Iris McLaurin-Southall

Iris McLaurin-Southall's great passion is meeting needs and moving residents toward greater self-sufficiency. She is Family Services Coordinator, District of Columbia Housing Authority, Office of Resident Services, where she works with Resident Council organizations that represent the 5,000 families that reside in DCHA public housing. For her passionate efforts to make a difference in Greater Washington, DC, she was nominated by the Executive Director as the Agency's 2011 CITYYEAR recipient of the Idealist of Year Award. Her recent signature project, developed for the Office of Resident Services, is a fatherhood initiative called Pathways to Restoration: Helping Custodial/Non-Custodial Fathers Build Healthy Families and Strong Communities. To her role as Family Services Coordinator, Ms. McLaurin-Southall brings more than three decades of community organization and program/project development experience. She holds a bachelor's degree in secondary education from Shaw University, an M.A. in public relations from Ohio State University, and project management certificates from various corporate training programs.