Judith Samuels
Judith Samuels, MBA, Ph.D. is the CEO of The Samuels Group, an active consultancy to philanthropies, global NGOs, non-profit organizations, and government agencies. During her early career, she held a position as a new technologies expert in the Telecom industry. Her recent position as an executive at a large foundation turned her broad background toward changing culture, moving the organization and sector to a more rational, data-informed approach to decision making. Judith’s policy and services research spans health and mental health services, homelessness, policy, and interventions. Of significance, her work with homeless families is cited in the President’s New Freedom Commission on Mental Health’s final report and she is the lead author on “Homeless Children: Update on Research, Policy, Programs and Opportunities,” commissioned by ASPE at HHS. She has held appointments as the Head of the Policy Analytics Lab and the Child and Adolescent Mental Health Policy and Services Research Lab (CHAMPS) at the Nathan Kline Institute for Psychiatric Research, as an Assistant Professor at the NYU Medical School Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, as a Research Professor and an Adjunct Professor at the Steinhardt Graduate School in Global Public Health and the Robert F. Wagner Graduate School of Public Service, both at NYU. Judith has served on numerous non-profit management boards and research advisory boards, both nationally and in New York City. She has been engaged as a grant reviewer for U.S. Federal agencies and foundations and frequents as a reviewer for SAMHSA’s NREPP registry of evidence-based practices. Judith took the lead for the HOMEworks Zero Babies Homeless initiative with the support of our “ZBH” team.
Christy Parque
Christy Parque, MSW has been a powerful voice for human services programs and consumers through leading non-profit organizations and member and advocacy associations for over 20 years. She is passionate about creating strong and healthy individuals and thriving communities. A recent transplant to Maryland, Christy was most recently the President and CEO of New York’s largest behavioral health association and formerly served as the Executive Director on New York City’s Homeless Services United, a services advocacy and member association.
Christy’s current consulting work includes assisting local and national non-profits and government agencies in developing sound policies and programs. She specializes in strategies that focus on inclusive public policy design, program implementation, leadership development, and evaluation. Recognized as a leader in human services, homeless services, housing, health and behavioral health, aging, and criminal justice, Christy is frequently called on to present expert testimony at public hearings and as a guest lecturer at conferences and universities. Cris took the lead on our Right to Housing policy study with support from Judith and our many partners.
Henry Love
Henry Love, MA, MPhil is a Ph.D. Candidate in Developmental Psychology and a Graduate Teaching Fellow at the CUNY Graduate Center. His research includes teacher perceptions of low SES Black students during adolescence who have experienced adverse childhood events (ACE ’s), and their relationship to students' behavioral outcomes. Henry is particularly interested in the ways in which homeless and highly mobile (HHM) teenagers navigate their experiences in family shelter settings from a cultural-historical perspective. He specializes in cultural-historical theory and narrative research methodology. In addition to his academic work, Henry oversaw the non-profit Gateway Housing’s Attendance Matters pilot program, which identifies, addresses, and manages multiple systemic, intergenerational, and logistical barriers to improve school attendance among homeless children. Henry took the lead on ensuring that Participatory Action Research was a core component of HOMEworks.
Kirsten Cafarella
Kirsten Cafarella is the HOMEworks Project Coordinator & Research Assistant. She has a BA in Global Health and Development from the University of Arizona and has been working with The Samuels Group for 3 years now. She worked on the Gateway Housing Attendance Matters pilot program alongside Henry Love and has participated in other projects related to housing and homelessness in New York City. Kirsten took the lead in planning and facilitating all HOMEworks convenings, research, and social media.
