Chrishelle Palay

Chrishelle Palay is the Executive Director of the Houston Organizing Movement for Equity (HOME) Coalition. HOME is a diverse coalition of community-based organizations in Texas. Our shared mission is to make Houston stronger, more resilient, and more equitable in the long road to recovery from Hurricane Harvey. She is a Houston native, who has spent much of her career advocating for fair housing policies and the rights of low income Houston residents to have access to safe, decent affordable housing in the communities of their choice. She worked closely with policy advocates, grassroots organizers, and community leaders in 2008’s Hurricane Ike Recovery efforts. This work led to community members brokering a deal with Mayor Annise Parker to invest $150 million into historically underserved Houston neighborhoods.

Since Hurricane Ike disaster recovery efforts, Palay has deepened her work with community leaders to ensure low income communities are included in all government funding and programs, including disaster recovery resources for low income communities demanding their fair share. This work led to an intensive community led planning process in Sunnyside to help area residents document the community’s history while planning a path forward for its future. Most recently, Palay served as the co-director for Texas Housers for eight years providing local and state housing policy research, advocacy, and strategy to local community organizing groups. Prior to her role with Texas Housers, Palay had a successful career in architecture, specializing in high rise multifamily design and development.