BHI Treasurer Marlene Garza has over 20 years of experience in housing and non-profit management.  She has served as the Chief Administrative for HACLA, managing the agencyโ€™s financial, legal, information technology, and human resources.

Prior to that, Marlene was the Assistant General Manager for Administration for the City of Los Angeles Housing Department, where she oversaw the departmentโ€™s fiscal and administrative functions, was the CEO of the Housing Rights Center, a non-profit legal services agency which investigates and litigates housing discrimination complaints, and a Diversity Training Monitor for the Office of the Civil Rights Monitor. Marlene also taught junior high bilingual math and science for LAUSD.

Marlene has a JD from the UCLA School of Law and a BA in Philosophy from UC Berkeley.

While finance, contracts and legal matters are Marleneโ€™s stock-in-trade, hiking and travel help her unwind.  A bucket-list trip to Patagonia combined the two for a journey of discovery that tested her endurance while soaking in the transformative vistas.