Meet our New Director of Finance

Q&A with Kisun Peters

We're excited to welcome Kisun Peters as Health Care for the Homeless' new Director of Finance.

Kisun brings more than four years of finance leadership experience to this role, along with a commitment to expanding access to health care. Most recently, he served as Director of Finance & Business Development at Tuerk House, a behavioral health nonprofit in Baltimore.

A strong believer in using data to make smart decisions, Kisun is passionate about building financial systems that support staff and advance an organization’s mission. He holds a master's degree in biotechnology from Johns Hopkins University and is currently pursuing an MBA at the University of Pittsburgh.

Read on to get to know Kisun better (and how he spent his summer)!

What drew you to Health Care for the Homeless and the opportunity to serve as Director of Finance?

Health Care for the Homeless is one of the premier organizations throughout the city. It was a place to which I aspired to work. And Health Care for the Homeless is doing so much! You're expanding, adding new programs like Street Medicine and housing projects like Sojourner Place at Park. What excites me most is the opportunity to help that trajectory go forward. I’m excited to be part of the next chapter.

It’s also serendipitous because, since I was a child, all I’ve wanted to do is help underserved populations. I didn't know what social determinants of health were then, but the passion was certainly there. I thought I’d go the MD route. 

When I came to Tuerk House, I realized how important grants, reporting and the business side of health care were to the work. 

You began your career in health care as an Intake Specialist before moving into data and finance roles. How has this journey shaped your leadership style?

I'm grateful to have had the opportunity to interact with the people our work is for. I’ve carried that experience with me every step of the way—every data metric, every grant application, every budget line item. 

I try to make sure that comes across to everyone. You're not just running payroll or managing the books; your reports are informing decisions that will impact lives.

In terms of communication, I like to meet at least once a month as a department to make sure that we're aligned on everything, and then one-on-one with staff. it’s important for me to understand my team’s professional ambitions, as well as what’s impacting their work or productivity, so we can build rapport.

All of this helps ensure that we're all aligned around our mission and taking the same road to achieve it.

What are your priorities for the year ahead?

My number one priority is listening to the team and understanding the goals and pain points. What are the gaps? Where can we improve?

I'm also a huge proponent of site visits and making my rounds. In my experience, some of the best ideas come from frontline staff.

I want people to know that the finance department is here to support them. Having a dialogue and an open mind is important to me. Sometimes it’s more of a “not now” instead of a “no.”

How do you see technology helping health care organizations better serve clients?

Early on in my career, I made a mistake I'll never forget. I saw a cool data collection tool and unfortunately the implementation failed and cost the organization a lot of money.

What I learned is that innovation isn't about chasing shiny new tools or AI solutions. It's about finding ways to save staff time and help leaders access information more quickly.

Beyond that blunder, I vetted and implemented an EHR across my previous organization, and, in the first year, we saw revenue increase by $3.5 million. It saved clinicians a lot of time because they didn't have to pull manual reports and audit everything. It was right there on the dashboard.

How do you approach collaborating with other departments?

When working across different departments, I want to ensure that we all understand where a decision is coming from and who's going to be impacted. I always want to hear people out, while sticking to the budget as closely as possible.

How do you balance an organization’s financial health with our commitment to clients?

I like to frame it less as a tension and more like two things that have to be solved together. I try to be open and honest, realistic, and to ensure that when opportunities arise to secure grant funding or go the extra mile for clients, we pursue them.

In my interview, Chief Behavioral Health Officer Lawanda Williams spoke about how the Health Care for the Homeless budget is a statement about the agency’s values. That sentiment has stuck with me.

When you're not studying for your MBA, how do you like to rest and recharge?

My family grounds me, and spending time with them is what I enjoy most. I've got a four-year-old daughter. We watch soccer, visit farms and go to the zoo. We started a garden this year, which has been fun. My wife is an artist and, when we can, we go down to museums or art galleries.

I'm also training for the 5K in November, so I’m literally and figuratively excited to hit the ground running!

Welcome Kisun when you see him!