Our Board of directors
Tori Willis
Chair
Tori Willis is an innovative thinker with broad-based expertise in business and organizational operations, responsible for managing multi-million-dollar grant projects. She has been a resident of Raleigh-Wake County since 2016 and has served the community through volunteer and professional engagements. Tori works at Shaw University as the Director of Sponsored Programs. As part of the Leadership Team, she provides information vital to the identification and allocation of resources for the University and community surrounding the campus. She has worked in higher education Sponsored Programs since 2008; while also working as an entrepreneur since 2001, helping small businesses and non-profit organizations operate successfully and build fiscal stability. Tori has a BA in Business Administration with a Finance minor and is currently pursuing a MBA at UNC-Wilmington.
Why she serves:
I am a servant leader whose passion and purpose is helping others. Housing is a basic necessity that should be available to all in a country as rich as America. I am excited to serve so I can help improve the systems that provide assistance to the most vulnerable population. There are too many resources in Raleigh-Wake for me to look out my downtown office window and see people sleeping outside of McDonalds! I want to help put an end to the homelessness pandemic!!
Sharon Edmundson, MPA, CPA
Treasurer
Sharon Edmundson is currently a Deputy Treasurer and the Director of the State and Local Government Finance Division of the North Carolina Department of State Treasurer. She has over 30 years of experience in accounting with most of that being in the local government arena. She also currently serves as adjunct faculty at the School of Government at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Sharon currently serves on the Governmental Accounting and Auditing Committee of the NCACPA, the AICPA State and Local Government Expert Panel, and the Women in Public Finance Committee of the Government Finance Officers Association. Sharon is a graduate of Leadership North Carolina, Class XXII. When not working she loves to spend time at the beach with her husband Drew and their three dogs.
Why she serves:
“My work as a public servant in the accounting field has given me the business experience of how government works. By serving with the Partnership I can see how that work affects the lives of citizens in Wake County and help to make a difference to its most vulnerable people.”
Ed Barberio
Your Subtitle Goes Here
Ed is the Deputy Director for Wake County’s Housing Affordability and Community Revitalization Department. Ed has 35+ years of local government experience in community and economic development as well as public housing, serving communities in both south Florida and North Carolina. Ed loves history and is an avocational archaeologist; he’s worked on many significant archaeological projects in Florida, as well as MIA-POW recovery missions in Europe.
Why he serves:
“I am Wake County’s representative on the Board. I’ve spent my career in public service and serving on this Board provides another opportunity to make a positive impact on the lives of our community’s most vulnerable residents.”
David Smoot
Past Chair
David L. Smoot PhD serves as Past Chair of the Board for the Raleigh Wake Partnership to End and Prevent Homelessness. He was active in developing the Oak City Outreach Center and in planning the Oak City Center Multi-Service Center. David became active with the Partnership through efforts of downtown churches to engage more effectively with those who are experiencing homelessness. He has been the Missions Chair and Administrative Board Chair for Edenton St UMC. David draws on his experience as a Child & Family Psychologist in working with those without homes and with service providers. He trained at Ohio University, Penn State, and Children’s Hospital National Medical Center in DC before coming to Raleigh in 1988. Smoot also has served the NC Psychological Association as the Legislative Chair, Federal Advocacy Coordinator, and President. He and his wife, Beth, who co-founded The Green Chair Project, raised two children in Raleigh.
Why he serves: The first and last answer for me is the people. Several years ago, I became friends with people living on the street and it was a great awakening for me to discover how strong our friendship could become. Later, I met some of the most amazing people who day in and day out serve these friends and I knew I wanted to be part of the solution to homelessness. In the middle of those two reasons, my faith and my thirst for more effective ways to see everyone have a home compel me to be part of the Partnership to End Homelessness.
Coby Crandall
Your Subtitle Goes Here
Despite stints in the Job Corps., Boot Camp, and numerous arrests including 6 months spent in the hole, Crandall knew he was destined for something greater. Armed with only a GED, he managed to get accepted to North Carolina State University where he progressed steadily until old demons resurfaced. Self-medicating to cope, it wasn’t until he was arrested on his third DWI charge that Crandall began to earnestly turn his life around.
