How Project Management Helped One Man Escape Homelessness—And Launch a Movement

In 2015, Andrew Funk lost his home in Barcelona after his startup failed and his personal life unraveled. Burdened by debt, he entered what he describes as “hidden homelessness”—moving constantly between temporary places and falling through the cracks of traditional support systems.

Despite the instability, Andrew leaned into a familiar discipline: project management. Having worked across finance, health, logistics, and education, Andrew was no stranger to complexity. “I have always used project management,” he explains. “Experiencing homelessness didn’t make me a worse professional. I just had to readjust and tighten my belt with how I was using it.”

Eventually, a stable place to stay gave him the space to reflect and rebuild. But Andrew was already thinking bigger: how could he help others in the same situation?

That question became the foundation for Homeless Entrepreneur, a nonprofit he founded to help others break the cycle of homelessness. “Homeless Entrepreneur got started because I was experiencing homelessness myself,” says Andrew. “After I was able to solve my problem, I was inspired to help others.”

Building a framework for change

Homeless Entrepreneur is a nonprofit organization that empowers people experiencing homelessness to become active, self-sufficient citizens through personalized programs. The organization focuses on awareness and empowerment, mentorship, and professional training.

As part of this process, beneficiaries also learn practical project management skills to help them organize their time, set achievable milestones, and approach their personal development with structure and intention.

The goal isn’t just to teach a discipline—it’s to shift how people see themselves and their futures. “A special moment takes place,” Andrew says, “because it’s how they manage their time, their projects, their lives.”

To date, the organization has reached over 3,000 people worldwide through hands-on programs, skill-building, visibility efforts, and a belief that with the right tools, change is possible.

Finding the right partners to go further

But running a passion-driven nonprofit means working within constraints: limited resources, informal systems, and big ambition.

That’s where the PMI Barcelona Chapter came in. Recognizing the impact of Homeless Entrepreneur’s mission, members of the PMI Barcelona Chapter reached out to Andrew to explore how their project management expertise could overcome the non-profit's constraints to help move its mission forward.

Their collaboration is unlocking new possibilities: streamlining operations, building replicable frameworks, and enabling Homeless Entrepreneur to deliver its mission to more people experiencing homelessness around the world.

“I understand and appreciate project management and how it can help,” he says. “Working with PMI works because I value project management—and that allows me to grow.”

The collaboration isn't just about working smarter. It’s about reaching more lives, with greater structure, and turning a personal mission into a global solution.

Turning mission into method

Homeless Entrepreneur had momentum, but scaling further required more than passion—it needed process.

Its flagship initiative, the Great Walk— a month-long trek across European countries to raise awareness and funds—had run successfully multiple times. The impact was clear. But the behind-the-scenes process needed improvement. Without standardized templates, replicable documentation, or formal project plans, each launch required the team to regroup and reinvent.

That’s when PMI Barcelona stepped up—not just with advice, but with hands-on help.

“The challenge that we face with Homeless Entrepreneur is that there are few resources and they have a lot of plans and a lot of ideas to push,” says Joaquín Muñoz, the PMI Barcelona Chapter board member.

A team of Project Management Professional (PMP)®-certified PMI chapter volunteers, each from diverse industries and sectors, brought practical know-how and strategic insights to the table.

“They’re treating our work like a professional project—and it’s changing everything,” says Andrew.

When the partnership formed in 2024, their first collaboration focused on organizing travel logistics and structuring processes for an early edition of the Great Walk.

“We’re focused on developing each phase so that it’s not just effective, but something that can be modeled and scaled,” Andrew explains.

From stakeholder mapping and project charters to scope, budgets, and the full project life cycle, PMI volunteers transformed event planning for the Great Walk into a repeatable, scalable project.

“We’re trying to help them document their process, so that from one Great Walk to the next, they’re not starting from zero,” says Joaquín. “It’s about empowering them to be sustainable.”

Designing for credibility, repeatability, and scale

With streamlined processes, Homeless Entrepreneur is better equipped to showcase the real-world outcomes of its programs—demonstrating how it helps people exit homelessness— to strengthen its fundraising efforts with donors and partners.

“One area that’s very important is fundraising,” Joaquín notes. “They want to clearly show the value they provide.”

Andrew agrees that structure has become a signal of credibility: “We want people to not only think it’s a good idea but structured well so they want to support. It shows that we’ve invested a lot in making the project successful.”

As they scale, the team is also thinking more strategically about funding alignment. “We’re trying to understand how the project connects with the budgets of corporations, governments, and individuals. We want people to understand the value of the project.”

The impact is already visible. “We’re raising more money each time and building more partners,” Andrew notes. “We’re constantly working to improve the design of the project, so it flows better and increases the impact.”

The fifth edition of the Great Walk—a transnational journey that will span five countries—is set to take place from 29 July to 29 August. It will feature solidarity sleepouts in major cities, creating powerful moments of connection that invite people to reflect on homelessness and engage directly with the mission.

With a fundraising goal of €150,000—€30,000 per country—the 2025 Walk aims to demonstrate not just scale, but strategic growth. If the goal is met, it could help 1,250 people facing homelessness.

From one chapter to many

What began as a partnership with a single PMI chapter has since grown into a multi-chapter collaboration.

“The Barcelona chapter played such a key role,” Andrew emphasizes. “They introduced us to PMI, and we were introduced to other chapters. It’s been like a domino effect.”

That initial connection sparked a ripple effect—expanding to seven other PMI chapters across Europe, all now supporting the mission, enhancing the visibility of the Great Walk, and helping shape the project’s scope through structured collaboration. Along with PMI Barcelona, participating chapters include PMI Belgium, PMI Portugal, PMI Madrid, PMI Netherlands, PMI Switzerland, PMI Romania, and PMI Poland.

And that ripple effect hasn’t just scaled the project—it's brought meaning to the PMI volunteers now applying their professional skills to aid others. “People want to help—especially when they can see the impact so clearly,” says Joaquín.

“For me, success is clear in that we’ve grown within the PMI community and now have eight chapters around Europe supporting us,” Andrew says. “At the stage we’re at, it’s beyond our expectation.”

Project management changes lives

This is what project management can do. It doesn't just build skyscrapers or launch products—it elevates missions and amplifies impact. It gives nonprofits like Homeless Entrepreneur the tools to grow—and the clarity and confidence to scale their vision.

“Project management played a role in ending my homelessness because project management played a role in my life,” says Andrew. “I had to use my best skills, and project management provides a strong foundation to do that.”

The partnership between the PMI Barcelona Chapter and Homeless Entrepreneur is part of a broader movement: Project Managers Without Borders—a reminder that when projects meet purpose, real change happens.

From one step to many, from one chapter to eight, the Great Walk proves what’s possible when professional skills are used for good.

“If you ask anyone if it’s possible to end homelessness, no one will say yes,” Andrew says. “But if you ask someone if it’s possible to end homelessness for one person, everybody can agree that’s possible. That’s where we start.”

Tags: Social Impact | PMP | Membership | Chapter

Related Insights