Prior to joining BHHI, Abraham worked as a legal intern with Sin Fronteras, an organization based in Mexico City providing legal assistance to migrants, asylum seekers, refugees, and their families as well as helping individuals secure access to medical, educational, employment, and housing resources. He has also worked providing nutritional resources to underserved communities in his hometown of Watsonville, California. He graduated from UC Santa Barbara with a BA in Sociology. Today, he continues to work as a volunteer translator for the Northwest Immigrant Rights Project.

Angelica is a researcher with an interdisciplinary background in anthropology, sociology, international relations, and law. After working in direct service for many years, she worked in multiple research settings before joining the UCSF Action Research Center for Health/BHHI—including three years conducting public opinion research to advance policy on a range of issues. She looks forward to continue informing policy and practice recommendations as a researcher with ARC/BHHI. Angelica holds an LL.M from the University of Essex and an M.Phil from the University of Oxford.

Ashley Smith is a Data Analyst at BHHI. Her interest in public health and research is rooted in non-profit work as a young adult in the diverse city of San Francisco. Ashley accepted a position at UCSF DGIM as a research coordinator in 2019, before joining BHHI in July 2020. She has spent her time at UCSF supporting multiple research projects focused on examining health disparities – working on projects spanning from equitable cancer care for underserved populations, housing insecurity, and telehealth for aging populations. She has experience in program evaluation, community engagement, and qualitative data analysis. She earned her

Berty is a Mexican-American scholar, a first-generation college graduate, and the first in her family to earn a doctoral degree. Born and raised in Fresno, California—a community deeply affected by persistent health inequities; including many of her own family—she was inspired early on to pursue meaningful change through scholarship. This commitment led her to complete a PhD in Medical Sociology at UCSF. Her research centers on understanding how social, emotional, and structural forces intersect to shape health outcomes and healthcare experiences, particularly among racially and socioeconomically diverse populations living with diabetes. Drawing on both quantitative and qualitative methodologies, Berty brings

Celeste Enriquez joins the UCSF Action Research Center for Health as a Clinical Research Coordinator (CRC) for Dr. Margot Kushel’s HOPE HOME study. Before joining UCSF in the spring of 2018, Celeste was working on various public health projects in government, academia, and nonprofit organizations nationally. Her work focusing on the health effects to agricultural workers in the central coast of California began her interest in research. She is also a Research Data Analyst on a qualitative research study at DAHSM, examining the consequences of reductions in opioid prescribing for chronic non-cancer pain on patients, clinical care delivery, and community

Cheyenne Garcia is a senior research data analyst at BHHI. She helps produce academic papers using HOPE HOME and CASPEH data. She is primarily interested in intergenerational trauma, homelessness among families, and how early life experiences influence homelessness. Prior to joining BHHI, Cheyenne was a Fulbright Scholar in the Netherlands studying parenting at Leiden University. Cheyenne graduated from Stanford University with a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology with Honors. She graduated from American River College with four associate degrees.

Prior to joining BHHI, Corbin served as an IQ shelter supervisor for the Santa Cruz County Health and Human Services Department, and as an EMT in the Bay Area. Corbin recently graduated from UCLA with a Master of Public Health in Epidemiology, where he spent considerable time studying the relationship between maternal health and child outcomes. He looks forward to applying his experiences in epidemiology and emergency medicine to improve health outcomes within vulnerable populations and to promote sustainable housing for all.

Dalliana is from San Jose, California, and joined the UCSF Action Research Center for Health in 2022 as a Research Analyst. She earned a Bachelor of Science in Biology and Public Health Science from Santa Clara University and is currently pursuing a Masters in Public Health at San Jose State University.

Dave serves as a Senior Statistician to lead the quantitative team at the BHHI. Dave has worked in the field of policy analysis for the last 14 years, primarily focusing on issues of labor standards, such as raising regional minimum wages, and expanding health care affordability and access in California. Most recently, he worked as a statistician for the UC Berkeley Labor Center where he provided the quantitative results for dozens of studies to inform legislative debates. In his first week at the Labor Center, he provided the analysis which led to requirements for San Francisco businesses to provide basic

Prior to accepting the role with BHHI, Eve was a Research and Policy Associate at the UC Berkeley Labor Center, where she focused on low-wage and health care policy research. They have also worked as the Policy Manager at TechEquity Collaborative and a research assistant at M.I.T. focusing on the design and implementation of the Affordable Care Act. Eve received a Master of Public Policy degree from the UC Berkeley Goldman School of Public Policy in 2017 and Bachelor’s degree in economics from Harvard University in 2009.

