Staff

Lucrece Pierre-Carr, Community Manager

Lucrece joined Green Doors as a Community Manager in April 2012. Prior to joining Green Doors, she worked as a Supportive Services Coordinator and Passages Case Manager for Foundation Communities, a Rehabilitation Specialist and Jail Liaison for Austin Travis County Integral Care. Lucrece holds a Masters of Social Work from the University of Texas and a Bachelors of Human Services summa cum laude from St. Edwards University. Lucrece has more than a decade of experience working with diverse client populations, including homeless, mental health, and criminal background, as well as human service systems. Originally from Chicago, Lucrece has called Austin home for the last 15 years and enjoys spending time with her family, Zumba, and walks on Town Lake.

Cliff Chong, Housing Specialist

Cliff joined Green Doors as a housing specialist in November of 2010. Prior to Green Doors, he worked 2 years as a case manager for homeless single mothers in Central Florida while pursuing his master's degree in social work. While working as a case manager and finishing up his schooling, he also provided therapy to college students experiencing emotional and psychological distress. Being a part of Green Doors allows Cliff to work with individuals and families on a micro level and simultaneously advocate for systemic change. Cliff holds a B.S. in Psychology and a M.S.W. from the University of Central Florida in Orlando. He enjoys riding his bike, playing sports, and watching live music on his free time.

Frank Fernandez, Executive Director

Frank joined Green Doors as Executive Director in March 2006. He oversees all core functions and is focused on growing the organization to meet the community's acute need for affordable housing. Prior to joining Green Doors, Frank served as Deputy Director for PeopleFund, a community development financial institution. Frank is very active in advocating for affordable housing and folks who have struggled with homelessness. Co-founder of the housing advocacy organization, HousingWorks, he served as Chair of the affordable housing bond campaign that successfully advocated for the passage of the $55 million City of Austin affordable housing bonds in November 2006. He co-chaired the City of Austin's Affordable Housing Incentives Taskforce from Summer 2006 through Spring 2007. Currently, Frank serves as the Chair of the Texas Supportive Housing Coalition, a statewide coalition of supportive housing providers, and Chair of the Austin CHDO Roundtable, the local non-profit housing coalition. He also serves on the Executive Committees of ECHO, Austin's local homeless coalition, and HousingWorks. Prior to moving to Austin, Frank worked on Wall Street for several years as a financial analyst for Salomon Smith Barney providing technical and quantitative support to municipalities and states across the nation, including the State of Connecticut and the City of Detroit. He holds a B.A. in Philosophy from Harvard University and an M.P.A. from the LBJ School of Public Affairs at the University of Texas.

Andrea Garcia, Sr. Housing Specialist

Andrea Garcia joined Green Doors as Property Manager in February 2009. Andrea comes with several years experience in the real estate industry and has worked extensively in property management, as well as a community liaison aiding in the relocation of families in the process of achieving self-sufficiency. Andrea also has conducted research studies in education, social and personality psychology, marketing and consumer behavior at national and international levels for various public and private sector entities, including the University of Texas at Austin, Coca Cola, Anheuser Busch, Lottery of Texas, and ConAgra Foods. Her endeavors are well aligned with her vision of social awareness and the need to positively impact our world. She firmly believes that the world can indeed be a better place if we all did our part, a little bit at a time. Andrea is a native of Colombia and holds a B.A. in Psychology and a M.A. in Advertising from the University of Texas at Austin.

Michael Grady, Bookkeeper

Mike joined Green Doors as bookkeeper in March of 2012. Michael has more than 30 years of experience in the accounting profession, working mostly with small businesses. Michael holds a B.S. degree in Accounting from Missouri State, formerly Southwest Missouri State University. He served in the U. S. Air Force from 1971 to 1975 and served at Bergstrom AFB, for 2 years in Austin. This was how he was introduced to Austin. Mike enjoys listening to music and volunteers for Meals on Wheels and More.

Marla Koosed, Accounting Manager

Marla Koosed has served as Green Doors' Accounting Manager since January 2008 and is a certified public accountant. Marla spent several years as a computer programmer, then co-owned and managed two small businesses in the health care field for nine years before going back to college. Marla worked as an auditor in Ernst & Young's Real Estate Group, then entered the commercial real estate industry as a property controller and eventually became a corporate controller. She now specializes in working with small businesses and, in particular, with organizations with which she shares common goals and interests. Marla holds a B.S. degree in Accounting and an M.S. degree in Small Business Perspectives from the University of North Texas.

Joe Milicia, Property Maintenance Assistant

Joe Milicia joined Green Doors as Property Maintenance Assistant in September of 2011. Prior to joining the Green Doors team, Joe spent time working to help the elderly in area retirement centers and also served honorably in the U.S. Marines from 1975-1979. Joe has experience working on a wide variety of maintenance tasks, but he has a special passion for creating art and mosaics with ceramic tile. He was born and raised in Austin and loves the friendly people of the city, being close to family, and spending time with his Veteran friends. Joe also enjoys coast fishing in Corpus Christi with his brother and watching the Dallas Cowboys and Texas Longhorns football with his sons and brother.

