Lourdes Castro Ramirez Email and Phone Number

California Governor Gavin Newsom appointed, and the State Legislature confirmed, Lourdes Castro Ramírez to serve as Secretary of the Business, Consumer Services and Housing Agency. As Secretary, Lourdes leads 11 state entities and 6500 employees with responsibility for 1) protecting consumers, 2) preserving & expanding affordable housing, 3) advancing statewide collaborative efforts to prevent & end homelessness, 4) guarding civil rights, 5) regulating financial services, and 6) licensing nearly 4 million working professionals.

As President of the University Health System Foundation, she advanced the University Health System mission by increasing public and philanthropic partnerships and securing donor funds to improve the health and well-being of children experiencing cancer, hospital patients and the people of San Antonio, Bexar County, and South Texas.The Foundation prides itself on being an excellent steward of the resources entrusted to its care, supporting patient-centered care, innovative research, advanced and community education programs.University Health System is a nationally recognized teaching hospital and network of outpatient healthcare centers, owned by the people of Bexar County. In partnership with UT Health San Antonio, it is consistently recognized as a leader in advanced treatment options, new technologies and clinical research.

As an Obama Administration Appointee, Castro Ramirez led HUD’s Office of Public and Indian Housing and responsibly managed $26 billion in federal program funds to assist over 3.2 million low-income households secure affordable housing. Worked closely with the White House, federal, state, local and tribal governments to advance housing policies and programs to improve affordable housing, build economic and educational opportunities, and facilitate neighborhood revitalization. Directed nine program and administrative offices consisting of 1400 professional employees located in 42 field offices from Alaska to Puerto Rico and supporting almost 4,000 public housing agencies. Led HUD’s Office of Native American working in partnership with 567 federally recognized tribal governments and investing $718 million in American Indian, Alaska Native, and Native Hawaiian communities. Developed and implemented policy directives and guidance, instituted oversight mechanisms, and is actively engaged in federal interagency collaboration.

Led the effective delivery of housing assistance programs to nearly 25,000 households in San Antonio; managed a workforce of 525 employees, an annual operating budget of $186.4 million, and assets valued at $500 million. During my 6 year tenure, SAHA significantly improved its operational and financial performance, expanded housing assistance through the creation of new housing units, and launched a comprehensive and integrated neighborhood reinvestment initiative focused on building strong families and communities. SAHA received clean financial audits for four consecutive years. I oversaw SAHA’s development activities, which created 1,467 quality housing units at five, new mixed-income communities for a total investment of $185.5 million in the San Antonio area.Under my leadership, SAHA received a Choice Neighborhood Planning Grant and Implementation Grant, totaling a combined $30 million, to redevelop the Wheatley Courts community on San Antonio’s Eastside. Additionally, the Agency was awarded a Byrne Criminal Justice Grant to develop place-based, community-oriented strategies to reduce criminal activity in the same neighborhood. These grants, along with a Promise Neighborhood Grant awarded to the local United Way, made San Antonio the only community in the nation to be awarded all three White House Neighborhood Revitalization Initiative grants and a Promise Zone designation. These placed-based federal grants are in addition to a $2.5 million public-private, five-year grant, to implement a Jobs-Plus program in two Westside public housing communities.

My career in public housing began in 1999, when I joined the Housing Authority of the City of Los Angeles (HACLA) to lead the Los Angeles “Jobs-Plus” program, a community-based approach to raise and sustain the level of employment and earnings among public housing residents. