LITTLE TOKYO SERVICE CENTER - YOUTH SERVICES VOLUNTEER COORDINATOR

I am Katherine, and I was born and raised in Los Angeles. I graduated from the University of California, Los Angeles with a bachelor's degree in International Development Studies and a minor in Gender Studies. I have been a mentor for students of color specifically to community college students and I have also been an intern at a nonprofit previously as well, this has made me even more passionate about the gaps and our community. It has made me more motivated to keep doing this work and making a change within my community and others. 

MEXICAN AMERICAN OPPORTUNITY FOUNDATION - EMPLOYMENT SPECIALIST

Hello all, I am Stephanie Arredondo. I am a, Los Angeles native born and raised. I’m very much so like our weather nice and warm. Growing up in East Los Angeles, were it is predominantly Latino Hispanic community. Has made me appreciate the effort both my parents made in instilling the importance of being Bilingual, Spanish and English.

Through my work experience I have always incline towards the customer service field. I’ve gain experience in fast food and retail. Last year I had the opportunity to come in as a seasonal Tax Preparer for the VITA program at the Mexican American Opportunity Foundation. Gaining this experience through this program made me realize how important these programs are for our communities. How appreciative our community responds to our services makes me smile both internally and externally. Knowing that I’m making a positive experience in someone’s life being able to communicate in their native language they know they are being heard and understood.

COALITION FOR RESPONSIBLE COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT - REAL ESTATE ASSOCIATE

My name is David Odusanya and I am a rising junior. I have always been interested in housing and in particular affordable housing. My passion for affordable housing started first when I began working with lower income children in elementary school. As I worked with these children I began to see how a lot of their problems stemmed from not having a stable home life. THese children lacked access to stable, clean and affordable housing and it was impacting their school work. Once I fully understood this dynamic I switched my focus to the housing sector and have never looked back since. I strongly believe that housing is a fundamental right and a coroner stone to a fulfilling life. I am dedicated to studying the issues surrounding the disparities seen in housing and figuring out ways to alleviate them in order to create a more equitable world.

LOS ANGELES ROOM & BOARD - COMMUNITY COORDINATOR

My name is Marvin Segundo, and I am part of an organization named Stepping Forward LA. It is a non-profit that helps foster youth who aged out of the system. I started to volunteer and got more involved. As I shared my personal life experience and my wisdom with the youth, they began to open up. Little to my knowledge, I learned that many foster teens suffer from addiction and child trafficking. Through this experience, I was able to be there for them. Without judgment, we shared many stories of pain and heartache and reflected on time of strength and triumph. The foster youth would always seem surprised when they learned details from my past and how I never let it define who I am. Now I use my leadership skills, friendly personality, life experiences, and mentor youth.

I provide free tutoring and sit with them to help them understand the subject. Whenever they need any resources, I share the resources and contact the organizations to get them the help they need. I also show them boundaries and how healthy they are.  I support the youth, get them to enroll in school, and guide them in the process by giving them a school tour. I also dedicate myself to helping foster youth by listening to them and be supportive.  Through this organization, I got involved with Los Angeles Room & Board, which is a non-profit that helps homeless or housing insecure students by providing housing, among other resources. Through this organization, I am getting involved with AmeriCorps, and I am looking forward to continuing to work in the community development field.

AMERICAN FAMILY HOUSING - ASSISTANT PROJECT MANAGER

My name is Vivian Moon, and I am currently serving as an Assistant Project Manager for American Family Housing's real estate development team. My other real estate experience includes managing my family's multifamily portfolio and serving homebuyers and sellers as a real estate agent. Previously, I worked in the manufacturing space in quality, compliance and safety roles. All throughout my career, I've been motivated by the desire to help others and have volunteered with a variety of organizations supporting public health, economic empowerment, and community development. Learning about different causes, including the call to address the housing crisis, has further emboldened me to pursue mission-driven work. I'm excited and honored to join LISC AmeriCorps and contribute my diverse leadership experience to the affordable housing space and learn from accomplished leaders in community development. 

DECRO CORPORATION - STRATEGIC PLANNING ASSISTANT

As a rising senior at High Point University in North Carolina, I have had the great fortune of pursuing my personal passion of stock investing and trading as we have one of the few simulated trading floors available at any campus in the country. However, after witnessing firsthand the sheer volume of un-housed and under-housed individuals and families in the greater Los Angeles area, I knew that I wanted to apply my passion, skills, and dedication in helping to identify sustainable solutions to this real-world problem.

