NextBillion - An Initiative of the William Davidson Institute at the University of Michigan

Steven Weir is Vice President of Habitat for Humanity International (HFHI), responsible for its global program development and support in over 90 countries. He joined HFHI as a founding board member for a local affiliate in California in 1986, and in 1993, moved to Sri Lanka to start its country HFHI program, and rising to the role of Vice President for HFHI operations in Asia and the Pacific. Weir is a registered architect, with degrees in Architecture and Engineering, and prior to his work with HFHI, he spent 16 years in private practice with an architecture and real estate development firmed based in San Francisco, but with projects throughout the Pacific rim.

Susana Rojas Williams is HFHI’s Director of International Shelter Initiatives, providing technical support to shelter and program initiatives around the world. She is an urban planner and architect with extensive experience in the technical, program and policy aspects of sustainable urban and housing development, with particular focus on pro-poor and community-based approaches. She has professional experience in Latin America, Asia and Northern Africa, as well as the US. Prior to joining Habitat, Susana worked with UN-HABITAT, the World Bank Institute, the Inter-American Development Bank, the Center for Reflective Community Practice and the Special Interest Group in Urban Settlement (SIGUS) at MIT. Susana has Masters degrees in city planning and architecture studies.

Habitat for HumanityInternational

Since 1976, Habitat has served more than 500,000 families of all races, religions and nationalities to construct, rehabilitate or preserve homes; advocating fair and just housing policies; and providing training and access to resources to help families improve their shelter conditions. Visitwww.habitat.orgto learn more about its work.