Meet Ann Oliva, CEO of the National Alliance to End Homelessness. A career veteran of housing policy, she is one of the foremost experts on homelessness in the nation.
Before joining the Alliance in 2022, she held key positions at the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities and the Corporation for Supportive Housing. She also spent a decade at the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), where she served as deputy assistant secretary for special needs.
Oliva discusses the recent Supreme Court ruling in the Grants Pass vs. Johnson case, what the Alliance is working on, and her favorite fictional character.
What was your first job, and what did it teach you?
My very first job was at a local hospital, serving meals to patients. It taught me a lot as a teenager—especially that sometimes we all need help and care. But my first job in my chosen field of housing and homelessness was after college serving as a VISTA volunteer in Albuquerque, New Mexico, at the Women’s Housing Coalition, a transitional housing program for women with children experiencing homelessness. That job taught me so many of the basics I still use in my work—everything from the importance and value of treating people with dignity and respect to what it takes to run a housing program. It was foundational to my life’s work.
How did you get started working in housing?
My VISTA service was my first experience with a housing program. It was so clear during my time there how a safe and affordable place to live can positively impact the lives of people experiencing homelessness, especially children. We served families from all types of backgrounds—including many survivors of domestic violence —and, no matter what other needs they had, permanent housing was their No. 1 goal. That experience led to pursuing a career working in housing and homelessness, including my time at HUD.
What was your initial reaction to the Supreme Court ruling in the Grants Pass case?
I was incredibly disappointed in the Supreme Court’s decision that allows communities to fine, ticket, or arrest people living unsheltered. The disappointment stems from a belief that all people—regardless of their housing status—should be treated with dignity and have access to a safe and affordable place to lay their heads at night. Public policy should serve all our community members, not just those who are housed.
While many of us were not completely surprised based on what we heard in the Supreme Court’s oral arguments, it stung, nonetheless.
By not protecting the rights of unsheltered people who literally have nowhere else to go, the Supreme Court let loose a wave of ordinances and laws that not only treat people like criminals for being unhoused but that are expensive and ineffective. These laws make the lives of homeless people even harder, especially for people of color, who already face disproportionate interactions with the criminal legal system. Arresting people only prolongs their homelessness and continues to create inequitable outcomes.
This decision sets back our work to end homelessness by countless years.
What will be the impact of the decision over the next year?
On the ground, we expect to see some jurisdictions using the new authority provided to them to increase efforts to fine, ticket, and arrest people who are unsheltered in their communities—no doubt. It won’t decrease homelessness, though. The research is very clear on this.
However, I think we will also see this Supreme Court case as a turning point in the movement to end homelessness and in the fight for safe and affordable housing for all. This cruel decision and the approaches taking shape in places like Kentucky, Florida, and California have mobilized a lot of people who know it just isn’t right. So I think we will see some really harmful stuff, but we will also see energy behind the real solution to homelessness—which is affordable housing.
What else is the Alliance working on?
We have a lot going on these days. We are continuing to emphasize racial justice and equity throughout our work, including partnering with people who have lived experience of homelessness or housing instability. Our Capacity Building Team is working with communities all over the country to implement evidence-based best practices, like housing-focused street outreach. The Programs and Policy team is gearing up for 2025 with impactful policy and funding asks and bolstering our grassroots advocacy efforts. We have recently launched more strategic communications and social media efforts (follow us on Instagram) to educate the public about homelessness. And our Homelessness Research Institute partners with researchers all over the country to explore and analyze the impact of the work to end homelessness. We continue to produce our own original research about key topics (like the homelessness sector’s workforce). All of these activities together help us have a greater impact across different parts of the field, so we can inspire faith that ending homelessness is possible and get people home.
What is your hope for the next White House administration?
I hope that the next administration really leans in on closing the gap between housing costs and incomes that are driving around 19,000 people per week into homelessness for the first time.
This includes protecting people on fixed incomes—like older adults, who are one of the fastest growing groups of people falling into homelessness nationwide. I also hope that they talk to us—the Alliance and other experts—about what works to end homelessness so we can move forward with a positive agenda with housing and services at its center.
What skills have helped you most in your career?
Understanding what motivates people and using that to help them be the best at what they do.
Last book you read:
“The Guest” by Emma Cline
Favorite fictional character and why?
Buffy the Vampire Slayer—as the girl who terrifies and defeats vampires and demons, she upends the traditional hero framework. She isn’t perfect and learns lessons when she makes mistakes, which makes her character relatable even though we don’t have super strength and slayer abilities.
Favorite pizza topping:
I like a good plain cheese pizza!
If you unexpectedly had the afternoon off, where would we find you?
On my couch.
What’s next for Ann Oliva?
Even though it has been two years, I feel like I just got to the Alliance. So what’s next is just to keep learning and getting better at this job. There is a lot of work to do.
