Christine Quinn—President and CEO of Women In Need (WIN), former New York City Council Speaker, and one of the city’s most passionate advocates—joins Greg Morris for a conversation on leadership, housing, and what it takes to make change stick in New York City.

From her early days organizing and cold-calling her way into the room, to breaking barriers as the first woman and first openly gay Speaker of the City Council, Quinn walks through the moments that shaped her and the urgency that still drives her work today. Now leading the largest provider of shelter and supportive housing for families in the city, she brings both policy savvy and frontline perspective to one of New York’s most pressing challenges.

Greg and Chris unpack the myths around homelessness, the reality of raising children in shelter, and the systems that too often keep families cycling instead of stabilizing. They also get into burnout in the human services workforce, the tension between service delivery and advocacy, and why “doing good” isn’t enough if the system itself isn’t working.

Along the way, Quinn shares stories from the height of COVID, navigating crisis after crisis, and what it looks like when an entire sector has to improvise in real time and still deliver. There’s strategy, there’s honesty, and yes, there are a few unforgettable one-liners.

Produced by: Manhattan Neighborhood Network

Published by: New York City Employment and Training Coalition

Topics: homelessness; housing; advocacy; human services; workforce; public leadership; families; policy; WIN; New York City; systems change