housing for all New Yorkers. She is an advisory board member for the Corporation for Supportive Housing (CSH), serves on the Board of Directors for Care for the Homeless (CFH), and is a member of the Health and Housing Consortium. She is particularly interested in the plight of the elderly dealing with the shelter system and is an advisor on a study about older adults transiting to housing, working to identify where their needs are not being met and developing recommendations for a better system. Cynthia has witnessed firsthand the lack of empathy the shelter system has for the elderly, who may have special dietary, medical and mental health needs and often need more help acquiring suitable housing. 

Cynthia is the mother of three adult children and has one grandson. She enjoys spending time with family, watching true crime documentaries, and playing video games. She participates in public speaking opportunities whenever possible, as well as spoken word performances and other creative projects, including working on a memoir about her life. You can hear her story on YouTube in “Unsheltered,” a spoken word collaboration with musical accompaniment.

Paul R. Freitag joined the West Side Federation for Senior and Supportive Housing, Inc. (WSFSSH) in 2015 as the Executive Director. With over 30 years of experience in affordable housing and social services, Paul previously worked at Catholic Charities of Brooklyn and Queens and Jonathan Rose Companies as a Managing Director. At WSFSSH, Paul oversees a senior leadership team that directs all affordable housing development, property management, and comprehensive social services in their network of over 30 affordable senior housing developments and older adult centers. He holds a B.A. and a B.S. from Brown University, a Master of Architecture from the University of Virginia, and a Master of Urban Planning from City College of New York.

Jessie Schwartz brings over two decades of diverse nursing experience spanning clinical practice and public health program management. She is committed to driving programs that enhance access to care and improve patient outcomes for underserved populations—including those experiencing homelessness, behavioral health challenges, disabilities, and justice system involvement. Currently serving as Director of Behavioral Health Complex Needs at NYC Health + Hospitals, Jessie leads multidisciplinary team efforts to improve systems to support individuals with the most complex health and social needs. Her prior experience includes developing a centralized care coordination program at the NYC Department of Homeless Services, managing access to care programs at the NYC Health Department, and over a decade of experience as a critical care nurse in the NY Presbyterian system. She earned her master’s of public health from Hunter College as well as a bachelor’s degree in anthropology and community studies from the University of California at Santa Cruz, in addition to a bachelor’s in nursing from Lehman College; she has authored or co-authored several articles evaluating access to care programs in publications such as EClinicalMedicine and BMH Public Health.

Simone Thompson joined Care For the Homeless (CFH) in March of 2015. She is a Licensed Master Social Worker with over 25 years of experience. She spent twenty years at Covenant House New York – a human services organization that specializes in bringing amenities to homeless and vulnerable youth. Beginning as a Case Manager, Simone gradually worked her way up, eventually becoming Associate Executive Director for NYC residential Services. She holds a Bachelor’s degree from Brockport State University, a Master of Public Affairs and Administration from the Metropolitan College of New York, and a Master of Social Work from Hunter College. Simone has also completed a Certificate in Advanced Practice in Residential Services for Mentally Ill Persons from Fordham University. She also has a Certificate from the Institute for Not-for-Profit Management Executive Level from Columbia Business School.  She also completed the Belle and George Strell Executive Leadership Fellows Program at Silberman School of Social Work at Hunter College.