Staff & Consultants
Executive Director
Frank joined Community Partnership 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 Community Partnership, Frank served as Deputy Director for PeopleFund, a community development financial institution. Frank also 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 Alliance for Public Transportation, a local advocacy organization focused on promoting public transportation. 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.
Property Manager
Sharon has over 15 years of experience in the multifamily housing industry and holds a Certified Apartment Property Supervisor (CAPS) designation from the National Apartment Association. She studied sociology and women's studies at the University of New Mexico, earned a Crisis Counseling Certificate from the Austin Police Department's Victim Services unit, and has a history of volunteer work with social service agencies. Sharon joined Community Partnership in May, 2008. As Property Manager she works directly with residents and case managers, assists with development of policies and procedures, supervises maintenance issues, and oversees the operations of the Food Pantry. Sharon believes that our basic needs are food, clothing, shelter and music. She is an avid fan of music, movies, and books and enjoys all things "Austin".
Development Consultant
Chris Marcum is Community Partnership's development consultant specializing in resource development and fundraising from the agency's diverse public- and private-sector partners. Ms. Marcum provides strategic planning, manages collaborative relationships, directs the annual campaign, and seeks opportunities to engage individuals, corporations and foundations in Community Partnership projects and activities. Ms. Marcum has been a development consultant for over five years. She spent 10 years at the University of Texas in fund and executive development, and two years in a local nonprofit agency as resource development director. Ms. Marcum has a master's degree in Journalism/Public Relations from The University of Texas at Austin, and a bachelor's degree from UT-Dallas with dual majors in Business Administration and Journalism.
Program and Outreach Coordinator
Caitlin joined Community Partnership in September 2007. As Program and Outreach Coordinator, she assists with new project coordination and development, the enhancement of the volunteer program, and provides general research of best practices on permanent supportive housing. Caitlin has her M.S. in Community and Regional Planning from UT's School of Architecture with a specialization in community development. She has spent the past few years working on issues of urban poverty. She served as a Lone Star Intern for PeopleFund and assisted in the development of their annual flagship event—the East Austin Economic Summit. As an undergraduate, she received a B.A. in Government and Psychology from the University of Texas at Austin. She has worked as a research assistant on topics dealing with public school reform, children's health and is currently researching youth violence intervention strategies. She hopes to help the organization grow and enhance how it serves Austin's homeless.
Business Manager
Marla Koosed has served as Community Partnership's Business Manager since January, 2008. 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. At the University of North Texas she earned a B.S. degree in Accounting and an M.S. degree in Small Business Perspectives before becoming a certified public accountant. 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.
Office Manager
Sharon joined Community Partnership in January, 2008. She holds a B.A. in Psychology from Ohio Wesleyan University, and has worked in the arts and social service non-profit communities in Columbus, Ohio and Austin since graduating. She spent the last decade at SafePlace, developing support and tracking systems for their fundraising and finance teams. She is excited to bring her systems skills to Community Partnership and develop a seamless base of operational support for their many, growing projects.
