The Partnership To End Homelessness, Board of Directors
About The Partnership to End Homelessness
Values, Mission, and Strategy
The Partnership To End Homelessness (The Partnership) is a homelessness prevention organization. The organization’s values – compassion, inclusion, integrity, professionalism, and social justice – steer strategy, decision-making, and operations in the work to achieve the mission to end homelessness by preventing it.
The Partnership’s innovative upstream intervention model combines housing assistance and crisis services with mental health and education programming to solve homelessness before it happens. Services are available to New Yorkers of any ability, age, family type, gender, national origin, race, and sexual orientation who are at risk of, experiencing, or recovering from homelessness.
Evaluation of the FY23-25 strategy affirms the prevention approach. During that three-year period, the organization saved homes for more than 13,000 New Yorkers in 5,500 homes, 93% of whom remain housed (the equivalent of more than half a billion dollars in public savings on the cost of shelter provision).
On the heels of this success, The Partnership launched the FY26-28 Strategy to deepen and expand its prevention approach by augmenting direct housing crisis services with more intensive client casework and a network of community-based partnerships. This enhancement will provide families with the resources and community ties to maintain long-term housing stability while equipping neighborhood-based partners who are long-standing pillars of their communities to adopt and expand the impact of a prevention approach.
History and Strategy
The Partnership’s history began in 1982 with a focus on street homelessness, including drop-in center services and coordination of a citywide interfaith network to provide a system of overnight shelters. In response to client need and the reality of who is most vulnerable to and hurt by homelessness in NYC, the organization’s work transitioned early in its history to provide crisis and housing services for mostly women and children of color, including immigrant, LGBTQIA+, and older New Yorkers and people living with disabilities.
After four decades of homeless service delivery, the organization took the innovative approach of refining its mission and work to an upstream, prevention focus, and accordingly, changed its name from The Partnership For The Homeless to The Partnership To End Homelessness. As per the FY23-25 strategic plan, The Partnership implemented programming singularly focused on prevention. This shift to focus on upstream interventions to solve homelessness was informed by input from clients and other stakeholders, an assessment of gaps in services, and 40 years of front-line experience and learning.
Experience and citywide data showed that eviction is a leading cause of NYC homelessness. While there are approximately 4,000 people experiencing street homelessness and 85,000 people in homeless shelters, more than 800,000 New Yorkers (including 325,000 children) are living in 332,000 households that are behind on rent and at risk of homelessness. In contrast to an average total back-rent of $3,500 per household in arrears, the average cost to shelter a family after they lose their home is $100,000.
By intervening upstream and combining emergency financial assistance with well-being programming, The Partnership disrupts homelessness before it happens at a significant cost saving to society, landlords, and tenants. This approach supports people in maintaining their homes and employment; saves landlords the inconvenience and costs of court battles; keeps housing affordable and communities more stable by reducing apartment turnover and transience; and disrupts intergenerational homelessness by keeping children out of shelters and in school. In this way, prevention is the most cost-effective and humanitarian solution to homelessness.
To learn more about The Partnership’s prevention model, please watch this video: An Invisible Victory: The Case for Homeless Prevention, presented by The Partnership’s former Young Professional, Anna Gianuzzi.
Organizational Highlights
Founded: 1982
Annual Operating Budget: $3.5 million
Board of Directors: 8
Staff + Consultants: 14
Headquarters: New York, NY
The Opportunity
The Partnership To End Homelessness invites committed individuals to join the Board of Directors of an innovative organization that is challenging the traditional crisis-response approach to homelessness and proving that prevention works. This is an extraordinary opportunity for passionate professionals energized about the upstream prevention approach to be part of an organization that is doing things differently.
The Partnership Board of Directors
Members of the Board of Directors are enthusiastic ambassadors for the organization’s mission to end homelessness by preventing it. Comprised of committed individuals with diverse professional experiences, the Board ensures the strategy and governance of The Partnership and assists in securing the necessary resources to accomplish the organization’s goals.
Board Terms
Board members are elected for 3-year terms and can serve up to three terms.
Board Officers (Chair, Secretary, and Treasurer) are elected for one-year terms.
New York City Residency is not a requirement for Board membership.
Board Commitments
The Board, collectively, is responsible for governance and strategy, including:
Determination of the mission and purposes of the organization.
Strategic planning and assessment.
Fiduciary oversight, including review and approval of the annual budget and audit.
Determination of and adherence to the organization’s bylaws, policies, and resolutions.
Fundraising and resource development.
Board and CEO recruitment.
Individual Board member commitments include:
Participation in four 90-minute Board meetings per year.
Participation in at least one Board committee. Committees meet two to four times a year.
Familiarity with The Partnership’s mission and purpose.
Serving as an ambassador, including leveraging connections and networks to secure financial resources and partnerships.
Reading and understanding the organization’s financial reports.
Signing an annual conflict-of-interest disclosure and disclosing potential/actual conflicts as they arise.
Maintaining confidentiality about all internal matters of The Partnership.
Raising or contributing $25,000 annually.
Fundraising
To meet the fundraising commitment, The Partnership’s Development team supports each Board member in developing an individual strategy tailored to their unique situation and approach. Strategies utilize a combination of approaches such as:
Securing contributions from institutions: corporate entities (including matching gift programs and sponsorships), foundations, and houses of worship;
Securing contributions from individuals: extended professional networks, friends, and associates, and/or through a crowdfunding peer-to-peer campaign.
Pro bono services the organization would otherwise pay for, and/or personal contributions.
The Board believes strongly that the $25,000 “give or get” should not be an impediment to qualified, dedicated individuals joining the Board. The “give or get” is intended as a demonstration of each Board member’s commitment to the organization and not as an inflexible criterion or a minimum contribution requirement for each Board member.
Contact
If you believe evidence-based prevention can stop homelessness before it starts, we invite you to learn more about serving on The Partnership To End Homelessness Board of Directors. To express interest or nominate a candidate, please contact us.
Michelle Kristel, Managing Partner
McCormack + Kristel
1325 Avenue of the Americas, 28th Floor | New York, NY 10019 www.mccormackkristel.com | search@mccormackkristel.com | 212.531.5003