Key Campus Executive Director on using lived experience to find your calling

PHOENIX (STN) – In a small, predominantly Polish town in Connecticut, Letticia Brown-Gambino’s story began—a narrative shaped by resilience, community, and a steadfast commitment to purpose. Growing up as one of the only Black students in her school, Letticia’s childhood was a blend of cultural integration and navigating challenges. Yet, through the unwavering support of her parents, she cultivated a deep appreciation for connection, understanding, and the value of home.

Letticia’s professional journey reflects these early lessons. Over her 35-year career in nonprofits, she has championed causes centered on housing, homelessness, and human dignity. From pioneering supportive housing programs in Connecticut to becoming the Executive Director of Key Campus in Arizona, Letticia’s work exemplifies her belief in sustainable solutions and the power of lived experience.

Her personal encounters with housing insecurity and supporting family members through addiction have given her a profound empathy for those she serves. For Letticia, helping others secure the stability and safety of a home is more than a job—it’s a mission.

Her advice to fellow nonprofit leaders is simple yet profound: Find joy, stay connected to your purpose, and embrace the journey of creating meaningful change.

Letticia’s story is a testament to courage, community, and the transformative power of unwavering purpose.

This transcript has been edited for clarity and consistency.

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STN:
Tell us about where you’re originally from and what it was like growing up.

Letticia Brown-Gambino:
I’m originally from a small town in Connecticut called Plymouth Terryville. My parents migrated up from Birmingham, Alabama in the fifties. My parents are my role models because they took that risk coming up from the south to the north during that time. They literally did the whole [trip] traveling off the interstates to avoid sheriffs and cops so they would be safe getting to Connecticut. They were 16 and 20 [and] met in school. My mother skipped two grades up and my father stayed behind two grades and that’s how they met. When they met, they knew that they did not want to stay in Alabama, so they drove up to Connecticut.

My father stayed with my uncle where he got a job in a brass mill, my mother got a job up front and they eventually bought a house in Plymouth, Connecticut. Thomaston Savings Bank was the only bank that would allow them to get a mortgage. They were two young Black folks and it just wasn’t heard of back then. We ended up in Terryville, Plymouth, Connecticut, because it was the only place they could build a house.

STN:
So, from the beginning in this small Connecticut town, your mother and father were a bit of an anomaly, what was life like growing up there?

Letticia Brown-Gambino:
That small town was mostly Polish. I was one of four Black students. [I] met my best friend in kindergarten. She’s still a close friend to this day, the other Black girl in school. We just had our 40th high school reunion. Believe it or not, all four of us showed up.

It was interesting being the only Black kids in school. We formed a tight-knit group. Socially, we remained connected throughout kindergarten to high school. We all went our different ways, but still, we’re connected because of that experience of growing up in a mostly White town.

It was difficult at times. We all know how racism plays out, especially in schools, young kids, and harassment and bullying. We all know about that. But I was able to have a really safe, full childhood [because of] the home I grew up in, a middle-class home, great neighbors, great opportunities.

I think I straddled two communities for most of my life, the Polish community and being a Black woman and I saw both sides. It really shaped me. I think being a person who grew up in that type of culture, allows you to see both sides of every story. Especially now in the climate that we live in. I understand that in order to solve problems we need to deeply connect and realize why the problem exists.

STN:
Talk a little bit about getting into the line of work that you decided to go into.

Letticia Brown-Gambino:
I’ve been working in nonprofits since I was 22. So that would make 35 years. I started working in the homeless industry when I was 26 doing outreach and then I was tapped to become a project director for a supportive housing demonstration program. That was really pivotal for my career because here I was 26, I had recently got engaged, knew I was going to start a family, and now I’m a project director for a Connecticut demonstration program, one of the first in the country to build supportive housing.

I had to learn very quickly [about] the industry on the development side. I had to learn how to deal with contractors, understand financing, and then I had to really deeply understand support services and what would it take to get people from the street to housing and help them maintain that housing.

STN:
And, how did that eventually take you from Connecticut to Arizona?

