Board of Directors and Staff

Board of Directors

  • Erin Smist, President
  • Jordan A. Casey, Esq., Vice President
  • Mark Levin, Esq., Treasurer
  • Jennifer Perry, Secretary
  • Nelson Acevedo
  • Michael Bannon
  • Lisa Gaffney
  • Kristin A. Garcia
  • William H. Hall, IV, Esq.
  • Joel A. Johnson, AICP, P.H.M

unity

Rachel Wentworth
Executive Director
Rachel Wentworth joined the Housing Equality Center staff in 2000. Before becoming the Executive Director, Rachel served as both the Assistant Director and as the Test Coordinator. Rachel has 22 years of experience fair housing including complaint intake, test coordination and investigation in the areas of rental, sales, insurance, mortgage lending, and design and construction, conducting fair housing trainings and workshops for a variety of audiences, and technical assistance on zoning and land use and fair housing compliance to local governments. Prior to joining the Housing Equality Center, Rachel was a test coordinator at the Greater New Orleans Fair Housing Action Center. She holds a B.A. in Sociology from Hiram College and a Master of Community and Regional Planning from Temple University.


Carolyn Steinhofer
Intake, Enforcement and Compliance Manager
Carolyn Steinhofer (formerly Capistrano) joined the Housing Equality Center staff in September 2015. She is responsible for complaint intake and coordinates HECP’s education programs. She is a HUD certified Housing Counselor. Carolyn previously administered the Fair Housing Program for the Lancaster County Human Relations Commission and was a Test Coordinator and Enforcement Coordinator for the Fair Housing Council of Montgomery County. Carolyn holds a B.S. in Human Development and Family Studies from Penn State University.


Quintin Lerch
Test Coordinator
Quint joined the staff full-time in October of 2016. But he really started with our founding organization, the Fair Housing Council of Suburban Philadelphia as a tester in 1995 where he received his first training in Fair Housing testing. He then went on to work for the Department of Justice and brings 27 years of experience as a consultant in Civil Rights and Fair Housing Advocacy, having worked for 9 agencies from Washington, DC, Delaware, the Philadelphia area and New Jersey. Quint coordinates HECP’s fair housing testing and investigation program. Prior to his work in fair housing, he was the Assistant Director for 10 years of a community-based affordable housing provider located in Southern New Jersey that built, rehabbed and managed over 200 units of low-and moderate-income housing for families and senior citizens in Burlington County, NJ.

 

Janis Stacy
Intake Specialist
Janis Stacy joined the Housing Equality Center in November 2022.  She serves as the first line of contact with consumers contacting HECP with allegations of housing discrimination and other housing-related problems .  She has been a community activist for racial and LGBTQI2S+ (Lesbian Gay Bisexual Queer Intersex 2-Spirit) equity for over 40 years.  She has run diversity trainings on trans inclusion and cultural competency about Indigenous American Two-Spirit and trans people.  She has been a community activist for equity for over 40 years including in housing and homelessness.  She holds a BSEE from Purdue University and certification in Project Management from Penn State University.

 

Lynne Ellison
Office Manager and Bookkeeper
Lynne Ellison joined the Housing Equality Center in 1998. She is responsible for all bookkeeping and office management duties as well as indirect cost proposals necessary to meet grant management and compliance requirements for government and foundation contracts and grants. Lynne holds a Master of Social Work from Temple University.

PO BOX 558, Fort Washington, PA 19034
866-540-FAIR | 267-419-8918
info@equalhousing.org

Artwork by Bernard J. Kleina