John Eckstrom
Chief Executive Officer
John Eckstrom has more than three decades of executive, financial and nonprofit leadership experience. John is a former CEO of Haight Ashbury Free Clinics, Inc., (a world-renowned San Francisco-based nonprofit whose mission is to provide primary care, substance abuse treatment and mental health counseling to homeless and low-income individuals). He led the organization to a new level of success, developing and expanding two out-patient service centers and creating a new strategic vision for integrated health services. Using his San Francisco experience, John has defined a strategy for SHELTER, Inc. that addresses the growing crisis of homelessness in the Bay Area.
John was born in San Francisco and raised in central Contra Costa County. He graduated from San Francisco State University with a degree in Psychology and has extensive coursework in Music, Mathematics, and Computer Science. Early in his career, Mr. Eckstrom was a leading and innovative technology executive and a charter member of the AAAI (American Association for Artificial Intelligence).
Christi Rossi
Director of Development
Christi Rossi has 20 years of experience in philanthropy and helping Bay Area non-profits raise critical mission funding and communicate their impact. At SHELTER, her role is to create and execute the organization’s fundraising and communication strategies.
Prior to joining the SHELTER team, Christi worked at Diabetes Youth Families, Carondelet High School, Girl Scouts of Northern California, and Larkin Street Youth Services. She holds a BA in Communication with an emphasis in Public Relations from San Diego State University.
Sarah Spector
Chief Financial Officer
Sarah Spector, CPA is an accomplished senior executive with more than 25 years of success across the healthcare, internet, e-commerce, staffing, distribution, publishing, and entertainment industries. Leveraging extensive experience as a corporate controller restructuring accounting departments, implementing ERP and other financial systems, and leading M&A transactions and integrations, she is a valuable resource for any organization in need of accounting and finance assistance or encountering growth or change management. Her broad areas of expertise include financial accounting, financial management, implementing internal controls, Sarbanes-Oxley compliance, tax and business compliance, technology management, business intelligence, system implementations and data conversion, operations, organizational leadership, mentoring, budgeting, financial modeling, and due diligence. Ms. Spector believes in providing personalized service that is often lost in larger
firms, a core principle she learned early in her career.
Ms. Spector has held leadership positions with ASGN Incorporated (NYSE: ASGN), Leaf Group (NYSE: LEAF), LEARN Behavioral, Premier Healthcare Services, Autism Learning Partners, Alfred Music, and Ticketmaster. Ms. Spector earned a BSBA in Accounting from The University of Arizona and is a licensed CPA in the State of California. Ms. Spector is a member of the AICPA and the California Society of CPAs. In 2021 Ms. Spector was featured in the Top 100 People in Finance magazine.
Brandon Wirth
Senior Program Director
Brandon Wirth has a background as an executive leader and consultant in organizational health, non-profit services, operations management, and educational administration. He has helped groups create and execute strategic plans for immediate and future results.
Brandon exercises executive oversight of all SHELTER, Inc.’s emergency shelter programs in Contra Costa, Solano, and Sacramento counties. He is also responsible for achieving program outcomes, staffing and operational structure, and budget development.
