About Us
Founded by people who experienced homelessness and were able to advance their careers in the housing and homeless sector to become executive leaders and nationally recognized experts, LEAP4ward understands the challenges to move onward and upward in the workplace. Our goal is to remove barriers and create opportunities and pathways for upward mobility of people with lived experience in the workplace.
As a person with lived experience of homelessness and substance use, Sean understands the challenges faced when navigating local systems and uses that experience to support communities. His commitment to ending homelessness began when he received housing and became a housing case manager in 2011. Between 2011 and 2015, he grew the housing and homelessness program at WestCare CA from one project to four programs, which included PHS, ESG, Community Navigation, and Outreach.
As the CEO of RE!NSTITUTE Sean’s primary goal has been to help communities around the world transform systems. He’s worked with over 130 communities in the US on transforming systems in the housing and homelessness space. With over 15 years of experience in facilitation, cross system collaboration and action plan implementation, Sean continues to bring his knowledge, skills and expertise to the sector that means so much to him.
Sean Whitten, Co-Founder
Kris is a person with lived experience who truly understands how important housing is to helping people recover and is committed to improving the quality of life for people in crisis. While she achieved a Master of Public Administration from California State University, Northridge, you will often hear Kris say what’s more important than any degree is common sense paired with empathy—which she brings to every part of her work.
Kris is a leader in the homelessness sector with more than 25 years of experience in policy development, innovative strategies, program design and implementation, system operation, and evaluation. She currently serves as the Chief Executive Strategist at Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority providing guidance in identifying and implementing innovative and creative programs and strategies aimed at reducing homelessness in the city. Her work on Los Angeles’ Continuum of Care Board, CES Policy Council, and SPA Steering Committee, and across the nation, has created several innovative initiatives such as master leasing and the transfer policy. During her tenure at LA Family Housing, Kris managed a $60M+ budget and 425 program staff and built institutional knowledge at every level of the complex homeless services sector, to ensure that trust, transparency, equity, and inclusion created a pathway for people to work together.