About The Connect

Sarah Kinnunen

Sarah Kinnunen (michiganconnect.org's developer) is the Youth Homelessness Systems Improvement Manager with the Out-Wayne CoC at Wayne Metro (2026). She served as Executive Director of the Out-Wayne Youth Action Board (2025–2026) and is a first-generation Finnish immigrant pursuing a PhD in Data Science with Psychology Applications at the University of Michigan.

Sarah is available for consulting, coaching, and web development. She is a consultant, speaker, and life coach with a specialty in helping people break cycles of self-abandonment and reclaim their lives through grounded discernment. If you're navigating personal growth, building a new team, or need a skilled developer in your corner, Sarah would love to connect.

To reach out regarding interest in receiving consulting from or opportunities for YAB members, please email skinnunen@waynemetro.org.

Andrea Olvera

Andrea Olvera works towards centering the voices of the Youth Action Boards and supports their structural development in her role as HUD Technical Assistance Provider for the YHSI Grant.

Azaria Terrell

Azaria is the President of the YAB at the Detroit Phoenix Center, Member of the Regional YAB, Detroit YAC, CYH, PWLEH Council, and CoP. She aspires to earn a degree in English Literature and Language from EMU. Zay has been featured in news outlets, co-created a podcast, and is motivated to bring about positive change in her community.

Kaylee Smith

Kaylee co-leads the Youth Leadership Subcommittee and serves as Interim Regional YAB Advocacy Manager, where she amplifies youth voices and builds evidence that policymakers cannot ignore to dismantle systemic barriers harming our communities. Her passion lies in creating lasting educational pathways that help K–12 and post-secondary students experiencing homelessness not just access, but stay and thrive academically.

Fun fact: Kaylee is a lifelong Anne of Green Gables fan who carries a truth Anne taught her: women who are outspoken, intelligent, and kind have always lived on and off the page.

Kirstin Rochelle Murphy

Kirstin Rochelle Murphy is the Youth Homelessness Systems Improvement Assistant Director with the Out Wayne CoC. She is deeply committed to justice and to building a world rooted in care, equity, and collective liberation. Her understanding of justice is rooted in addressing and dismantling the conditions that allow harm to occur, an approach that shapes both her leadership and her vision for systems change. Her work centers on supporting emerging leaders, advancing systems-level change, and cultivating community through relationship-centered connection.

Having experienced homelessness in both childhood and young adulthood, along with related adverse experiences, she brings a lived understanding of the importance of equitable opportunity, supportive relationships, and spaces where trauma can be transformed into purpose. She is guided by the belief that those most impacted by systems must lead in designing and implementing solutions.

Outside of her professional work, Kirstin is a daughter, sister, and aunt, as well as an insatiable learner, stargazer, optimist, explorer, and board game aficionado.

DeLorean Ishmon II

DeLorean Ishmon II is a youth leader and advocate committed to improving systems that impact young people experiencing homelessness. Having experienced housing instability during his youth due to family challenges including domestic violence, DeLorean understands firsthand the barriers many young people face. Despite these challenges, he pursued higher education and earned his degree from Northwood University, where he developed leadership skills through academics and athletics. His journey from survival to leadership continues to shape his advocacy work today. Through his involvement in youth leadership and advocacy spaces, including Regional Youth Action Board initiatives (serving as the Executive Director), DeLorean works to ensure youth voices are included in conversations around housing stability, systems reform, and community solutions.

Finch Burklow

Finch Burklow works on the Out-Wayne Youth Action Board and Regional YAB. They are the Community Outreach Manager for the boards, striving to connect YABs and organizations together so everyone can get the help they need easier and smoother.

Elijah Williams

Elijah Williams serves as the Advocacy Manager for the Out-Wayne YAB. He has participated in advocacy days at the State Capitol to bring awareness to bills that affect homeless youth alongside other Members and, as of June 2026, is working to present tax information to youth.

Latavia Hereford

Latavia Hereford is a youth advocate and Marketing & Communications Manager for the Regional Youth Action Board under Out Wayne CoC. With lived experience navigating housing instability and youth-serving systems, she is committed to ensuring young people are not just included but truly heard in decisions that impact their lives. Latavia connects real youth experiences to funding and policy conversations through storytelling, digital media, and community engagement to advance fair, youth-led solutions to homelessness. As a proud member of the sickle cell warrior community, she brings resilience, lived insight, and a deep understanding of health-related barriers that impact stability, strengthening her advocacy for whole-person, equity-driven change.