Organizing Director
As Organizing Director, João Paulo brings experience and passion for building grassroots power with workers, tenants, and people experiencing homelessness. “In recent years, his advocacy and mobilizing efforts have focused on housing and mobility justice, land use, anti-displacement policy, and equitable urban design. As an organizer in Austin, Texas, he worked to build power with local tenant associations and core transit users, advocated for permanent supportive and low-barrier housing, and organized within the homelessness response system (HRS) to build a system that is more effective, coordinated, and responsive to the unique needs of every person transitioning out of homelessness. During his time in Austin he served as Organizing Director for Austin Justice Coalition, Chaired the Board for the Austin/Travis County Continuum of Care, served on the Boards of Housingworks and Planning Our Communities, and served two terms on City of Austin’s Planning Commission and the Community Advisory Committee for Project Connect. For his efforts to end homelessness in Travis County he was awarded the Key to the City of Austin, in 2023. In his off hours he enjoys collecting and playing records, reading science fiction, and building new relationships in the community.
