Leadership

Shannon TL Isom, named President and CEO of Community Shelter Board in 2023, has a twenty-year track record leading strategic teams and is deeply connected to continuums of care for communities of color, especially focused on social determinants, intersectionality, gender, and race. She has expertise in science, public health, non-profit management, medicine, and business. During her nine-year tenure as President and CEO of YWCA Dayton, Shannon increased the operational budget by 196%. She secured the first $1M biennial appropriation for the Ohio Council of YWCA.

Shannon holds a master's degree in health administration from Northeastern University and a bachelor’s degree in pre-medicine/biology from Spelman College. She was a MD candidate at Wright State University School of Medicine and also studied medicine at the Ohio State University.

Shannon serves as a board member for the Affordable Housing Alliance of Central Ohio and YWCA USA. She is a member of the Economic Mobility Coalition; Equity Now Coalition, a collective action initiative focused on social justice in Central Ohio; Regional Housing Coalition, a group of municipalities, non-profits, and private sector partners working to address the key housing challenges facing our region; and the Workforce Advisory Committee. She served as an advisory member for First Financial Bank Advisory Board, and as a board member for Dayton Downtown Partnership, Co-Op Dayton, Community Appeals Board for the City of Dayton, and Miami Valley Regional Planning Committee. She served on the executive advisory committee for the Human Rights Center at the University of Dayton and as co-chair of the Racism is a Public Health Crisis task force. Shannon served as a TEDx coach for TEDx Dayton.

Shannon received a Humanitarian Award from the National Conference for Community and Justice of Greater Dayton in 2022. She received a National Philanthropy Award from the Association of Fundraising Professionals in 2021.

With a budget of $55 million, Shannon facilitates and leads work with our community to make sure everyone in Columbus and Franklin County, Ohio has a place to call home. She brings together diverse organizations to work together as an efficient system, rather than as a fragmented set of resources.

Adam Rowan serves as CSB’s Chief Compliance + Operations Officer. With over 15 years’ experience in nonprofit and human services, Adam brings a background of operations/program management, quality improvement, and strategic planning to the mission of CSB. Prior to joining CSB in 2024, Adam held executive roles at Maryhaven and St. Vincent Family Services in Columbus, Ohio.

Adam holds a BA in Psychology from The Ohio State University and an MBA from Ohio Dominican
University, with a concentration in public administration. A graduate of Leadership Columbus, Adam’s dedication to driving impactful change and improving systems will be instrumental to advancing CSB’s mission.

Sherrice Sledge-Thomas is an accomplished organizational culture expert leading Community Shelter Board's human resources and diversity and inclusion efforts. As Chief People + Culture Officer, she spearheads initiatives to enhance organizational alignment and promote diversity, equity, and inclusion both internally and externally in CSB's mission to end homelessness. Sherrice's work is guided by CSB's core values of collaboration, passionate, committed effort, accountability and integrity, curiosity and innovation, and transparency.

With two decades of experience in organizational effectiveness, human capital management, and diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI), Sherrice brings a wealth of expertise to her role. Prior to joining CSB in 2024, she served as VP of Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Access for the Columbus Chamber of Commerce, and held leadership positions at NiSource as Director of Change Management and Director of Human Capital. Sherrice holds certifications in Advanced Change Management, Team Effectiveness, and various assessment tools.

Sherrice earned her Master of Business Administration and Organizational Leadership from Franklin University, and she holds a Bachelor of Arts in Humanities and Women's Studies from The Ohio State University. Her commitment to driving positive change and fostering inclusive environments makes her an invaluable asset to CSB's mission and vision.

With more than two decades of experience in governmental accounting and public finance, Shawn has held numerous senior leadership roles in state government. His previous positions include Executive Director and Chief of Staff at the Ohio Housing Finance Agency; Chief Operating Officer at the Ohio Facilities Construction Commission; Director of Finance and Technology Services for the Ohio Department of Youth Services; and Chief Financial Officer for the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio.

A strong advocate for civic engagement, Shawn has served in several local public offices and teaches accounting at the collegiate level.

His board and committee work includes service on the Board of Directors for the National Council of State Housing Agencies, the Affordable Housing Advisory Council with the Federal Home Loan Bank of Cincinnati, the Ohio Attorney General’s Criminal Justice and Mental Health Task Force, the Eliminating Disparities in Infant Mortality Task Force, the State of Ohio 9-1-1 Council, the Ohio Utility Radiological Safety Board, the Executive Committee of the Central Ohio Association of Government Accountants, and the Finance Committee of the Central Ohio YMCA.

Shawn is a Certified Public Manager and a Certified Ohio Fiscal Professional. He earned a bachelor’s degree in accounting, summa cum laude, from Capital University and a Master of Accountancy from Rutgers University.

As Chief Programs Officer, Steven Skovensky has overall strategic and operational responsibility for all program areas, including prevention, street outreach, emergency shelter, rapid re-housing, and permanent supportive housing. He is part of the senior management team that drives strategy for the organization and represents Community Shelter Board on a local, regional, and national basis.

Steve has extensive experience in the field of homelessness. He holds a deep and unwavering commitment to housing as the solution to homelessness, and has a long track record of demonstrating collaborative and productive relationships to best achieve that vision. Steve was with YMCA of Central Ohio from 2016 – 2020 where he most recently held the position of Executive Director of Supportive Housing, managing operational aspects of their permanent supportive housing portfolio. Prior to that he held the position of Senior Director of Operations, providing leadership at Van Buren Center, the largest homeless shelter in Columbus and Franklin County. Steve held a leadership role on the Maryhaven Outreach Team as the Program Coordinator, at Faith Mission as the Supportive Services Manager, and at Southeast as the Project Liaison Case Manager. He also worked in Chicago with individuals with HIV/AIDS, inpatient mental health patients, and at emergency shelters for single adults experiencing homelessness.

Before coming to Columbus, Steve worked for Lakefront SRO – now Mercy Housing Lakefront – an innovator in permanent supportive housing and blended management. He was a partner in the Aids Foundation of Chicago's Hospital to Housing program and study, and was named as a Harm Reduction Champion by Heartland Health Outreach in Chicago. Community Shelter Board leads a coordinated, community effort to make sure everyone has a place to call home.

Níel M. Jurist is the Chief Communications + Government Affairs Officer at CSB, where she leads the organization’s strategic communications, public policy advocacy, community engagement, and brand management efforts. With over 20 years of experience in marketing, public relations, branding, external affairs and strategic communications, Níel brings a rich background from the public service and nonprofit sectors.

Previously, Níel served as the Chief Communications Strategist at JPRC, a boutique, family-owned public relations agency specializing in reputation risk management, strategic communications, and media relations. Before that, she was the Senior Director of Communications and Engagement at the Mid-Ohio Regional Planning Commission (MORPC), where she led marketing, media relations, stakeholder engagement, DE&I, and event strategy initiatives. In that role, Níel chaired the National Association of Regional Council's DEI committee. She also served as the communication's lead for the region’s LinkUS mobility and infrastructure initiative, collaborating with COTA, the City of Columbus, Franklin County, and MORPC.

Earlier in her career, Níel held positions as spokesperson for the mayor’s office and public information manager for the police department with the City of Gahanna. She also worked with the Ohio Treasurer of State’s Office, the Ohio Senate, the YMCA of Central Ohio, and Franklin County Children Services, and served as assistant director of diversity and inclusion at the United Way of Central Ohio.

Níel holds an MBA from Ashland University and a bachelor’s degree in criminal justice from The Ohio State University. She is accredited in Public Relations (APR) and certified in crisis communication, media training, measurement and analysis, and reputation risk management.