Anchorage Coalition to End Homelessness Announces Meg Zaletel as Interim Executive Director

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE – November 10, 2021
Anchorage Coalition to End Homelessness Announces Meg Zaletel as Interim Executive Director

The Anchorage Coalition to End Homelessness (ACEH) welcomes Meg Zaletel as Interim Executive Director, effective immediately. Zaletel is a disability attorney and currently serves on the Anchorage Assembly. She is a subject matter expert on fair housing and homelessness and has collaborated with ACEH in her role as Chair of the Assembly Committee on Housing and Homelessness. Anchorage faces the immense challenge of moving forward from mass care, and Zaletel’s track record of collaboration and leadership is what our community needs. While serving as Interim Director of ACEH, Zaletel will no longer vote on Assembly issues directly related to homelessness policy and appropriations and she will step down from the Assembly Committee on Housing and Homelessness.

The implementation of the Sullivan Arena Mass Care Exit Strategy and Long-Term Plan will include a broader public/private partnership with the facilitation workgroup, including representatives from the Homelessness Leadership Council and ACEH. Zaletel has the experience and ability to advance the mission and values of the coalition.

Larry Baker Senior Advisor to Mayor Bronson commented, “Meg’s subject matter expertise and her ability to work across divergent views makes her a perfect fit for this role. I look forward to working with her to address this most pressing community issue.”

Admiral Tom Barrett serves as a facilitator between the Assembly and the Administration to develop the framework to exit the Sullivan Arena and plan for a long-term community and client centered approach to shelter, navigation services, and stable housing: “In my interactions with Meg addressing community homelessness issues, she displayed very strong knowledge of the subject and relevant data. She brought forward creative options for tough issues. Her innate compassion for people experiencing homelessness and appreciation for differing perspectives were evident.”
Chair of the ACEH Executive Director Transition Committee Judith Crotty said, “The Board of Directors is pleased to have Meg Zaletel serve as Interim Executive Director. She brings stability and proven leadership for the organization. In her new role, she will continue to serve our community as a subject matter expert on homelessness and facilitate the implementation of community-driven solutions for people experiencing homelessness.”
“We look forward to Meg’s depth of experience in housing and homelessness services to make homelessness rare, brief, and one time. We are grateful for her leadership to help lay the foundation for the permanent Director’s success,” said Chair of the Homeless Prevention and Response System Advisory Council Jessica Parks.

ACEH is a 501c3 nonprofit whose mission is to provide dynamic leadership in making homelessness rare, brief, and one-time. ACEH began in 2004 as a grassroots collaboration between homeless service providers who saw a need for strategy in response to homelessness.

Media Contact: Owen Hutchinson, Director of Communications and External Relations, ohutchinson@aceh.org, 907-312-9547

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