Ximena Mejia, Community Manager

Ximena joined Green Doors in July 2011 as a community manager. Prior to joining Green Doors, Ximena spent more than 12 years as an international business executive, gaining extensive experience in corporate development, business planning and project management for various clients throughout the U.S. and Latin America. A native of Colombia, Ximena was the youngest business leader appointed by her country to be a representative in the Free Trade Area of the Americas negotiations in 2002. By joining Green Doors, Ximena seeks to make a positive, lasting impact on the lives of underserved individuals throughout Central Texas. Ximena holds a B.S. in Finances and Foreign Trade from Universidad Sergio Arboleda (1999) and a Master's Degree in Education from Universidad La Gran Colombia (2002). In her spare time, Ximena and her husband like to go bike riding, enjoy fitness and reading.

Christa Noland, Deputy Director

Christa joined Green Doors as Deputy Director in August 2008. Christa has over 12 years experience in the non-profit field working in the areas of administration, programs and development. Prior to joining Green Doors, Christa served as the Director of the Texas Region for the Hispanic Scholarship Fund. Christa previously served for over seven years as the Director of Programs and Director of Development for Twin City Mission, a regional non-profit social service agency serving individuals who are homeless, abused or in high-risk situations. A few of her recent professional accomplishments include: obtaining $2 million in new state funding for the statewide expansion of an educational outreach program, building the first homeless-specific tax-credit apartment complex in the nation, and receiving a national award for a news interview. Christa holds a B.S. in Sociology and a M.S. in Educational Psychology from Texas A&M University. In her free time she greatly enjoys listening to live music, reading, traveling and camping.

Avalon Rehn, Program and Volunteer Coordinator

Avalon joined Green Doors in October 2010, after having served a long-term volunteer assignment with Habitat for Humanity in Santiago, Chile. She was responsible for coordinating and managing international volunteer teams who constructed housing improvements for critically ill children. It was in Chile where Avalon learned about the importance of developing an on-going, sustainable volunteer recruitment, engagement, and appreciation plan. She hopes to embed the lessons learned in Chile into her work with volunteers at Green Doors. Avalon holds a Bachelor's in Journalism and Art with an emphasis in Graphic Design at the University of Nebraska.

Allison Scharf, Office Manager

Allison Scharf joined Green Doors as Office Manager in May of 2011. Prior to joining the Green Doors team, Allison spent four years at the Real Estate Council of Austin as Director of Events and Administration. There she was responsible for coordinating volunteer events, soliciting sponsorships, and managing committee activities. She holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Nutrition and Foods from Texas State University and enjoys talking to people about nutrition and fitness-related issues. Allison was born and raised in Texas and is thrilled at any opportunity to spend time outside in her garden or on her bicycle. She also has a passion for music and helps manage a recording studio with her husband.

Kyle Schroeder, Property Maintenance Assistant

Kyle joined Green Doors as a Property Maintenance Assistant in April 2012. Kyle has three years of experience working in the maintenance field for both commercial and residential properties. His favorite part of his job at Green Doors is meeting a wide variety of individuals and doing physical activity. Kyle is from College Station, and he enjoys working on cars in his free time.

Andi Shively, Director of Communities

Andi was brought on as the Director of Communities in October 2011, after working for a year as Green Doors' bookkeeper. In May 2010 she earned a MS in Community Economic Development from Southern New Hampshire University, specializing in Cooperative Business Development, and moved to Austin shortly thereafter to serve as founding Co-Director of Third Coast Workers for Cooperation. Still active in the cooperative movement, Andi sits on the board of the Eastern Conference on Workplace Democracy and is involved with the Austin Cooperative Think Tank. She holds a BA in Women's Studies and Political Science from the Ohio State University, and enjoys gardening, hiking, local food, and dancing to live music.

David Vance, Property Maintenance Manager

David has served as Green Doors' Property Maintenance Manager since January of 2009. Throughout the 1990's David worked as a carpenter in his home state of Kentucky. Carpentry is where his expertise lies, though David is fully skilled in all aspects of property maintenance. In the early 2000's, David loaded his fifth wheel camper and chased storms for many years. He began by chasing tornadoes and once he caught one, he discovered too many dangers with chasing tornadoes! He then decided to move on to chasing hurricanes instead. He caught 6 hurricanes throughout his years as a storm chaser until he realized he tired of travelling. He moved to Austin to help his sister build her house and as he grew to love Austin he joined the team at Green Doors. David is proud of his work with Green Doors every time he has the opportunity to see the looks on residents' faces as they first walk into their home.

Diana Welch, Development Associate

Diana Welch joined Green Doors in November 2011. As development associate, her goal is to help spread the word of this organization's mission while expanding community awareness of the issues surrounding homelessness. Through her careers as an author, journalist, and communication consultant, Diana's professional passion has always been telling stories, be them her own or someone else's. In 2009, she and her siblings co-authored a memoir called The Kids are All Right, which recounts from four first-person perspectives the experience of being orphaned and separated as children, only to be reunited as teenagers. The memoir won the 2009 Alex award from the American Library Association and was featured on Good Morning America, People Magazine, and elsewhere. Preceding publication of her book, she worked at the Austin Chronicle as community editor as well as a reporter specializing in issues such as community activism and subcultural movements.

Ellie Windschitl, Community Manager

Ellie Windschitl joined Green Doors as a Community Manager in April 2011 after spending 7 months living in southern Mexico upon graduation. Ellie holds a B.S. degree in Public Health from Minnesota State University Moorhead. Ellie's previous employment includes 8 years working with individuals suffering from chronic homelessness, chemical dependency, and severe and persistent mental illness. Ellie's interests include global health issues, culture, music, books, nature, and cooking.