Our People
Advisory Board
Jeffrey G. Banks
Homes 4 the Homeless is proud to welcome philanthropist Jeffrey G. Banks to our Advisory Board of Directors. Mr. Banks comes from a long, successful career in business and now in retirement donates a great deal of his time to civic and business organizations as well as various causes, including helping foster children in Alameda County and more recently the unsheltered.
Early in life Mr. Banks made a name for himself playing football. He grew up in Ukiah, California and played lineman for Ukiah High School, graduating in 1963.
Ben Bartlett
Hon. Ben Bartlett, Berkeley City Council, is an environmental lawyer and respected community leader. His initiative to use pre-fabricated modular homes was the first in the nation.
As the son of political activists, Ben learned the value of community and the necessity of progress. Those values of innovation, opportunity, and inclusion continue to inform his work. His life’s mission is to use innovation to expand opportunity, protect the environment, and help people achieve their dreams.
Recently he voted to support legislation seeking to streamline Accessory Dwelling Units, also known as granny flats or in-law units, in order to encourage new housing units across the state. He also supports the creation of a Small Home Building Standard
Code to provide guidelines for the construction of ADUs. He also introduced legislation for “Step Up” housing to address homelessness. Learn more at the Ben for Berkeley Website.
Wayne Kleefeld
Meet Wayne Kleefeld, a strategic advisor at Homes 4 the Homeless, who brings a wealth of experience and a distinguished career in the housing industry. Formerly the CEO of Habitat for Humanity of Sonoma County, Wayne has transitioned into a full-time role with Homes 4 the Homeless, dedicating his expertise to our mission of innovative housing solutions.
Career Highlights: Wayne Kleefeld's illustrious career spans over 30 years in the mortgage industry, where he honed his skills and contributed significantly to the housing sector. Prior to joining Habitat for Humanity in 2017, Wayne served as the general manager at Habitat of Sonoma County ReStore for three years. His strategic leadership propelled the ReStore to become one of the top-performing outlets in the larger Habitat for Humanity organization.
Leadership at Habitat for Humanity: As the CEO of Habitat for Humanity of Sonoma County, Wayne Kleefeld distinguished himself with exceptional leadership. Under his guidance, the group's ReStore became a thriving enterprise, selling furniture, building materials, and antiques to the public. The funds raised from the ReStore played a crucial role in supporting the organization's mission of building affordable housing, utilizing the innovative approach of involving potential homeowners in "sweat equity."
Wayne Kleefeld's transition from the CEO of a well-known housing organization to a strategic advisor at Homes 4 the Homeless showcases a commitment to lasting impact and transformative change in the field of affordable housing. His experience and leadership continue to be instrumental in reshaping communities and providing innovative housing solutions for those in need.
Ryan Cooper
Ryan is a model and actor, and has been in prestigious fashion campaigns – DKNY, Armani, Hugo Boss, and acts in TV and film with stars such as Scarlett Johansson, Kate Mckinnon and Zoë Kravitz.
An Australian by birth, Ryan was raised by missionary parents in Papua, New Guinea. He worked for several years in construction, including building housing out of shipping containers.
He lives in New York with his daughter and in his spare time does personal fitness training.
Matt Crosbie
Matt Crosbie cares deeply about those experiencing homelessness. During his 20 years with the Santa Rosa Police Department he has gained a unique perspective, particularly after the wildfires saw the unsheltered population rise dramatically. Recently he has led a community outreach effort for “at risk” youth to provide vocational training in partnership with the County of Sonoma Probation Department. He helped develop a pilot program and curriculum with Farrow Commercial Construction to provide hands-on training to young people learning several disciplines that address workforce shortages in the construction industry. Participants received $15 per hour from the Department of Rehabilitation and a certificate of completion. During his career he has served as a school resource officer at Santa Rosa High School. He has received extensive law enforcement training cares deeply about restorative justice. He is a proud father and lives with his family in Sonoma County.
Tina Sandri
Tina Sandri, MHSA, LNHA, RYT-200, has spent her career leading aging services in dwelling settings where the focus is on holistic living and wellness, such as CCRCs, assisted living, skilled nursing, subacute rehabilitation, and memory care support. Her graduate studies in health services administration at The George Washington University (GWU) focused on long term care and non-profit marketing. When she was president of the Washington, DC Chapter of Aging2.0, an international association that supports innovators in the aging space, she was awarded Global Mentor of the Year for effective mentoring of innovative startups. Her growth mindset and passion for learning resulted in a stint as adjunct faculty at GWU teaching management and finance of assisted living. She has also taught youth as an Assistant Scoutmaster and on service learning trips. She currently mentors graduate students interested in aging services, as we are all aging daily. She sits on the American Health Care Association national Board of Governors. Part owner of a nationally certified minority business enterprise construction company, she believes in Quality Construction for a Diverse World. An East Coast gal, she is currently learning West Coast Swing!
Chris Klawitter
Chris Klawitter is a real estate professional and urban planner with a focus on scalable, human-centered approaches to housing instability.