Letticia Brown-Gambino:
I was recruited and I can remember the exact moment when I said “I’m going to Arizona”. I was in my driveway with my snowblower doing this, going around corners and stuff. And I said, “I’m getting out of here.” I literally stopped a snowblower, freezing, and said, “I’m going to Arizona.”

Some people thought I was a little crazy, but I said, “This is an adventure.” My kids went their way and I was an empty nester and I said, “Well, why not?” Both of my kids and my niece said, “Go ahead, try it out. This is your time.”

STN:
The move seems to have worked out. Talk a little bit about your role with Keys to Change and what you do on a daily basis.

Letticia Brown-Gambino:
I’m the Executive Director of Key Campus. It’s an inside joke that I am the campus. Everything [that is] campus-related, I try to manage. Of course with the help of Keys to Change CEO Amy Schwabenlender. I enjoy it a lot. It’s the fit that I was looking for. The values fit me, the values of the organization fit, and the work really fits. At the end of my career, this is the best position for me because I get to do a little bit of everything and I really enjoy that.

STN:
You’ve talked a lot about the steps you‘ve taken to get to where you are. But what about your passion for helping people? Where does that come from?

Letticia Brown-Gambino:
I work a lot with folks with lived experience.

Even though I grew up in a town that was safe, and I felt that economically I was okay, I had a time when I had to flee a domestic violence situation with my two young kids and I found myself at risk of losing my housing. So that really connected to me. At the same time, my brother was struggling with addiction and he had been in and out of unhoused situations for years.

Working with the population and understanding what it means to have a home and the security it offers, I had no problem connecting to the work. I think that’s one of the reasons why I stayed in the work for so long and I have such energy around it because from a personal standpoint, I see the importance of getting people into the home that they want and deserve and helping them keep that home.

STN:
Everybody’s got ideas and ways they think they can help address and solve a problem. What do you look for in someone who wants to collaborate on a project with you?

Letticia Brown-Gambino:
I look for whether or not they understand what the problem is. Have they done their research? Have they spoken to the people that whatever solution they’re talking about will impact? Do they get what the impact is and what it means for individuals? Do they have passion around it? Are you going to start it and finish it? Can you be that connect-the-dots person throughout the whole process?

I am one of those people that looks at execution a lot. It’s great to have a wonderful idea. It’s wonderful to be innovative. But are you going to see it through to execution and then measure the impact?

That’s what Keys to Change is doing well. They look at the full picture from start to finish and they look at whether or not whatever they’ve executed has had that impact, and is it replicable across the board. That’s what you want to do when you’re looking for solutions to end homelessness. You’re not looking at the quick fix, you’re looking at the long-term model.

STN:
If I want to sit down with Letticia Brown-Gambino and share my idea with her? What is the best way to approach or get a hold of you?

Letticia Brown-Gambino:
If you want to get a hold of me, call Keys to Change Key Campus and I’ll pick up the phone. I’ll usually come rolling up to you. I like to get out, like to connect to the community.

STN:
You talked about that lived experience you have and that passion. For someone who’s in a similar space as you working in the nonprofit homeless sector, what’s your advice to them to stick with it? How do you encourage them to keep going, especially if they haven’t had that lived experience?

Letticia Brown-Gambino:
Make sure it’s the work that you want to do, that it’s your purpose. If you can’t find joy in it, you need to take care of yourself every single day and continue to ask those questions every single day. And am I working in my purpose? Am I finding joy? Where can I find the joy in this work? Because some folks are born to do the work. I always said that I am. It’s part of my mission to do this work. Others are not. There’s no shame in saying, “This is not what I want to do.”

When it comes to helping people, there are so many other ways to help the community and help a person. Ask those check-in questions of yourself and take care every single day. 

STN:
Building off that, do you ask yourself those check-in questions? At the end of the day, how does it make you feel to do what you do?

Letticia Brown-Gambino:
I really can’t complain. I’ve been very content, even through the darkest times, because I know I’m doing what I need to do and should be doing.