A chief deputy for Mayor Karen Bass' office will serve as the next president and CEO of the city's Housing Authority, the agency which provides affordable housing and homeless services to low-income families and individuals, it was announced Thursday.
The board overseeing HACLA recently selected Lourdes Castro Ramírez, chief of housing and homelessness solutions, to lead the agency beginning Dec. 2. Until then, Ramírez will continue to advise Bass on policies and priorities related to housing and homelessness.
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"I returned to Los Angeles to deliver on Mayor Bass' vision for urgent change that breaks with the old ways of doing things, and that is the approach that I will continue to lead with as HACLA's next president and CEO," Ramírez said in a statement.
"We've made progress in keeping people housed, bringing more people inside and fundamentally changing how City Hall approaches the homelessness crisis," she added. "That's the energy and intention that I intend to bring to HACLA -- all of us, working together to break through the status quo for Angelenos."
In the coming weeks, Bass' office will announce the next chief of housing and homelessness solutions.
"There's no one better prepared to lead HACLA than Lourdes Castro Ramírez," Bass said in a statement.
"She has been an invaluable member of my executive team as we brought thousands of Angelenos safely inside, cut through red tape to accelerate more than 20,000 units of affordable housing, secured policy changes to bring more veterans into housing and locked arms with all levels of government to make change for the people of Los Angeles," Bass continued.
In her role with the mayor's office, Ramírez worked with federal partners to secure policy changes for veterans, advanced improvements to the Bass' first executive directive to streamline affordable housing developments and addressed issues with paying homeless services providers, among other efforts.
She previously served as a member of Gov. Gavin Newom's secretary of California Business, Consumer Services and Housing Agency. In 2015, former President Barack Obama appointed Ramírez to the U.S. Department of Housing and Development as the principal deputy assistant secretary of the Public Housing and Native American Office.
Ramírez also served six years as the president and CEO of the San Antonio Housing Authority in Texas.
She received her bachelor's degree in political science and Chicana/o studies, and a master's degree in urban planning from UCLA.
"The Board of Commissioners looks forward to partnering with Lourdes to build trust with our residents and communities, innovate and collaborate with our government and nonprofit partners to prevent and end homelessness, and support the talented team at HACLA, as we work together to produce the best results for the people we serve," Cielo Castro, HACLA board chair, said in a statement.
Ramírez will be taking over the role from Marlene Garza, who is serving as interim CEO. Garza will return to her role as chief administrative officer, according to HACLA.
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