Gato Ian Gourley is the Action Research Center for Health (ARC) Division Manager. He has worked with ARC for over 7 years. He is very excited to be supporting the newly created Division of Health and Society at ZSFG in order to further the ARC’s mission and continue its growth with the Benioff Homelessness and Housing Initiative. He is extremely passionate about the ARC’s mission and is deeply committed to pursuing social justice and health equity. He has an MSc in Development Management from the London School of Economics and Political Science and a BA in Sociology from the University

Gina is a research data analyst with BHHI. Previously conducting interviews and managing data quality for the CA Statewide Study of Homelessness (CASPEH), Gina now works as a quantitative researcher on a CDSS Home Safe program evaluation, and co-coordinates the statistics and data science team at BHHI. Gina spent over 5 years in direct service provision for folks who are unhoused in the East Bay, most recently as a street outreach worker in Downtown Oakland, and is interested in the intersections of structural inequity, the environment, and homelessness. Gina graduated from UC Berkeley with a BS in Bioengineering and a

Grace Taylor is a Research Analyst at BHHI. Grace uses their qualitative expertise to conduct interviews in the field as part of the California State Survey. While focused on medical anthropology during their undergraduate studies, Grace worked with BHHI faculty member, Dr. Colette Auerswald to conduct public health research on youth homelessness and permanent supportive housing in the Bay Area. Grace has long been involved in activism related to homelessness and housing, inspired by their own experiences with housing instability. They have worked with various grassroots organizations in the East Bay and beyond since 2016. Grace holds a Bachelor of

Jenna Birkmeyer, MPH is a statistician at BHHI. In her role, she manages data and conducts statistical analyses as part of the Quantitative Data Team. She has been involved in a variety of projects since joining BHHI in May 2020, primarily focusing on the California Statewide Study of People Experiencing Homelessness (CASPEH) and homeless mortality in San Francisco. Jenna previously served as an epidemiologist for the state of Ohio. She graduated from The Ohio State University College of Public Health with MPH and BS degrees in Environmental Health Sciences, as well as a minor in Spanish linguistics.

Jennifer Evans joined the Action Research Center for Health and the Benioff Homelessness and Housing Initiative in April 2020 as Senior Statistician working with Dr. Margot Kushel on research studies focusing on homelessness and its effects on health. She has over 20 years of experience at UCSF providing statistical support to various epidemiologic studies. Most recently she served as principal statistician within Global Health Sciences focusing on the epidemiology of HIV and hepatitis C virus infections in marginalized populations. She holds a Master of Science in Epidemiology from the University of Massachusetts and a Bachelor of Arts in Sociology and

John Weeks has been with UCSF for 11 years. His most recent research project involved the study of homelessness among people age 50 and older in Oakland, CA. Prior to that, John had worked as a Project Coordinator for the Bruthas Project, which was a CAPS intervention study focusing on HIV prevention among MSM populations in San Francisco and Oakland. John joined Dr. Kushel's HOPE HOME Study in August 2015 as a Clinical Research Coordinator.

Kenny is the Director of Research Operations at BHHI. He began working at UCSF in 2013 as an intern while attending UC Berkeley for his bachelor's degree in Psychology and Peace and Conflict Studies. He has since served as an Assistant CRC, CRC, Project Manager, and Senior Project Manager. Kenny holds an MPH from UC Berkeley. His primary professional and academic interests focus on using research methods to work with and for homeless populations and groups facing longstanding obstacles within the San Francisco Bay Area.

Layan Kaileh is a Project Manager for the Advance Care Planning in Permanent Supportive Housing Project (ACP-PSH) at BHHI and was previously the Operations Manager for the California Statewide Study of People Experiencing Homelessness (CASPEH). Prior to joining BHHI, Layan led various research projects including the Demographic Survey as part of the PIT Count in LA County. Layan has a passion for our unhoused neighbors across the nation and strives to understand the barriers and solutions. Working with many populations, she believes that housing is a human right, and hopes to capture individual's voices through research to inform best policies

Marc Dones (they/them) is a Senior Advisor at BHHI. They are an American social justice advocate and policy strategist and have worked extensively in the fields of violence prevention, homelessness, affordable housing, and racial equity. Most recently, Marc served as the inaugural CEO of the King County Regional Homelessness Authority, where they oversaw a $250M budget, implemented one of the best emergency housing voucher programs in the country, and advanced national models on encampment response. Marc has held leadership positions in several organizations, including the Center for Social Innovation and the Massachusetts Executive Office of Health and Human Services, and

Margo graduated from UC Berkeley in 2022 with a Bachelor of Arts in Applied Mathematics and Economics and completed an honors thesis analyzing the effects of bail reform in reducing mass incarceration and racial disparities within the criminal justice system. Prior to joining BHHI, Margo worked as a research assistant on housing insecurity related projects at the Institute for Research on Labor and Employment and as a research program manager on USAID-ASEAN projects regarding conflict prevention and gender equality within Southeast Asia. Margo is passionate about utilizing research to address poverty and inequality and to tackle the deeply rooted issue

Marisa (she/her/ella) holds a Master of Public Affairs degree from the UC Berkeley Goldman School of Public Policy and a Bachelor of Arts degree in Social Science from Portland State University. Prior to joining BHHI, Marisa spent years working in the nonprofit sector, in roles ranging from legislative advocacy, community organizing, fundraising, communications, and direct services. Most recently, she has worked with communities experiencing housing instability and homelessness in the Portland, Oregon metro area. As the descendant of migrant farmworkers and displaced people experiencing poverty, she is passionate about centering the voices of people with lived experience of homelessness, developing