Isabel McDevitt has hit the ground running as our new Executive Vice President, with a full slate of exciting initiatives underway. She recently shared her thoughts on returning to The Doe Fund’s leadership team, including her goal to scale Ready, Willing & Able‘s “Work Works” reentry model nationally.
Q: Tell us about your journey to The Doe Fund?
A: I actually began my career at Ready, Willing & Able, helping the Men in Blue find mainstream jobs after the program. Over my previous 9 years at The Doe Fund, I was active in developing the Work Works model—that is to say, the interconnected suite of employment opportunities, career training programs, transitional housing, and supportive services that comprise Ready, Willing & Able—with a speciality in social enterprise.
In 2011, after moving to Boulder, Colorado for my husband’s career, I assumed leadership of Bridge House, a local homeless day shelter and basic needs provider. During my tenure at Bridge House, which ended last month, my team and I transformed the organization to not only meet the needs of the most vulnerable on the street, but to create jobs, housing, and support as a stepping stone to independence.
The Ready to Work program I founded at Bridge House is an example of how the Work Works model can be scaled in communities of every kind. At Ready to Work, I developed 94 units of housing, two social enterprises earning over $1 million annually, and a community of support including cutting edge addiction recovery and peer mentoring solutions. Ready to Work has a success rate of 72% and is widely recognized as the premier provider of jobs and housing for people experiencing homelessness in the Denver metropolitan area.
In 2020, as George and Harriet were looking to the future, they asked me to re-join the team. I am thrilled to collaborate with the incredible staff here and community of supporters to take our programs to the next level—in New York City and beyond.
Q: How did your early days at The Doe Fund shape your approach to addressing homelessness?
A: George McDonald has been my mentor for 20 years. I was fresh out of college and ready to change the world. From day one under his leadership I learned to think big, bold, and better about ways to create opportunities for the people and communities we serve.
George is widely recognized as a hero to the homeless community because of his passion and advocacy. His ability to create large scale programs, social enterprise, and housing is well-known—but, for me, his true legacy is his belief in each and every person he has helped and the example he sets for the rest of us to do the same.
George’s wisdom has guided my thinking throughout the years. One thing he once told me, in particular, has served as my north star: “You have to love someone enough to expect something of them.” Belief in human potential cannot be underestimated as the key ingredient in successful solutions to homelessness. Throughout my career, this core belief that people can—and will—transform their lives when given the opportunity has been crucial to creating solutions with maximum impact.
I learned this in my early days at The Doe Fund from George and the Ready, Willing & Able team.
What George and Harriet have created is remarkable. The culture of the organization, grounded in deep belief in human potential and commitment to never accept the status quo, shaped me early in my career. It still guides me over 20 years later.
Q: What are your goals for The Doe Fund?
A: I am honored to join The Doe Fund again and to, alongside Harriet and John, help lead the organization into the future.
Now more than ever, we need innovative, effective solutions to address systemic challenges facing our communities. For over 30 years, The Doe Fund has been at the forefront of challenging the status quo and providing models that truly transform lives.
The daily impact of The Doe Fund’s programs and services is unquestionable: each night, 661 men in our transitional residences have a safe place to stay and access to services that can transform their lives. Our Ready, Willing & Able crews are working diligently to give back to the community, serving as frontline heroes while reclaiming their own futures. 427 formerly homeless and low income individuals in The Doe Fund’s permanent housing have a place to call home. 758 new units are in development and under construction to house the most vulnerable among us.
But there is more work to be done.
To truly break the insidious cycles of homelessness, incarceration, un- and under-employment, we must not only think big but create new opportunities for people to rebuild their lives and partnerships with the community that integrate people into the fabric of society.
We will continue to maximize the impact of our continuum of programs and resources we have at The Doe Fund while anticipating new needs and proactively creating solutions to address them both in New York City and nationwide.
In particular, I am excited to work with Harriet on scaling the Work Works model in more cities, suburbs, and rural areas across the country. We have already heard tremendous interest from local politicians and community leaders in places as varied as Los Angeles to Little Rock, Arkansas.
I am also eager to continue advancing our workforce development programs so our graduates can not only place their foot on the first rung of the economic ladder, but steadily ascend. This includes a renewed commitment to social enterprises as well as to career training that places our men in resilient middle class jobs with higher wages and growth potential. You will hear more about the exciting progress we’ve already made in future blog posts and our February newsletter.
Lastly, I am looking forward to positioning The Doe Fund as an even more vocal thought leader on solutions to homelessness, recidivism and advancing racial equity. You can also expect to read more thought leadership here on The Doe Fund’s blog, both from our own teams and in guest posts from our partners. I am personally excited to begin my own monthly column in the coming weeks!