While incarcerated he found the services of the court-provided attorney inadequate. Deciding to step out on faith, he fired his attorney and chose to represent himself Pro Se. Against the advice of family, friends and other attorneys, Crandall began to spend the majority of his free time in the law library, sacrificing food and canteen luxuries to save any dollar he could scrounge up to purchase the legal books that would soon set him free. Ironically, in the process, his courtroom maneuvering garnered him the respect of the very judges and prosecutors seeking to imprison him.
Upon his release on bail, Crandall found himself Homeless. He began to examine just how the system was tailored to keep those uninformed, uneducated, and indigent, shackled physically, mentally, and emotionally. It was then that he realized his calling in life – he’d gone through these various trials and harrowing events to use his experiences to help others in similar situations. Armed with legal knowledge and a new-found awareness of his destiny, he formed The Pro Se Re-entry Recovery Services, a non-profit advocate service that seeks to assist offenders from the moment they are incarcerated, through the time of their release, providing them with a pathway to employment, housing, and a true chance at rehabilitation.
Maddie Horner
Your Subtitle Goes Here
Officer Horner has worked with the Raleigh Police department for over 12 years. She has a Bachelor’s Degree in Criminal Justice from Appalachian State University and a Master’s in Clinical and Counseling Psychology from Cappella University. She has served on the PEH board for one year and very much enjoys her time working with at-risk populations.
Why she serves:
I serve because I believe we can make the world a better place for all its inhabitants.
Maseta Dorley
Your Subtitle Goes Here
With 18-years of nonprofit experience, Maseta has developed a deep passion and intuition for guiding people from seemingly disparate organizations, community coalitions, and/or mindsets to become thriving, focused teams. Maseta specializes in strategic planning, organizational development, program design, nonprofit management, transformation leadership, project management, grant administration, systems innovation, movement building, community impact, and supporting leaders and teams to reach sustainable goals. Maseta obtained her master’s in human services from Liberty University and will resume her studies for her Ph.D. in Industrial and Organizational Psychology with a focus in International Business at Walden University.
Vince Rozier
Your Subtitle Goes Here
Judge Vinston (Vince) Rozier, Jr. has embraced the role of public servant. A native of Tar Heel, North Carolina, Judge Rozier is the son of Rev. Vinston Rozier, Sr. and Lynne Rozier, a retired school teacher. His parents instilled in him the importance of faith, family, community, and education. Though he spent time farming with his grandparents and working in tobacco fields from the age of 12 until his senior year in high school, he was determined to become valedictorian of his high school class. He made this a reality.
Judge Rozier received a full academic scholarship to the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where he became a member of Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity, Inc. and was even voted upon by his peers as Mr. UNC for homecoming. He later earned his law degree from NC Central University School of Law.
In 2006 at the age of 29, following his work as a prosecutor, he became the youngest judge in Wake County history on his level of court. Following his appointment, he served on an international delegation to the country of Jordan through the U.S. State Department for young political leaders. For his service and time dedicated to the youth in his community, Judge Rozier has a number of awards and recognitions.
Judge Rozier is married to Attorney Dekhasta Becton Rozier of Raleigh, NC, an attorney with The Becton Law Group in Raleigh, NC. He is an avid runner, having completed a marathon and multiple half marathons and triathlons. Judge Rozier also is the published author of multiple books including: 101 Days: Reveal The Fruit In You and God’s Fruit In Me (a children’s book). He serves as an elder at Crossroads Fellowship Church in Raleigh.
Why I Serve
In my role as a judge, I have seen the impact of housing instability. I have presided over cases involving parents and children facing obstacles and needing a place to call home. I have spoken with people in need of treatment who find it impossible to progress until they know where they can regularly lay their heads safely. I have heard the challenges of maintaining a job or custody of children when there it is difficult to have a secure residence. The problems that come from not having housing stability are evident on a regular basis. In my professional role, however, there are few ways to help those experiencing housing instability before or after they appear in court.
The Wake County Partnership gives me the opportunity to do more than just offer someone an encouraging word. The Partnership work makes a direct impact on the lives of those I might see in court who do not necessarily need a helping hand, but who simply need a roof. The Partnership helps to provide a stable address so that the people we expect to have or go find jobs, can put an accurate address on a job application. The Partnership works to make a difference and have a great impact.
I serve because I want to make a difference.