Staff
Shannon is dedicated to empowerment through financial education. She ran a successful real estate business…
SHANNON WAY
Shannon believes in financial education as a pathway to personal empowerment. She ran a successful real estate business for ten years, working primarily with first time home buyers and small investors, frequently helping her clients utilize local home buyer assistance programs. She transitioned to the non profit sector in 2011 to advocate for affordable housing, after seeing many of her friends and family members displaced. She is a 4th generation Bay Area resident.
Shannon developed the Financial Services and First Time Homebuyer program at the San Francisco LGBT Community Center and administrated Lending Circles- a credit building micro loan made in partnership with Mission Asset Fund. Shannon served as Vice Chair for Habitat for Humanity Family selection committee from 2013- 2014 and was on the Board of Directors for Home SF prior to joining the team as staff.
Alex is a mission driven leader who is committed to community development through individual empowerment. …
ALEX TAN
Alex is a mission driven leader 
who is committed to community development through individual empowerment. With over 14 years of experience in leadership and program management in the non-profit sector, Alex is passionate about making affordable housing accessible to all in need.
Since 2014, Alex has promoted a healthier, stronger San Francisco, leading nutrition programs that reduce food insecurity for more than 8,000 clients throughout the Bay Area. Through this work, Alex saw how the high cost of housing has impacted seniors and low- income populations living in San Francisco. He made many referrals and connections to housing resources, before ultimately deciding to transition into affordable housing industry. Alex joined Home SF as Director of Programs in 2023, and together, with his talented team, he is excited to help our City’s most vulnerable residents secure safe, stable, affordable homes.
Racquel joined the team in August 2019 as the Program Coordinator for educator and rental programs…
RACQUEL SARTAGUDA
Racquel joined the team in August 2019 as the Program Coordinator for educator and rental programs.
She first established her career and gained 15 years of experience in retail, private, investment and mortgage banking. She shifted to the non-profit sector by joining then-Consumer Credit Counseling Service of San Francisco (now-BALANCE) as a foreclosure prevention counselor at the onset of the mortgage industry crisis in 2007. As a certified counselor and educator, she specialized in default prevention, homeownership, financial literacy, rental and post-purchase matters. Her most recent certifications include the HUD Certification for Housing Counseling in December 2017 and Homebuyer Education Trainer certification in May 2018. She collaborated with community-based organizations, businesses and households in the South of Market area to successfully pilot and build the Financial Literacy Services Program of BALANCE for their community. She conducted multiple workshops for homebuyer certification, re-entry education, college preparation, and financial literacy for partner organizations, credit unions, banking institutions, universities, governmental and community agencies in Los Angeles, Chicago and the San Francisco Bay Area. As part of Home SF, she hopes to help provide better avenues to educate, equip and empower individuals and families in establishing stable and sustainable housing.
Marie Ann is an advocate for equity and equality for all communities, especially regarding housing rights…
MARIE ANN AGUIRRE
Marie Ann is an advocate for equity and equality for all communities, especially regarding housing rights. She is a Filipina-American, born and raised in the East Bay, and completed her B.A. in Sociology at California State Polytechnic University, Pomona. She is currently obtaining her Masters of Business Administration at California State University, East Bay. She has a heart for awareness work and philanthropy. In the past year, she served as her sorority’s National Director of Philanthropy, in which she collaborated and fundraised for several charities and facilitated several awareness workshops. She has experience working with nonprofit organizations that serve for causes greater than self, most recently at City Year San Jose/Silicon Valley, serving in the educational sector. She also worked as a Peer Educator at her campus’ confidential support center for survivors of sexual violence. Marie Ann is honored to be part of the Home SF team to assist low-income and minority families, and to continue spreading the legacy of this organization.
Gizzel joined the team at Home SF to help improve access to affordable housing…
GIZZEL YANEZ
Gizzel joined the team at Home SF to help improve access to affordable housing. They graduated from SFSU with two degrees in Creative Writing and Comparative World Literature with a minor in Spanish. They worked for four years as a Resident Assistant in university housing, where they implemented several approaches to connect available resources to young adults navigating their first time in college.
They value the importance of reading, language learning, and bridging cultures together. They have worked in several programs to help children’s education such as Reading Partners, BookNook, and Walk4Literacy. This includes California State University International Program where they taught English in Granada to immigrants and Council of International Education Exchange where they taught English to toddlers in Madrid. Gizzel’s passion for education transcends only teaching reading and writing. They are excited to connect the community with housing resources, financial literacy programs, and individual counseling, so that all San Francisco residents can feel empowered, and stable in their housing.
Board of Directors
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