I am the mother of 3 girls, an involved San Francisco resident, a Democrat, and a Latina. I was born and raised in El Salvador, and immigrated to San Francisco with my family during the Civil War. For the past 6 months, I have been the Executive Director of the Jamestown Community Center – ...
Read moreI am the mother of 3 girls, an involved San Francisco resident, a Democrat, and a Latina. I was born and raised in El Salvador, and immigrated to San Francisco with my family during the Civil War. For the past 6 months, I have been the Executive Director of the Jamestown Community Center – a 40 year old youth development agency providing comprehensive programming for low income Mission District youth and their families.
Before March of 2014, I worked at the Mission Economic Development Agency as its Deputy Director, and Director of Asset Building Programs. MEDA is a community-based economic development organization located in the Mission District. MEDA seeks to achieve economic justice for San Francisco’s low- to moderate-income Latino families through asset development. In that capacity I administered and supervised MEDA’s programs providing asset development services to low income families.
Between 2004- 2011, I was served as the Director of Homeownership Programs at the Mayor’s Office of Housing in San Francisco under Mayor Gavin Newsom, and also worked as a Legislative Aide to San Francisco Supervisor Eric Mar, staffing the Land Use and Economic Development Committee. At the Mayor’s Office of Housing, I oversaw the City’s portfolio of investments in homeownership for low and moderate income households; including the down payment and mortgage assistance programs, and one of the largest below market rate programs in the country. Additionally, I managed several rehabilitation loan and grant programs for low income homeowners. As the Director of Homeownership Programs, I supervised 15 professional staff and several independent contractors, and managed a budget of up to $32 million per year.
Prior to joining the Mayor’s Office, I was a loan officer for the Housing Development Fund in Fairfield County, Connecticut, a CDFI providing capital and technical assistance to non-profit low income housing developers and first time homebuyers in the region.
Before graduate school, I spent several years as a community organizer with PODER, Senior Action Network and St. Peter’s Housing Committee (now Just Cause/Causa Justa) in San Francisco and as a union organizer with the AFL-CIO’s Stamford Organizing Project in Stamford, Connecticut.
I have a MS in Urban Planning from Columbia University in the City of New York, and also attended San Francisco State University, where I studied Political Science before graduating with a Liberal Arts degree from Excelsior College in New York.
In 2011, I served as the treasurer for the Mayoral Campaign of John Avalos, where I set up the database of donors, coordinated with the fundraiser, campaign manager and staff to insure compliance of income and spending with all campaign financing requirements, including regular reporting. Additionally, I set up a payroll system in ADP and processed payroll for campaign staff on a biweekly basis for the duration of the campaign.
In 2012, I was appointed Commissioner of the San Francisco Department of Building Inspection by the President of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors, David Chiu. I was then voted by my fellow commissioners to be the Vice President of the Board of Appeals. I am also an active member of the Latino Democratic Club.