​​

Our Board​

​​

Swain Uber, Chair: ​

Swain Uber is a co-founder of RentHelpPGH and serves as Chair of the Board, where he plays a central role in stewarding the collaborative infrastructure that underpins eviction-prevention work across Allegheny County.

​

Swain is a key architect and facilitator of the Allegheny Housing Stabilization Collaborative (AHSC), serving as the connective force that brings partner agencies together to identify shared challenges, align budgets and priorities, and maintain effective communication across organizations. Working in close partnership with RentHelpPGH’s Executive Director, he helps surface system-level problems and convene stakeholders so that partner agencies can collaboratively design and implement solutions, ensuring the collaborative functions as a coordinated system rather than a collection of siloed programs.

 

Professionally, Swain is a human rights lawyer with experience in Europe and the United States, with a focus on housing justice and the criminal legal system. He currently works as a housing policy attorney at the Community Justice Project and collaborates with the Abolitionist Law Center. He has been deeply involved in local anti-displacement and abolitionist efforts, including work with the Penn Plaza Support and Action Coalition and the Bukit Bail Fund of Pittsburgh. He holds a bachelor’s degree from the University of Pittsburgh and a joint J.D./M.A. from Stanford Law School and Stanford University.

​

​​

​​

 

 

 

 

Christina Howell, Treasurer: 

Christina brings deep operational and community-development experience to RentHelpPGH, where she helps identify internal operational needs, design systems to support growing programs, and provide mentorship and guidance to staff navigating complex work.

​

Christina served as Executive Director of Bloomfield Development Corporation (BDC) from 2014 through 2024, leading a Pittsburgh-based community development corporation focused on building a thriving, diverse neighborhood through equitable engagement. During her tenure, she launched the Bloomfield Saturday Market, now a regional model for farmers markets in Western Pennsylvania that strengthens local food systems, supports small businesses, and reinforces the social fabric of the community.

​

Her work has long centered housing as essential to neighborhood health and stability, advocating for homeowners, tenants, and landlords and bringing a holistic, systems-oriented lens to community development. She also helped form the Community Benefit Collaborative, a coalition of community organizations addressing shared staffing and operational challenges common to small nonprofits.

​

Prior to joining BDC, Christina co-founded Bloomfield Livable Streets, a grassroots transportation and infrastructure advocacy group, and brings a background in community organizing, fundraising, event management, and real estate.

​​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

Crystal Jennings-Rivera, Secretary: 

Crystal is a Founding Board Member of RentHelpPGH and has been involved with the organization since its inception, helping ensure that its work remains grounded in the lived experiences of people impacted by Pittsburgh’s housing crisis. She continues to bring a community-centered perspective to the board’s work and the organization’s long-term vision.

​

Crystal is the Director of Stewardship & Community Engagement at City of Bridges Community Land Trust (CLT), where she leads homebuying and resident support programs focused on expanding permanently affordable homeownership and supporting low- to moderate-income residents in building long-term stability and equity.

​

She is deeply engaged in Pittsburgh’s housing and economic justice ecosystem. Crystal was a Lead Core organizer with the Penn Plaza Support and Action Coalition, a Community Mediator with Just Mediation Pittsburgh, and a co-lead of the Housing Justice Table. She is also a member of the Center for Shared Prosperity, an initiative addressing regional economic inequities through collaboration between community members and Carnegie Mellon University. She also serves on the Board of Directors of Regional Housing Legal Services, advancing housing and economic opportunity in underserved communities.

​

Wasi Mohamed:

Wasiullah (Wasi) Mohamed is a Founding Board Member of RentHelpPGH and was involved with the organization as an advisor prior to its formal launch. He brings deep experience in community leadership, public policy, and coalition-building, helping inform RentHelpPGH’s long-term vision, advocacy strategy, and engagement with public systems.

​

Wasi currently serves as Chief of Staff to U.S. Representative Summer Lee, where he supports legislative strategy, constituent engagement, and policy development. His career has centered on strengthening civic infrastructure and advancing equity through both community-based leadership and public service.

​

Previously, Wasi served as Executive Director of the Islamic Center of Pittsburgh, where he led social service and community outreach efforts across Western Pennsylvania. He has also held senior policy roles in the philanthropic sector and has served on numerous civic and civil rights commissions and boards focused on human relations, immigrant and refugee inclusion, and civil liberties.

Wasi is a frequent public speaker and commentator on issues of equity and public policy and remains actively engaged in efforts to build more just and inclusive systems at the local, state, and national levels.​​​

​

​

​

​​

​

​

​

​

Lawrence Swanson: 

Larry Swanson joined the RentHelpPGH Board in 2024. He brings decades of experience leading large, complex nonprofit housing organizations and serves as a trusted sounding board and grounding presence for RentHelpPGH’s leadership as the organization navigates growth, scale, and system-level challenges.

​

Larry spent more than four decades at ACTION-Housing, including nearly twenty years as Executive Director, where he helped build one of the largest and most influential nonprofit affordable housing organizations in the region. In addition to overseeing housing development and service delivery, he played a significant role in advancing housing advocacy and policy development across the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, working closely with state agencies, policymakers, and philanthropic partners to strengthen housing funding and infrastructure.

​

Throughout his career, Larry has been known for his collaborative leadership style, deep understanding of both housing policy and on-the-ground implementation, and commitment to mentoring emerging leaders in the field. He continues to be actively engaged in housing advocacy and brings a long-term, systems-oriented perspective to RentHelpPGH’s governance and strategic decision-making.