Dr. Robert Marbut has worked on homeless issues for more than three decades, first as a volunteer, then later as a San Antonio City Councilperson and Founding President/CEO of Haven for Hope (the largest and most comprehensive homeless transformation campus in the USA). In 2007, frustrated by the lack of real improvement, and as part of the concept development for the Haven for Hope Campus, Dr. Marbut conducted a nationwide best practices study of homeless services. After personally visiting 237 homeless service facilities, in 12 states and the District of Columbia, he developed The Seven Guiding Principles of Transformation. Since then, Dr. Marbut has visited a total of 533 operations in 20 states, Washington, D.C. and Mexico. These Seven Guiding Principles of Transformation are used in all aspects of his work to create holistic, transformative environments in order to reduce homelessness. In the last year, he has worked with agencies in St. Petersburg, Clearwater, Pinellas Park, Panama City, Key West, Manatee County, Pinellas County, Ft. Smith AR and Beaumont TX.

Rhonda Abbot has been in the non-profit, social service arena for 28 years, 26 of those years in Pinellas County. The majority of her career was spent at Abilities of Florida overseeing the operations of 24 statewide offices that provided services to people with disabilities. She has experience in developing, negotiating and contracting with federal, state and local funding sources. Her undergraduate work was in Social Work and Criminal Justice and her Masters degree is in Rehabilitation Counseling. She is a Certified Rehabilitation Counselor (CRC) and was a CARF (Commission on Accreditation of Rehabilitation Facilities) Surveyor for five years. She has been employed by the City of St. Petersburg for six years as the Manager of Veteran, Social & Homeless Services and is active in the homeless arena in Pinellas County. Ms. Abbot serves as the City’s “point person” in communicating with downtown businesses, faith based groups, providers, advocates and general citizenry relative to homeless issues, as well as mitigating any controversial issues that come to the Mayor’s Office concerning homelessness, within budgeted constraints and the rights of individuals. She oversees the Social Action Funding grant process for the City and works out of the Mayor’s Office. She also works with the City Council, and City Administrators on other social service related issues. Rhonda sits on numerous boards and committees within the community, representing the City on a variety of social service issues.

Ekaterini (Katerina) Gerakios completed her Bachelor’s degree in Finance and Economics, as well as a dual Master’s degree at USF. After earning her M.B.A. and Master of Science in Information Systems, Katerina worked for the City of Clearwater as the Program Director of AmeriCorps where she managed personnel, sponsored community events, recruited volunteers, and managed the budget. Katerina moved to Toronto, Canada in 2005 and spent four years working as an Account Manager for IBM. Katerina returned to Clearwater in 2009 to join the city’s Economic Development department, where she is currently the city’s Community Development Manager. She is responsible for the economic development of the East Gateway District, a neighborhood located east of downtown Clearwater, and the management of the city’s homeless initiative. Born and raised in Athens, Greece, she speaks Greek and Spanish fluently.