Phyllis Chamberlain is the Executive Director of the Housing Alliance of Pennsylvania, a statewide organization whose mission is to ensure that all Pennsylvanians, especially those with low incomes, have access to safe, decent, affordable and accessible homes. In this position, she leads advocacy efforts at the state and federal levels to increase funding and improve policy to increase affordable housing opportunities for low-income Pennsylvanians. Her previous experience includes positions at the national level and at the state levels in Virginia and Delaware.
Phyllis has over twenty five years of experience in public policy advocacy, community engagement, and communications with most of her time spent on local, state, and federal planning and policy to increase affordable housing opportunity and end homelessness. She is driven by her passion for the role that housing plays in providing a safe and stable foundation for vulnerable people as well as the knowledge that there are practical solutions to the problems of affordable housing and homelessness.
Chief Operating Officer
Evelyn Dodds
Evelyn graduated from Rutgers University with a Master’s degree in Business Administration. She brings over 20 years of non-profit management experience. She believes working for nonprofits is an extremely rewarding experience. She has had the opportunity to be part of real change. She has participated in campaigns that have resulted in concrete gains for poor and working families. These campaigns include the fight to raise the minimum wage, the extension of unemployment benefits, moratorium on Sheriff Sales, increasing access to health care and other issues affecting poor and working families.
Associate Director, Policy & Programs
Gale Schwartz
Gale Schwartz is the Associate Director, Policy and Programs for the Housing Alliance of Pennsylvania. Gale joined the Housing Alliance in 2013 as a project specialist working on tenant engagement in expiring project based section 8 housing and consulting on homelessness continuum of care governance and system design. In recent years, her work has focused on promoting promising practices and supporting local programs for landlord engagement, eviction prevention and diversion, and emergency rental assistance. Prior to joining the Housing Alliance, Gale was a frontline worker in the behavioral health and early childhood development fields in New Mexico and Pennsylvania. After witnessing the struggles of families navigating complex and under resourced systems, Gale shifted her career focus to systems change, policy and advocacy. Gale has a Bachelors in Sociology from the University of New Mexico and a Masters in Social Work from the University of Pittsburgh.
Senior Communications Manager
Alison Norton
Ms. Norton has served as the Senior Communications Manager since 2022. She works to innovate and seek out creative opportunities for elevating visibility, program activities, and fund development. Ms. Norton has a Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science and Economics from the University of Delaware and 25 years in nonprofit fundraising and communications for organizations including the Boys & Girls Club of Allentown, North Penn Legal Services, PBS39, and Turning Point of Lehigh Valley. She is a member of the Association of Fundraising Professionals (AFP) and AFP Eastern PA Chapter as well as a PA Notary with current commission.
Director of Government Affairs
Aaron Zappia
Research & Education Manager
Christina Michael
Chris (she/her) has served as the Research and Education Manager at the Housing Alliance of Pennsylvania since May 2023. Her experiences in rapidly urbanizing areas have shaped her conviction that data should be used to amplify residents’ voices and tackle vital issues such as housing, transit, and economic mobility. Within the Housing Alliance, her research focuses on eviction prevention and landlord engagement. Chris earned her Master’s in City Planning from the University of Pennsylvania and completed her Bachelor’s in Architecture in India. Prior to her time with the Housing Alliance, Chris’ work included research on informal settlements in the Global South.
Community Engagement Manager
Jennifer Thomas
Jen (she/her) has served as the Community Engagement Manager at the Housing Alliance of Pennsylvania since 2022. With personal lived experience with housing instability, Jen has always been grounded in the belief that housing is a human right. She earned her Master’s in Social Work concentrating on community organizing and social action from the University of Pittsburgh and her BA in Psychology from Seton Hill University. Her work with the Housing Alliance centers around amplifying the voices of those with lived experience, voter engagment and education, policy advocacy, and providing evidence based educational opportunities through webinars and the annual Homes Within Reach Conference. Prior to her time with the Housing Alliance, Jen worked in student housing and with a grassroots animal advocacy organization.
Office Manager
Jeannine Days
Housing Research and Policy Associate
Lauren Coursey
Lauren is a student at the University of Pittsburgh and is pursuing a master’s degree in social work. She is passionate about understanding the ways that local, state, and federal policies and structures create the conditions that our communities live in. She completed her bachelors level field placement with Hazelwood Initiative, where her interest and agonizing over housing policy began. She is excited about expanding her knowledge of solutions to the affordable housing crisis in this country while working with the Housing Alliance.
Housing Research and Policy Associate
Sophia Domingoes
Sophia (she/her) is currently serving as the Housing Research and Policy Associate at the Housing Alliance of Pennsylvania. She is a master’s student at the University of Pennsylvania, pursuing a degree in social work on a macro track and this is her advanced year field placement. Through several years of case management work supporting primarily unhoused people and those entangled in the legal system, Sophia saw firsthand the devastating effects of America’s housing crisis. This year, she is looking forward to exploring the ways in which policy intersects with daily living and learning more about how advocacy/education strategies can be leveraged to meet people’s needs.