My work experience is relatively limited but I have held several roles as an intern, from Data Analyst with Operation HOPE and as an Event Coordinator with Thurgood Marshall College Fund but I am optimistic that my next challenge as a Real Estate Analyst intern with Decro Corporation, an Affordable Housing Developer and Owner will allow for continued professional growth and afford me the opportunity to develop subject matter expertise which I plan to use in an effort to make positive change on both a micro and macro level. I am honored to become a part of the LISC AmeriCorps cohort and knowing that the best and most committed community servants are leading the charge for positive change.

MERCY HOUSING - HOUSING DEVELOPMENT ASSISTANT

My name is Isaiah Madison. I was raised in Los Angeles’ South Bay and now live in the Crenshaw District of South Los Angeles. Before this opportunity, I worked briefly for a homebuilder in land acquisitions. Housing, transportation, and urbanism have been my passions since I was a child. I am a community organizer around the issues of land use, housing, and gentrification. Currently, I serve on my neighborhood council reviewing applications for infill development with the community, additionally, I am on the board of a statewide nonprofit that advocates for local control of land use. Affordable housing is something I am eager to learn more about. Increasing the scale of affordable housing production is critical to preventing the displacement of working-class people from the urban core. I am very excited to be working with AmeriCorps and LISC this summer. 

INNOVATIVE HOUSING OPPORTUNITIES - IN-HOUSE ASSET MANAGEMENT COORDINATOR

My name is Brenda Perez and I am a recent Urban and Regional Planning graduate from Cal Poly Pomona. During my time at Cal Poly Pomona, I was introduced to how multi-disciplinary urban planning is. I enjoyed learning about the many fields urban planning focuses on and since then, affordable housing has been something I have wanted to help with. I believe housing is a human right and with housing becoming a rising problem in many areas, I hope to be of help for communities and people who are experiencing housing scarcity.

I am coming to an end with my current planning internship for the City of Artesia and I have enjoyed the opportunity to learn about city planning and everyday tasks that the planning department is responsible for. I am looking forward to learning from housing professionals and applying the knowledge and experience that I have. I am excited to have been chosen as a participant for the 2021 LISC LA AmeriCorps Cohort.

DESTINATION CRENSHAW - CRENSHAW COVID-19 RELIEF ASSISTANT

My name is Jillian Byrdsong, and I was born and raised in Los Angeles, California. I am a recent graduate of Clark Atlanta University with a major in Sociology and minor in Criminal Justice. The research I developed during my matriculation influenced my engagement even more for community development - specifically in regards to Black owned businesses. I completed research under the National Science Foundation and used R programming to analyze which Black owned businesses in California were making the most profits and in which industries and counties. Similarly, I also created a project using ArcGIS online to analyze the Black owned businesses in Atlanta, GA to see how many businesses there were, and their proximity to predominantly Black neighborhoods. I find it absolutely imperative for us to support our community not only emotionally and physically, but economically and to obtain the key ways to do so.

LINC HOUSING - COMMUNITY ASSESSMENT ASSISTANT

My name is Lucy Carroll and I am a rising senior at UCLA pursuing a double major in sociology and political science. At UCLA, I have had the opportunity to take classes related to public policy and social justice issues, serve as an editor at my school newspaper, and work as a strategic communications intern at LISC LA. 

Since high school, I have always been drawn to making a difference in my community – I started a volunteer program to provide free music lessons for children at the Boys and Girls Club in my hometown, and served as a student member on a county level board dedicated to keeping kids in school. With the support of AmeriCorps and LINC Housing, I am thrilled to expand my impact in public service and learn more about the community development field. I believe housing is a human right, and I am grateful that AmeriCorps, LISC, and LINC Housing are allowing me the opportunity to help invest in that vision for the greater LA area. 

NEW ECONOMICS FOR WOMEN - PROJECT MANAGEMENT ASSOCIATE

My name is Lizette Reyes and I will soon graduate from the University of California, Irvine with two Bachelor's Degrees in Urban Studies and Education. I was born and raised in Los Angeles, California. Growing up in a predominately Latinx/Latine and low-income community, made me aware of the hardships community members faced.  

Throughout my undergraduate career, I have worked in the field of education at all levels (pre-school to college). I was a core member at Jumpstart for a year and recently was a learning assistant for an upper-division course at my institution. The more I learned about urban policy in higher education, the more I wanted to become an advocate for BIPOC and work against systemic racism and discrimination. I grew passionate about many topics in urban studies, but one of them is housing policies and affordability. I am looking forward to working in the community development field through LISC Americorps and learn more about affordable housing from leaders in the field!

LINC HOUSING - FINANCIAL EMPOWERMENT ASSOCIATE

Hello all, I am Nour Katabi. I was born in Syria and moved to Orange County at a  young age, and have been raised there since then. I graduated from the University of California, Irvine with a bachelor’s degree in Urban Studies, focusing on policy work. 

