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Join us for another Policy Platica focused on our current California housing issues from the state and local levels!

During this pandemic, we have seen a devastating economic impact on our Latinx community. With the eviction moratorium set to end on September 30th, this means that those who haven’t been able to pay rent or aren’t prepared will be evicted from their homes.

The bay area continues to be one of the most expensive places to live nationally while the number of people experiencing homelessness increases. According to a study done by the 2019 Santa Clara County Homeless Census and Survey planning team, the main obstacles to obtaining permanent housing were that they couldn’t afford rent, had no job/income, there was no housing available, and no money for moving costs.

Everyone deserves the right to quality affordable housing and we need to advocate for these basic rights for our community. Don’t miss out on this amazing opportunity to hear from expert Latinas at a state and local level about the ways that YOU can have an impact on the current housing crisis.

Moderated by Gabriela Chavez-Lopez, Executive Director of the Latina Coalition of Silicon Valley

We welcome our expert panelists:

Lourdes Castro Ramirez, Cabinet Secretary of CA Business, Consumer Services & Housing Agency

California Governor Newsom appointed Lourdes Castro Ramírez to serve as Secretary of the Business, Consumer Services and Housing Agency on March 2, 2020. She leads and oversees 10 state entities responsible for expanding affordable housing, developing comprehensive solutions to end homelessness, guarding civil rights protections, regulating banking and financial services, and strengthening consumer protections with the licensing of nearly 4 million working professionals.

Secretary Castro Ramírez currently serves on the California Strategic Growth Council, the California Housing Finance Agency Board, chairs the Homeless Coordinating and Financing Council, and has been actively engaged in the state’s COVID-19 response and recovery serving on the Governor’s Business and Jobs Taskforce.

Secretary Castro Ramírez has held notable and prominent positions including being appointed by President Barack Obama to lead the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s Office of Public and Indian Housing, President and CEO of the San Antonio Housing Authority, Director at the LA City Housing Authority overseeing rental assistance and resident development programs, and most recently serving as the President University Health System Foundation in San Antonio.

She is an accomplished public servant and executive dedicated to building public, private and philanthropic partnerships efforts to improve community and system-level solutions to expanding housing, health, business, economic and educational opportunities.

Secretary Castro Ramirez has served on several community and national boards and received the 2019 Community Partner Award from the San Antonio chapter of the American Institute of Architects for chairing the Mayor’s Housing Policy Task Force. She is the recipient of the Hispanas Organized for Political Equality’s 2020 Ray of HOPE award, and 2020 San Antonio Women’s Hall of Fame Inductee.

She earned her master’s degree in Urban Planning and bachelor’s degree in Political Science and Chicano Studies at UCLA.

After the loss of her son Nico in 2012, she and her family established an annual Kick Childhood Cancer Soccer Camp to raise awareness and funds to support pediatric cancer research. Nico loved soccer.

Jacky Morales-Ferrand, Director of Housing, City of San José

Jacky Morales-Ferrand has over 30 years of experience in affordable housing and community development. She has served as director of the City of San José Housing Department since 2015 and has been with the City since 2007. She oversees an annual budget of more than $160 million, a portfolio of over $700 million in loans for affordable housing, and a staff of over 80 employees. The Housing Department has distributed over $130 million in grants to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic, has opened up emergency shelters for homeless residents, and is implementing the local eviction help centers. The Housing Department recently released an Anti-Displacement Strategy a plan to address displacement and gentrification in San José. Prior to joining the City of San José, she served as Director of Housing and Neighborhood Services for the City of Denver. Jacky serves on multiple Boards including Destination: Home, a public/private partnership working to end homelessness in Santa Clara County, the Non-Profit Housing Association of Northern California and San Jose Jazz. She was appointed by Governor Newsom to serve on the No Place Like Home Advisory Committee. Jacky received a Bachelor’s degree in American Studies from the University of Colorado, Boulder, and a Master’s degree in Public Administration from the University of Colorado, Denver.

Noni Ramos, Chief Executive Officer, Housing Trust Silicon Valley

Noni Ramos joined Housing Trust as Chief Executive Officer in January 2021. In this role she provides strategic leadership and oversees all day-to-day operations. Prior to Housing Trust, Noni served at Enterprise Community Loan Fund as Senior Vice President and Chief Operating Officer, where she oversaw the lending, portfolio and risk management, finance, and administration functions to align the organization’s strategic direction. Prior to these roles she served as Vice President of Capital Solutions and Chief Lending Officer. Before joining Enterprise, Noni was Chief Credit Officer for Low Income Investment Fund (LIIF) where she was responsible for directing all lending and portfolio management functions for its national portfolio of community development loans. She also held various lending and programmatic positions of progressive leadership during her 14-year tenure at LIIF. Noni currently serves as board chair of the California Coalition for Community Investment and is a board member of Mercy Community Capital. She is a past chair of the board of directors for the YWCA of Berkeley/Oakland and the Tenderloin Neighborhood Development Corporation. Noni received a bachelor’s degree from the Walter A. Haas School of Business at the University of California, Berkeley, and earned a master’s in public administration from the California State University, East Bay.

When:
October 7th
6:30PM - 8:00PM
Where:
Online Event
RSVP