Housing Is Summit Speakers and Panelists

Andy McMahon is the Vice President of Health and Human Services Policy at UnitedHealthcare Community & State.

In his current role, Andy focuses on integrating and leveraging affordable housing and human services to provide better care at lower costs for populations with complex health needs. Andy works with UnitedHealthcare’s Medicaid plans and the myConnections™ team, and his portfolio includes policy and program work in affordable and supportive housing, criminal justice, child welfare, and social impact investment.

Prior to joining UnitedHealthcare, Andy worked at the Corporation for Supportive Housing (CSH) for 15 years, most recently as the Vice President for Policy and External Affairs. At CSH, Andy led an array of national, state, and local efforts to align systems and integrate resources to create supportive housing opportunities for vulnerable populations. Andy also led CSH's work to develop Pay for Success and impact investing models for supportive housing. Prior to CSH, Andy held positions in both state and local government, as a lobbyist for state housing and community development agencies in Washington, D.C., and helped found and was the first executive director of a non-profit housing organization in Minnesota.

For more than a decade, Katie Escudero has worked to advance effective affordable housing policies and programs. In her current role as a policy analyst at the King County Housing Authority, she leads the development of the organization’s housing and health strategy while also overseeing planning and reporting for the Moving to Work program. Prior to her position with KCHA, she managed community partnerships and volunteer programs for the Downtown Women’s Center, a permanent supportive housing provider in Los Angeles’ Skid Row. She holds an MPA from the University of Washington’s Evans School of Public Policy and Governance and a BA in Sociology and Ethnic Studies from Colorado State University. Escudero also serves on the board of the Seattle/King County Coalition on Homelessness.

Rodolfo L. Rodríguez, Director of Health & Wellness Ecosystem, leads vision, strategy, development and oversight of HACA’s comprehensive health and wellness initiatives. He is building the infrastructure and foundation of an innovative, data-driven, financially-sustained health impact portfolio. He shapes HACA’s healthy housing community and infrastructure project pipeline, creates institutional policies and practices that promote healthier resident outcomes, and catalyzes a culture of health for all HACA families. Rodolfo was raised in public housing in El Paso, Texas, and has over 10 years in supporting elected officials in advancing health equity across public policy, social services and neighborhood redevelopment projects in Austin, Los Angeles and Denver.

Bethany Miller is a program officer for The Kresge Foundation’s Education Program, which aims to increase college access and success for low-income students and students of color. Her responsibilities include sourcing opportunities for investment, maintaining strong relationships with existing grantees, and leading the Education Program’s learning and evaluation efforts.

Previously, she led evaluation and research at the Helios Education Foundation, headquartered in Phoenix and Tampa. She has also held positions with MDRC and The American Council on Education, where she successfully built partnerships between researchers, funders, and government and nonprofit service providers to innovate and evaluate new educational interventions. Across her roles, Miller has honed an expertise in developing the most appropriate and rigorous learning activities and evaluations and then turning the generated insights into improved policy, practice, and grantmaking. She earned a BA in history and Italian studies from Smith College in Northampton, MA, and a master’s degree in public affairs from Princeton University.

Cassandra Brooks is the Assistant Director of Education for the Chicago Housing Authority and is responsible for the Authority's education strategy to increase academic achievement for youth and adults living in Chicago's public housing. She oversees CHA's college access programs including CHA’s Scholarship program and Partners in Education program with City Colleges of Chicago, providing nearly 800 residents with grant aid each year. Previous experience includes serving in Education program management for foundations, nonprofit and for-profit entities. She received a BA from DePaul University and an MPA from the University of Nebraska-Omaha.

Michael Mirra is the executive director of the Tacoma Housing Authority (THA) in Tacoma, WA. He has served in that position since 2004. Before that he served for two years as THA’s general counsel. Prior to joining THA, Michael practiced law for about 25 years with Columbia Legal Services in Washington State and legal services in Tennessee representing low-income persons and organizations in civil matters. Michael graduated from the University of Chicago and Vanderbilt Law School. He grew up in Queens.

