Beyond Shelter: Who We Are, Staff Biographies

WHO WE ARE

Staff Biographies

For more than 25 years, Tanya Tull has played a significant role in the development of innovative solutions to the crisis of homelessness, both in Los Angeles and nationwide. In 1980, she founded Para los Niños (For the Children), a nonprofit agency located in L.A.'s Skid Row, which operates child care and family support programs for a primarily immigrant population. In 1983, in response to the increasing number of homeless families on the streets of Los Angeles, she co-founded L.A. Family Housing Corporation, a nonprofit agency that develops emergency shelters, and transitional and permanent housing. Since 1988, her work has focused primarily on the development of new methodologies to promote systemic change. That year, she created A Community of Friends, which develops supportive permanent housing throughout L.A. County for the chronically mentally ill and other special needs populations. Also in 1988, she founded Beyond Shelter, where she currently devotes all of her time. In 1996, Dr. Tull served on the U.S. National Preparatory Committee for the United Nations Conference on Human Settlements, Habitat II, held in Istanbul, Turkey. She is currently a member of the Board of Trustees of the National Housing Conference. She serves on special advisory committees for the National Alliance to End Homelessness, the National Low Income Housing Coalition, and the National Law Center on Homelessness and Poverty, all based in Washington, D.C. She also served on the mayor's blue ribbon panel, Bring LA Home!, The Partnership to End Homelessness. She received her B.A. from Scripps College, Claremont, Calif., teaching credential from UCLA, and an honorary doctorate in social sciences from Whittier College (1992). Currently, she is a Senior Fellow at the UCLA School of Public Affairs. Dr. Tull has received much recognition for her work, including the Jefferson Award from the National Institute of Public Service (1982); the CORO Foundation Public Affairs Award (1983); the Ralph Bunche Peace Award during the "Year of the Homeless," United Nations Organization, Pacific Chapter (1987); the Founders Award from the National Association of Fundraising Executives (1988); the Gleitsman Foundation's National Citizen Activist Award (1996); the Community Service Award from the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund (MALDEF) (2002) and, most recently, an El Angel Award from the California Latino Caucus Institute (2005).

To watch Tanya Tull's acceptance speech upon receiving the Gleitsman Foundation's National Citizen Activist Award in 1996, please click here. [Please note: Tanya's speech begins 6 minutes 43 seconds into the video].

Ms. Ho has 15 years of experience working in the corporate environment and public accounting with a specialization in auditing and taxation. Prior to joining Beyond Shelter, she had over three years of nonprofit accounting and project development experience at the Single Resident Occupancy Housing Corporation. Ms. Ho received her bachelor's degree in accounting from the State University of New York at Buffalo. She is a licensed certified public accountant for the State of California.

Ms. Casil is a fifth generation native Southern Californian. Prior to joining Beyond Shelter, she worked as a campaigner for United Way and served as Director of the Family Service Association and Home Again Project in Redlands, CA, for 10 years. She is also an award-winning professional writer, possessing an M.F.A. in creative writing from Chapman University and bachelor's degrees in literature and studio art from Scripps College. For the past six years, she has shared her knowledge by teaching English, writing and journalism at several colleges in Southern California.

Ms. Paul has close to 10 years of experience working with nonprofit organizations. While receiving her bachelor’s degree in developmental psychology at San Francisco State University, Ms. Paul worked as a supervisor at the Campus Community Involvement Center, where she supervised and counseled students in various internship positions. She then worked for three years as the assistant to the board liaison of the San Francisco AIDS Foundation before relocating to Los Angeles to serve as the medical volunteer coordinator for the Venice Family Clinic. She later held the position of assistant director of development at the Make-A-Wish Foundation of Greater Los Angeles for three years.

Ms. Moshay is a native Angeleno. After many years volunteering for various non-profit causes in Los Angeles, mainly benefiting children, 10 years ago, Ms. Moshay began a career in development. She has been Executive Director for two Los Angeles non-profits, The Amie Karen Cancer Fund for Children, a support group for the Pediatric Hematology and Oncology Department at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center and the Beverly Hills Education Foundation, where she was involved in fundraising for the Beverly Hills Unified School District. There, she was instrumental in forming education partners with local businesses as well as the funding for the television station, KBEV. Additionally, Ms. Moshay has acted as a consultant for the Los Angeles Philharmonic Business and Professional Committee and Cedars-Sinai Medical Center.

