December 24, 2025
We are thrilled to share an important and exciting leadership update with you.
After a thoughtful and comprehensive search process, Albuquerque Health Care for the Homeless is proud to announce that Rachel Biggs, our Chief Strategy Officer, has been selected as AHCH’s next Chief Executive Officer.
Rachel is celebrating 10 years with AHCH this year, and her deep institutional knowledge, strategic leadership, and unwavering commitment to our mission position her exceptionally well to lead the organization into its next chapter. She will officially assume the role of CEO in May, following a planned sabbatical. To ensure continuity and stability, Rachel will work closely with current CEO Jenny Metzler during a deliberate overlap period, ahead of Jenny’s final day on May 29, as she enters a well-earned retirement.
Thanks to your efforts and those of the people around you, AHCH continues to grow and evolve to meet new challenges. The Board of Directors is confident that Rachel will continue to strengthen our role as a leader in data-driven care, advocacy, and integrated service delivery. She is deeply committed to building and sustaining partnerships that advance both organizational excellence and lasting systemic change.
Rachel is energized to step into this role and help propel AHCH into its future—ensuring that people experiencing homelessness continue to receive compassionate, high-quality health care and support.
We are profoundly grateful to Jenny Metzler for her 30 years of steady, values-driven leadership, and we are eager for the path ahead under Rachel’s guidance. Thank you for being part of this journey and for your continued belief in AHCH and the community we serve.
With gratitude and excitement,
Mike Wallace, President, Board of Directors
To learn more about Rachel, click here to read her full bio.
Rachel Biggs brings more than 15 years of nonprofit leadership and over a decade of health care management experience to her role as the next Chief Executive Officer of Albuquerque Health Care for the Homeless (AHCH). A strategic and results-driven leader, Rachel is nationally recognized for her expertise at the intersection of health care, housing justice, and public policy, with deep experience in Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHCs) and services for people experiencing homelessness. She has spent the past 10 years at AHCH advancing mission-driven strategy and has called New Mexico home for more than a decade, grounding her leadership in community knowledge and long-standing local partnerships.
Rachel currently serves as the Chief Strategy Officer, where she oversees AHCH’s strategic alignment, public policy, philanthropy, and communications. Rachel has played a pivotal role in shaping local, state, and federal policy, securing passage of several housing and tenant protection laws and expanding access to care across New Mexico. She led the successful development and launch of the Medical Respite Collaborative, financed in part through New Mexico’s 1115 Medicaid Waiver, providing life-saving care and exit to housing for people without homes.
Rachel brings international leadership experience in human rights advocacy and humanitarian assistance, previously working with refugees and internally displaced populations across the Middle East. She managed a humanitarian portfolio delivering emergency aid to Syria and has worked for the United Nations and international non-governmental organizations overseas before arriving in New Mexico.
Rachel holds her Master of Arts in International Human Rights with a concentration in Global Health from the University of Denver’s Josef Korbel School of International Studies and completed the UCLA/Johnson & Johnson Health Care Executive Program. She currently serves on multiple state and national leadership bodies, including the National Health Care for the Homeless Council Board of Directors and the New Mexico Housing Trust Fund Advisory Committee. Outside of her professional work, Rachel is deeply grateful to be raising her family in Albuquerque, where her husband grew up, and can often be found recharging in a hot yoga class or in endless pursuit of the next great book to get lost in.
Throughout her career, Rachel has demonstrated a steadfast commitment to collaboration and systems-level change to improve outcomes for people most impacted by poverty and homelessness. Her strategic leadership positions AHCH well to continue growing, innovating, and strengthening its impact in the community.
