Azeen Khanmalek
Executive DirectorOver the past 4 years, Azeen has served as the Director of Affordable Housing Production across two Mayoral administrations, helping to lead the City of Los Angeles’ efforts to accelerate and expand the pipeline of affordable housing. As part of this work, he has worked to lead the implementation of the Mayor’s Executive Directive 1, which has expedited the approval and permitting of affordable housing projects by over 6 months. He has worked with an array of City Departments to drive forward new initiatives to streamline the permitting and approval process. In addition, Azeen has also led housing production policy development and advocacy for new housing production programs. This has included advocacy and implementation of large-scale programs like Project Homekey, revisions to the City’s Density Bonus implementation program, and implementation of the Housing Crisis Act. An urban planner by training, Azeen previously worked at the City’s Planning Department, where he worked to establish affordable housing incentive programs as part of the City’s zoning code update, and at the LA City Council, where he helped lead the approval of the City’s first ordinance regulating home-sharing. A native Angeleno, Azeen grew up in Palms and currently resides in Cypress Park with his wife and daughter. When not working, he enjoys reading, biking, playing tennis, and the outdoors.
 
Email: azeen@abundanthousingla.org

Scott Epstein
Director of Policy and ResearchScott brings over 15 years of experience in research and public policy to Abundant Housing Los Angeles. He has previously worked as a researcher at the RAND Corporation and UCLA CRESST, as well as a public health worker at UCLA’s Arthur Ashe Student Health and Wellness Center. As the Chair of the Mid City West Neighborhood Council for 7 years, Scott fought for abundant and equitable housing in his own community. More recently Scott was proud to earn the endorsement of Abundant Housing LA and a dozen other progressive organizations in his candidacy for LA City Council.
 
Scott is also active in the Democratic Party, including currently as a board member of the Miracle Mile Democratic Club. He earned a Master of Public Policy degree from Georgetown University and a Bachelor of Arts in Drama from Duke University. Scott lives in Carthay Square with his wife and daughter and enjoys hiking, biking, exploring LA’s neighborhoods and restaurants, and taking in film and theater.
 
Email: scott@abundanthousingla.org

Joshua Gonzales
Education DirectorJosh has lived in several parts of LA county, including Northridge, Palmdale, and Downtown. He has bachelor’s and master’s degrees in Psychology and a master’s degree in Social Work. Josh has experience engaging with community members from South LA in therapeutic settings and in program development. He performed an evaluation of a Los Angeles Dodger Foundation parent group and is consulting with franchised restaurants to design innovative solutions for employee retention issues. Recently, Josh began collaborating with Abundant Housing LA to establish a USC Chapter. In all of his work, Josh sets an intention to incorporate decolonization and the advancement of racial justice and equity. In his free time, Josh relies on music, meditation, and reading tarot cards to relax and recharge.
 
Email: joshua@abundanthousingla.org

Jacob Pierce
Housing Elements AnalystA former journalist, Jacob spent more than a decade living in Santa Cruz, California, where he prioritized coverage of homelessness and affordable housing. He later worked for the county of Santa Cruz. In southern California, Jacob helped run Monrovia Housing and Tenants Advocates, a local chapter of Abundant Housing LA. He grew up in one of LA County’s more exclusionary communities. He is passionate about reversing patterns of segregation, exclusion and inequity in the region.
 
Email: jake@abundanthousingla.org

Estefani Pedraza
Operations ManagerA proud Los Angeles native, Estefani has a deep appreciation for the city and the diverse communities that make it so special. She cares deeply about Los Angeles and feels fortunate to contribute to work that strengthens and improves the place she calls home. With a professional background rooted in operations, Estefani has spent most of her career supporting teams, building effective systems, and ensuring organizations run smoothly behind the scenes.
 
Outside of work, Estefani can often be found exploring different neighborhoods, admiring architecture, visiting art spaces, and being in nature.
 
Email: estefani@abundanthousingla.org

Courtney Alicia Miles
Senior Field OrganizerCourtney Miles is a Gardena native who expressed a passion for social justice and public service early on in life. With ongoing support from family, friends, and church members, she found the confidence to come out of her shell and find a voice within her calling. Courtney's primary motivation for approaching social justice issues starts with the kind of world that she would like to leave behind. In her spare time, Courtney enjoys dancing, yoga, cooking, collecting records, and going to Trader Joe's with her son, Stevie.
 
Email: courtney@abundanthousingla.org

Carmina Gomez
Director of Community OrganizingCarmina Gomez is the Director of Community Organizing at Abundant Housing LA, where she leads efforts to strengthen and grow a countywide network of grassroots chapters advocating for more abundant, affordable housing. With over 15 years of experience across public health, education, and community organizing, Carmina has built and led programs that center community leadership and drive systems-level change. Prior to joining Abundant Housing LA, Carmina served as Programs Manager at Los Angeles Walks, where she developed and led a countywide Safe Streets Promotor Program. Through this initiative, she trained and supported community leaders—primarily from Spanish-speaking neighborhoods—to advocate for safer infrastructure and engage directly with public agencies, contributing to the implementation of life-saving street improvements. Her work involved close collaboration with agencies such as LA Metro and Caltrans, as well as community-based organizations across Los Angeles County. Carmina has also worked as a consultant with Fractal Strategies, where she led project planning and supported community-based evaluation efforts in partnership with public agencies and local organizations. Earlier in her career, she worked as a public school educator and program advisor, where she focused on leadership development, civic engagement, and building pathways for young people to participate in their communities. A first-generation Mexican American and proud Angelena, Carmina is deeply committed to improving the quality of life for working families by building community power and expanding access to opportunity. She holds a B.S. in Health Promotion and Disease Prevention from the University of Southern California and a teaching credential from New Mexico. She lives in Los Angeles and enjoys cooking, spending time outdoors, and exploring the city with her family.
 
Email: carmina@abundanthousingla.org

CoCo Dobard
Field OrganizerCoCo Dobard is a Field Organizer at Abundant Housing LA, building coalitions across Los Angeles and Long Beach to turn housing policy into outcomes people can actually feel. Her advocacy is rooted in personal experience: as a formerly homeless youth, she learned that housing isn't just shelter, it's the foundation people need to grow, stabilize, and build a future. That understanding shapes her focus on more than homelessness alone; it's the everyday housing insecurity facing working-class people, including the working students she's spent years organizing alongside. She began putting that lens into practice in Long Beach Mayor Rex Richardson's office, helping design homelessness resolution initiatives and connecting residents to city services. As President of Long Beach City College's student body, she built tangible support pathways for community college students living on the edge of housing insecurity, students working full-time, one emergency away from losing stable housing. She carried that fight to Sacramento as a UCSA student lobbyist, pushing statewide legislation on behalf of transfer and housing-insecure students. At UCLA, she continued the work as a political journalist, reporting on the housing precarity facing homeless people in central Los Angeles. Across every role, CoCo has seen the same pattern: housing insecurity doesn't just hit the visibly homeless; it grips everyone working one paycheck at a time. Today, she brings that full arc of lived experience, statewide advocacy, and public service to Abundant Housing LA, organizing from the ground up for housing as the human right it is.