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Environment & Climate Resilience

UCLA LPPI Announces Advisory Board to Guide Research on Altadena Housing Recovery

The newly formed Board is dedicated to grounding the research in community experience and ensuring local data is accurate, timely, and relevant to recovery partners, residents, advocates, and policymakers. Every member brings expertise in housing, land use, tenant protection, small-business recovery, and community-led rebuilding.

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Contact: lppipress@luskin.ucla.edu

UCLA LPPI Announces Advisory Board to Guide Research on Altadena Housing Recovery

LOS ANGELES (November 19, 2026)—The UCLA Latino Policy and Politics Institute (LPPI) has formed the Altadena Research Advisory Board to guide the research initiative examining post-disaster recovery in Altadena, documenting how families navigate recovery, rebuilding, housing instability, and rising costs.

The newly formed Board is dedicated to grounding the research in community experience and ensuring local data is accurate, timely, and relevant to recovery partners, residents, advocates, and policymakers. Every member brings expertise in housing, land use, tenant protection, small-business recovery, and community-led rebuilding. The group will advise LPPI as it develops findings and policy recommendations that can help inform future countywide recovery planning and strengthen long-term housing resilience.

The board members are:

  • Katie Clark, organizer & co-founder, Altadena Tenants Union
  • Lorrie Frasure, director, Ralph J. Bunche Center for African American Studies
  • Alejandra Guerrero, executive director and co-founder, Office of: Office 
  • Don Nash, director of lending, Neighborhood Housing Services
  • Christian Olmos, deputy director, County of Los Angeles Department of Consumer and Business Affairs
  • Gerald Phillips, policy and land use consultant
  • Miranda Rodriguez, vice president of Strategy and Operations, The Center by Lendistry

“It’s truly an honor to bring this talented group of community advocates together to help shape our research,” said Gabriella Carmona, senior research analyst at LPPI and project lead. “With their expertise, we can produce findings that are grounded in community and useful to those working every day to rebuild and strengthen housing resilience in Altadena.”  

For many longtime renters, the path to stability after the fire has been anything but straightforward. Partnering with LPPI means the realities our community is living through won’t be overlooked as decisions are made about rebuilding and housing,” added Clark.

“Our work at Neighborhood Housing Services is all about helping families access loans, navigate insurance issues, and rebuild their lives. Research like this gives us the insight to better understand the challenges residents in Altadena are facing and how we can support them,” added Nash. 

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About UCLA Latino Policy and Politics Institute:

The UCLA Latino Policy and Politics Institute is a non-partisan research institute that seeks to inform, engage, and empower Latinos through innovative research and policy analysis. LPPI aims to promote equitable and inclusive policies that address the needs of the Latino community and advance social justice. latino.ucla.edu.