Mr. Karimi brings over 20 years of experience in Operations, Project Management and Finance from both the nonprofit and private sectors. His experience includes working at Mattel, Inc. for 10 years in their Operations Finance Department. As the manager of the department, Nizar traveled extensively to Hong Kong, Southern China, Malaysia, the Philippines and Italy for annual operations budget and audit purposes. Upon leaving Mattel, Inc. Nizar had a short lived experience with the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power and then moved onto the Los Angeles Homeless Service Authority (LAHSA). During his eight year tenure with LAHSA, Nizar worked in the Fiscal Department, ultimately as the Acting Senior Manager of Finance. Mr. Karimi’s educational background includes an undergraduate degree in Accounting and an MBA with a concentration in Finance. In his spare time, Mr. Karimi serves as the Vice Chair (a voluntary position) of the Aga Khan Foundation USA for the Western Region, a non-profit organization (www.akdn.org) serving the underprivileged of the global community.

Carla Murphy joined Beyond Shelter in 2006 as the Program Manager, Government Contracts, and is responsible for providing program and contractual support, operations assistance, and monitoring and oversight of all government contracts. Ms. Murphy also supervises the Rental Assistance Department at Beyond Shelter. Prior to Beyond Shelter, she worked for over 20 years in the Health Care Industry, including 6 years in the capacity of Contract and Compliance Management at two major Health Maintenance organizations and the remainder as the Regional Operations Manager at a non-profit health care management corporation, specializing in consulting, marketing and enrollment services for HMOs and State Medicaid agencies. Ms. Murphy was also the first Program Manager at the Rita D. Walters Learning Complex for Family and Community Development (RDWLC) where she was employed for approximately three years. She received her BS Degree in Human Services from California State University, Fullerton, and has completed the coursework towards a Masters Degree in Public Health from California State University, Northridge. She is a member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, a national Public Service Sorority, and current President of the Fremont Regency Condominium Association.

Ms. Tarver has over 12 years of experience advocating for women and families. During that time, she worked as a client services coordinator at L.A. Works One-Stop Career Center in the San Gabriel Valley, where she assisted women and men transitioning from receiving public assistance to employment. She also worked for 1736 Family Crisis Center, a nonprofit organization that provides services to victims of domestic violence. She holds a bachelor's degree in sociology and black studies from the University of California and a master's in public administration from California State University.

Barbara Hill
Director, Neighborhood Services & Service-Enriched Housing Programs

Ms. Hill has over 20 year's experience focusing on services to families and the chronically homeless. Currently, as the director of neighborhood services and service-enriched housing programs, Ms. Hill has oversight of neighborhood-based services coordination and supervises service coordination for nine affordable housing developments. Formerly, Ms. Hill served as the director of Beyond Shelter’s “Housing First” and service-enriched housing programs for nearly nine years. She also supervised a variety of housing-related programs, including Los Angeles countywide rental assistance programs. For the past eight years, Ms. Hill also has served as a member of Beyond Shelter’s technical assistance team as a presenter. Prior to Beyond Shelter, Ms. Hill served as the casework supervisor for the Travelers Aid Society of Los Angeles, where her responsibilities included supervision of case planning, training of staff, interns and volunteers, and the management and operation of a broad range of social services for clients. Ms. Hill holds a bachelor of science degree in social work from the University of Detroit.

Ryan Macy-Hurley
Director, Institute for Research, Training & Technical Assistance

Mr. Macy-Hurley has over 7 years of experience working on issues related to homelessness and poverty as a case manager, community organizer, and trainer. At Beyond Shelter’s Institute for Research, Training, and Technical Assistance, Mr. Macy-Hurley is responsible for coordinating the agency’s training and evaluation activities. He is an experienced consultant on the Housing First Approach for Homeless Families and has conducted trainings and presentations around the country on the topic. He has a Master’s Degree in Social Work with an emphasis on Management and Planning from the University of California, Berkeley. Before joining Beyond Shelter, he worked at Building Opportunities for Self-Sufficiency, a nonprofit homeless services provider, where he organized clients and community members to fight for tenant protections in Oakland, CA, and at the Global Fund for Women, a San Francisco-based international women’s fund, where he conducted research on female human rights issues.

Beyond Shelter, 1200 Wilshire Boulevard, Suite 600, Los Angeles, CA 90017, USA
telephone: (213) 252-0772, fax: (213) 480-0846