I have always had an interest in community development and equitable access to basic needs. I worked at a basic needs hub at my university where I connected students to on and off-campus resources that alleviated obstacles, focusing on food insecurity, to provide student empowerment and success. Through this experience, it has made me more motivated and appreciate the importance of community building through programs and building active relationships with students and residents. I am honored to be a part of LISC AmeriCorps and contribute my work in the community development field and in the affordable housing sector. 

THAI COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT CENTER - FARMER'S MARKET ASSOCIATE

Hello Everybody! My name is Nathaniel Nasongkhla. I am currently an undergraduate student going into my 4^th year attending UCR finishing up my studies in education and political science. When I first arrived onto a university campus, I struggled to navigate through an unfamiliar setting. I gradually came to understand the importance of having a community to belong to and strived to see eye to eye with all that I came into contact with. Along with this emerged a sense of responsibility to reciprocate back to a community in any area that I could. Through my work with Thai CDC this summer I hope to build strength into the surrounding community through uplifting work and look forward to collaborating with my team and the neighborhood on future projects. 

Previously, I had been involved as an after-school instructor at an elementary school in San Bernardino. I absolutely loved engaging with them in extracurricular activities and listening to their youthful stories. Even farther back, I had been a camp counselor at YMCA Camp Surf in San Diego. I had a blast teaching campers how to surf, to see them gradually connect with one another as a group, and experiencing them grow as individuals over the weeks I spent with them.

WEST HOLLYWOOD COMMUNITY HOUSING CORPORATION - ASSET MANAGMENT ASSISTANT

My name is Nathan Morin, and I am a senior in the Master of Urban and Regional Planning Program at Cal Poly Pomona (CPP). I attended California State University, San Bernardino (CSUSB) to further my education and receive a B.A. in Anthropology. While at CSUSB, I spent three years volunteering at a food pantry and studying home insecurity, placemaking, and community with the use of community engaged research methods. From my undergraduate education and experiences, I became interested in affordable housing and decided to pursue a career in urban and regional planning. While at CPP, I focused my studies on travel behavior and community engagement to learn more about the intersection between transportation and housing. During much of my time at CPP, I worked for the Amazon corporation as a warehouse worker in the Inland Empire.

Over the course of three and a half years, I experienced and witnessed the hardships that Amazon workers face. December 2019, I began to volunteer with the San Bernardino Airport Communities to advocate for sustainable development of the San Bernardino International Airport’s East Gate Air Cargo expansion. Starting April 2020, I volunteered as an organizer with Inland Empire Amazonians Unite during the COVID-19 pandemic where I collaborated with workers and organizers to ensure California Amazon workers paid leave. As a labor advocate, I realized the importance of and intersections between access to affordable housing, mobility, healthy communities, living wage jobs, fair work conditions, and sustainable development. Organizing led me to community development as an advocate for affordable housing, good jobs, and healthy communities. I look forward to working with LISC LA, AmeriCorps, and the West Hollywood Community Housing Corporation in sustainable and equitable community development.

CHINATOWN SERVICE CENTER - PROGRAM ASSISTANT

My name is Alan Jung. I have a bachelor’s degree in Science of Business Administration: Option: Accounting from California State University, Los Angeles. I am currently seeking a position that will allow me to use my skillset, experience, and academic knowledge to help achieve the organization’s objectives.

I wanted to being part of this organization because I spend my life growing up in Chinatown in Los Angeles, so that I can use my experience I had while I was working at my part-time job as a Recreation Assistant for the City of Los Angeles Department of Recreation and Parks. During the weekday and weekends at my part-time job, I assisted the coordinator in overseeing the youth sports programs, which includes setting up game schedules, advertising to recruit players and coaches, and communicating with the coaches, parents, and player on program updates. Before working at my part-time job, I was a volunteer for the City of Los Angeles Department of Recreation and Parks to start getting some work experience. I assist in the organization and running of seasonal events such as carnivals and community outreach events. I also participated in the youth sports program as a coach for the basketball league in the Barely and Minors divisions and tutor the kids in the afterschool program by providing support on topics such as math, English, and science. I look forward to being part of this organization, so that I can help bring my experience back to Chinatown in making this community a better place.

LA-MÁS - COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT ASSISTANT

Hi, I am Jasmin Cruz. I’m was born and raised in south central L.A, growing up in Los Angeles was difficult and it has made me appreciate the people that have helped me become the person I am today. Although I don’t have exactly the experience, I have extensive managerial experience. In my leadership from my previous employments, I have very successfully maneuvered the delicate balance between dedication to mission.Last year I had the chance to volunteer with L.A works and L.A Mas, I decided I didn’t want to work a regular corporate job anymore. I wanted to be more productive with my time as well as help my community. Gaining this experience through this program made me realize how important these programs are for our communities.