on Feb 12, 2026

A Conversation with Partner Sarah Solon on Ending Homelessness and Building Effective Local Government

With over 16 years working at the intersection of criminal justice reform, mental health access, and local governance, new HR&A Partner Sarah Solon sat down with us to discuss how cities can do a better job of directing the resources they already have to addressing homelessness, what keeps mayors up at night, and how her work across New York, Los Angeles, Puerto Rico, and beyond has shaped her approach to building government capacity to solve enduring challenges.

 

How has your work evolved since you joined the firm, and what opportunities are you most excited to take on in this next chapter as a Partner?

When I joined HR&A four and a half years ago, I had spent 12 years focused on criminal legal system reform and mental health access in New York City. I had gone really deep on a complicated set of issues, but only in one place. What attracted me to HR&A was the opportunity to work with colleagues who had tackled completely different challenges, in new places, and to learn how I could be helpful on the issues that matter to me in places around the country.

 

The evolution of my work has been about discovering how issues affecting people’s access to safety, justice, economic stability, and housing are layered into communities everywhere, but each city approaches them differently. I’ve supported government transitions in cities across the country and in Allegheny County. I spent almost two years supporting La Liga in Puerto Rico, learning about local governance challenges there. I feel very grateful to have met and learned from committed public servants and impressive community leaders in each place, all working toward a future in which local government does a better job of serving those who have been historically harmed, left out, or left behind.

 

Over the last two years, the firm has encouraged me to focus on ending homelessness, and that’s become my primary work. It builds on the same foundation — how governments can deliver the right services and sustained policy effort to help people who’ve been left out and left behind. HR&A is the perfect organization to tackle this challenge because almost everything we do touches on how much money people make and how expensive it is to find housing.

 

 

 

What resources do you think cities need most right now?

Of course, cities need more affordable housing, and that will take resources. But there is also a lot of work that local governments can do to get better at directing their resources effectively.

 

I’m focused right now on helping local governments build their capacity to address the homelessness crisis. It’s something that doesn’t need to exist. When governments think proactively and restructure how they direct available resources toward the most impactful interventions, we can make real change. I’ve seen governments do things better and differently, and that’s what drives me. It’s possible.

 

What trends or changes are you seeing in your work?

There’s profound distrust in government right now.  And, in many cases I think they’re right. Everywhere I work, I see structural ways in which local government has failed to address challenges in people’s lives. But I also believe local government can and should play a positive role in people’s lives.

 

I’m particularly inspired by community groups, elected leaders, public servants, foundations, and nonprofit leaders who are thinking about stronger approaches. I’ve seen and been part of moments when government has done things significantly better and differently. The entire motivation for my career is to stand up systems change within local government so that we’re solving problems in people’s lives in better ways. There are challenges, but there’s no reason why we couldn’t navigate those and get to a better place again.

 

What types of projects and clients are you hoping to work with in your role as a Partner?

I have spent the past year providing intensive support to the City of Los Angeles, helping them to develop a performance oversight system to track and improve the impact of the over $900 million the City invests in homelessness response every year. I’m incredibly inspired by everything we’ve been building together. I want to continue working with local government leaders who want to build capacity to do things differently on homelessness or other big, complex challenges impacting people who’ve been left out and left behind. I’m also interested in working with community groups and governments excited about ending homelessness for specific populations—like disrupting the foster care to homelessness pipeline.

 

In general, I’m committed to building HR&A’s work across inclusive cities, equitable governance, and effective governance. Homelessness sits at the intersection of so many difficult issues in cities and is one of the things keeping mayors up at night. Any time city leaders face an enduring challenge and want to deliver better for everybody who lives in the city, that’s something I want to be doing.

 

 

What projects over the course of your career at HR&A are you most proud of, and why?

I loved supporting Allegheny County Executive Sara Innamorato’s transition into office, which set, in my opinion, the national bar for what it means to govern in partnership with community. In the first three months of her administration, we helped her to engage 19,000 residents to understand their priorities. Just six months later, her administration had delivered on 91% of the community’s action items, addressing issues such as housing affordability, expanding voting access, and enhancing health-focused crisis response. This is quick, decisive action to deliver changes that residents can see and feel. Very inspiring local governance.

 

I’m also really proud of our work with Fountain House on their mental health crisis response policy roadmap. We partnered with them, supported by Trinity Church Wall Street Philanthropies, to develop recommendations based on insights from more than 100 Fountain House members, all of whom live with serious mental illness. Their roadmap calls for New York City to leverage historic levels of state and federal 988 funding to rebuild our approach to mental health emergencies and reduce reliance on 911.

 

And, I am grateful to have supported the City of Austin, LifeWorks, and Travis County, helping them build a landmark 10-point plan to dismantle the foster care to homelessness pipeline in their region in response to a significant increase in youth homelessness in Austin over the past five years.

 

Learn more about Sarah here.