Katie Hershey
Katie Hershey is a community-focused leader dedicated to advancing solutions at the intersection of homelessness, mental health, and coordinated social services. As Assistant Director of Homeless Support Services at Human Services, Inc. (HSI), she provides strategic leadership across programs that support individuals experiencing housing instability and complex behavioral health challenges. Her work centers on strengthening service delivery, guiding staff development, and building partnerships that help communities provide more coordinated, compassionate, and effective support.
Katie’s career path reflects a strong commitment to serving vulnerable populations and improving community systems. A graduate of York College of Pennsylvania, where she earned a degree in Criminal Justice, she initially planned to pursue a career in law enforcement. However, after completing an internship with a local police department, she realized her passion lay in direct community support and advocacy. Shortly after graduating, she began working at the Victim Assistance Center at YWCA York as an administrative assistant, supporting individuals who had experienced domestic or sexual violence. Within a year, she was promoted into a community outreach role, where she spent two years educating the public on recognizing interpersonal violence, preventing abuse, and supporting survivors.
She later transitioned to Community Progress Council, where her work shifted toward addressing housing instability and poverty. During the COVID-19 pandemic, Katie played a central leadership role in implementing an emergency rental assistance program funded through federal and state relief grants. The initiative provided temporary housing support to more than 500 families, helping them remain in their homes during an extremely challenging period. Following that effort, she helped design and launch a new post-pandemic assistance program to support individuals still struggling with housing and financial stability. After joining Human Services, Inc., Katie steadily advanced through leadership roles to become Assistant Director. She is particularly passionate about program development, where she has successfully created and redesigned multiple initiatives, strengthening services that support individuals and families working toward stability and long-term well-being.
• Leadership Chester County
• York College of Pennsylvania - BS, Criminal Justice
• Young Alumni Council (alma mater)
• YWCA York's Junior Board
What do you attribute your success to?
She credits a core desire to help others modeled by her parents (notably her father's volunteer work serving people experiencing homelessness) and learning through on-the-job experience and leadership opportunities that allowed her to develop programs and sustain services.
What advice would you give to young women entering your industry?
The first thing that I would say is take care of yourself. You have to be able to unplug from the job and the work, so finding a hobby, finding a way to unplug after work hours are done is really crucial. Your own mental health is just as important as the health of everyone else that you're trying to work with, and so you have to sometimes selfishly prioritize yourself, but it's really not selfish, because we all need that. The other thing I would say is I think a lot of women are afraid to say that they're ambitious or goal-driven in the workplace. I think there's still this weird stigma about outwardly saying, I'm ambitious, and I want to see myself in this role. Be confident in the goals that you have, be confident in the skills that you bring to the table, advocate for yourself. Advocate to be in the room with some of those conversations where decisions are being made. And at the end of the day, just remember why you're where you are.
What are the biggest challenges or opportunities in your field right now?
Challenges include systems that are hard to navigate because they were often developed by people without lived experience, creating barriers for clients. Opportunities include program development, administrative leadership, grant writing and fundraising to sustain and scale services, and elevating outcomes and stories from frontline work.
What values are most important to you in your work and personal life?
A belief that everyone deserves a safe place to sleep, access to basic needs, and equitable access to services; centering empathy and reducing barriers for people experiencing homelessness.