Louis Rodriguez is the co-executive director of Step Up for Better Living (Step Up) and has been working for the organization since January 2017. He has a B.A. from Lehman College, a Ph.D from Hunter College, an MBA from Baruch College and the Mount Sinai School of Medicine, and an MSW from Columbia School of Social Work. From the time he began studying social work, he knew he wanted to make a difference in people’s lives. Louis became interested in nonprofits after his first job working with troubled young adults in the NYC Summer Youth Employment program. His motivation to assist people in reaching their full potential stems from his desire to be a better helping professional. Louis has served on the boards of two nonprofit homeless services advocacy groups that fight to increase resources for homeless families and provide access to permanent housing. He is inspired by the work Step Up does to help families advocate for themselves to live independently so that they can improve their quality of life and ease their financial burdens.