Unanimously appointed by the HACLA Board of Commission, Lourdes Castro Ramirez leads the second-largest public housing authority in the nation, serving over 200,000 individuals.
As President and CEO, Castro Ramirez is strengthening the agency’s collaborative commitment to people, place and pathways by expanding affordable housing, creating greater access, investing in people and building strong communities.
Before joining HACLA, Lourdes served as Chief Housing and Homelessness Solutions Officer for Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass. In this role, she led the Mayor’s comprehensive citywide priorities focused on preventing and reducing street homelessness, fast-tracking affordable housing production, forging partnerships that lead to increased housing and service coordination, and developing unified regional solutions by working closely with city, county, state, and federal partners. She continues to serve as housing advisor to Mayor Bass.
Previously, she was the Secretary of the California Business, Consumer Services and Housing Agency under Governor Gavin Newsom. She led 12 entities, including 40 boards and bureaus, responsible for preserving and expanding affordable housing, advancing statewide efforts to prevent and end homelessness, protecting consumers, and safeguarding California’s civil rights.
Castro Ramírez has held other prominent positions, including her appointment by former President Barack Obama to lead the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s Office of Public and Indian Housing, her leadership as President and CEO of the San Antonio Housing Authority, as a Director at HACLA, where she oversaw rental assistance and resident development programs, and as President of the University Health System Foundation in San Antonio.
Castro Ramírez earned her Master of Arts in Urban Planning and a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science and Chicano Studies at UCLA.