Alison Bell is a Senior Policy Analyst in the Housing Policy Division of the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities. She joined the Center after four years as Executive Director of the Baltimore Regional Housing Partnership (BRHP), which administers one of the country’s largest Housing Choice Voucher mobility programs. Her work at the Center focuses on housing voucher policy and funding, including housing mobility initiatives. Prior to her work with BRHP, Bell held numerous positions working with public housing authorities and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. She has a bachelor’s degree from the University of Alabama and a Master of Public Policy from Johns Hopkins University.

Andria Lazaga is the Director of Policy and Strategic Initiatives at the Seattle Housing Authority (SHA) where she strives to advance the agency’s mission by empowering data-driven decision-making, incubating and evaluating strategies, and developing cross-sector collaborative solutions. She has been with SHA since 1999 in a variety of roles including, engaging with community members and providers in resident services and working in asset management to understand and influence the agency’s financial and regulatory environment. Andria holds a master’s degree in Public Administration from the University of Washington and is active in national affordable housing industry associations.

Kristen Cane is the Director of Development and Policy at the Housing Authority of Snohomish County, serving 6,000 families annually in the Seattle metropolitan area. In this role, she brings her passion for ending generational poverty to support the Housing Authority’s mission to meet the diverse needs of Snohomish County residents by expanding housing opportunities. Kristen’s work focuses on building cross-sector community partnerships to develop innovative solutions to local housing challenges. Her most recent accomplishments include overseeing the launch of the agency’s new Keeping Families Together supportive housing initiative for homeless families involved in the child welfare system and the new Mainstream tenant-based supportive housing program for non-elderly adults with disabilities. Kristen is a graduate of Leadership Snohomish County and a certified Housing Development Finance Professional through the National Development Council. She earned her Master of Public Administration degree from the Evans School of Public Policy and Governance at the University of Washington, with a focus on housing and social policy.

Ryan Jones is a Housing Program Specialist in HUD’s Housing Voucher Management and Operations Division, commonly referred to as the “Voucher Policy Shop.” Prior to HUD, Ryan worked as an urban planner focusing on land use and transportation. Shifting gears in 2010, Ryan joined HUD to work on public housing policy. Since joining HUD, Ryan has worked in a number of cross-cutting policy areas, one of the most rewarding being expanding the role of public housing agencies (PHAs) in community efforts to end homelessness.  Ryan continues this cross-cutting work today as the team lead for the Family Unification Program. 

Peggy Bailey is the Center for Budget & Policy Priorities’ Director of the Health Integration Project, in which she identifies opportunities to improve health care policy to better link with housing programs and improve coverage, quality, and access to behavioral health services. Peggy’s career includes work on federal, state and local policy and service delivery on a wide variety of issue areas, including Medicaid eligibility and benefits for families and people with disabilities, public health innovation, behavioral health service delivery and integration with primary care, and housing policy.

Prior to joining the Center in January 2016, she was the Director of Health Systems Integration for the Corporation for Supportive Housing. She also worked for the National Alliance to End Homelessness and Association of Maternal and Child Health Programs. Peggy holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Notre Dame, and a Master of Public Affairs degree from the University of Texas at Dallas.

Lesely is the owner and director of ABK Learning & Development Center, where she works with children and families in the Hill District and the surrounding Pittsburgh area, providing traditional and nontraditional child care.  Lesely believes that all children can learn when given the proper support and opportunities. Lesely has worked at Pittsburgh Public School District as a seventh grade English teacher for over eighteen years. Lesely holds a master’s degree in counseling from Duquesne University. 

Chuck Rohrer is a public servant with more than 15 years of experience managing the public relations and external communications for the Housing Authority of the City of Pittsburgh. He has served as the project manager on a variety of tasks such as the launch HACP’s first webpage and modernizing the website on two separate occasions, the development of HACP’s social media presence, and the development of the HACP’s innovative audio/video production and training program known as the Creative Arts Corner. In recent years, Rohrer has helped to lead HACP’s efforts to develop and maintain strategic partnerships with partner organizations and institutions in order to improve service delivery to public housing residents and ultimately improve their quality of life. 

Rohrer has bachelor’s degrees in journalism and sociology and a master’s degree in Public Policy & Management. Prior to joining the Housing Authority, Rohrer managed the communications and external information for a non-profit, conservation organization. He has also worked for several years as a reporter, where he covered municipal news in the Central Pennsylvania region.