Chris holds a Master of Urban Planning from theUniversity of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, where his research examined modular rehabilitation campuses designed to support dignity, identity, community and long-term reintegration.
Chris brings experience in site selection, entitlement-sensitive markets, and logistics-driven real estate strategy, with a strong understanding of Southern California markets.
Through his role at Savills, he provides strategic real estate advisory services while leveraging a global platform to
support complex development and planning initiatives.
At Homes 4 the Homeless, Chris serves as an Advisory Board member, supporting real estate strategy, land identification, port-adjacent logistics planning, and the development of vocational training and assembly campuses.
Tom Cody
Tom Cody is an entrepreneur with extensive experience in the field of eye wear and optical technologies.
His companies include Zero G Titanium Eyewear, Born in Brooklyn, and Masunaga1905.
Justin Milligan
Justin Milligan graduated from Empire Law School in 2003 and immediately set up his own practice in Santa Rosa, CA, taking criminal defense and personal injury cases. He moved to Washington, D.C. in 2010 to experience living in the hub of this great country's political and legal arena. After 2 1/2 years there, he and his wife moved back to California where he immediately began practicing criminal defense and civil litigation. His work in this capacity involved trial practice, research and writing for other attorneys. Since moving back from the East Coast, he worked for the Law Offices of MIchael A. Fiumara for 8 years. In 2022, he transitioned to legal services practice. He now primarily works for Legal Aid of Sonoma County. Currently, he is a Homeless Prevention Attorney and loves the work he does to help remove obstacles to housing.
Mark Eckhaus
As Chief Executive Manager of Eckhaus Fleet, one of the largest independent fleet supply companies in the United States, Mark supplies rental companies and other fleet buyers with new and used vehicles.
Kevin Pollack
Working for the prestigious law firm Robins Cloud LLP’s Santa Monica office, Mr. Pollack has a diverse background, having experience representing plaintiffs and defendants in civil litigation, and prosecuting criminal cases as a Deputy City Attorney for the Los Angeles City Attorney’s Office. While in law school, he volunteered with Street Law San Diego working with inner-city high school students.
Dave Cynkin
Dave is a strategic advisor to CEO’s & Founders, with an entrepreneurial background in executive, investor and consultative roles. He also has experience with non-profit organizations and social causes including: funding cutting-edge cancer research and treatment; providing education, services and advocacy in underserved communities; homelessness relief initiatives, and more.
Angela Conte
Angela comes to us with a mission beyond building and constructing affordable housing; for her, it’s about fostering healthy living and enhancing community ties.
With a passion for sustainable community design and affordable housing advocacy and over a decade of volunteering on multiple boards, commissions, and advisory committees related to housing, homelessness, food insecurities, and senior aging, she brings a wealth of knowledge and expertise to our endeavor to build a strong and resilient agency that can meet today’s urgent need for rapid, affordable, quality housing for all.
Bogdan Dematrescu
Bogdan holds an MBA and an Engineering Degree and has more than 20 years experience in the auto industry in product development, strategic planning and operations for Ford and General Motors. He is currently General Manager Remarketing Operations North America at Daimler AG.
Allan J. Hemphill
Veteran wine consultant Allan J. Hemphill cares deeply about homelessness and is advocating on behalf of the wine industry to reduce homelessness in Sonoma County and throughout California. Hemphill is the Chairman of Summit State Bank, owns his own winery consulting and management firm; is president of Laguna Custom Cellars, Inc., a winery venture capital firm and served as President of Associated Vintage Group, a winery service company.
Aaron Heck
Aaron is President and founder of HeckArt Studios, a premiere feature film production company and branding agency based in Los Angeles. He was also Director of Advertising and Promotions at F. Korbel and Bros., Inc., the largest and oldest producer of Méthode Champagne in the United States.
Kengo Yoshii
Kengo is a research engineer at Sony Corporation of America, and the founder of Oppro, an app to connect youth with opportunities and social support. His passion is to create social impact through technology. He works with educational institutions and nonprofit organizations that serve underserved youth communities in the Bay Area.
Kevin Schneider
Kevin served as CEO of SaveOnResorts.com for 16 years. Later he founded ChasetheWeb and co-founded SOR Technology. Kevin is a skilled strategist and innovator and currently he is a Managing Partner for KE Holdings.
Jonathan Parkhurst
A veteran of Desert Storm, Jonathan experienced homelessness for a short time in San Francisco before going on to become a tech entrepreneur and app developer. Now he is using his experience to give back and help others transition from homelessness as Safehavn’s founder and CEO.
Daniel Lowe
Daniel Lowe is the owner of WELD=N=THINGZ ™, a key partner in helping Homes 4 the Homeless develop our lines of container housing and bathroom prototypes. He is active in his community of Atwater, California to address rising homelessness, including serving on the Merced County Continuum of Care board.
Phillip Zeidman
Phillip is a licensed Architect and General Contractor in California and has worked on projects from Modular Construction, to Airport Simulation, Caltrans, US Utility Patents, as well as significant work for PG&E. Mr. Zeidman’s focus is on the technical aspects of housing for homelessness including building codes and permitting requirements.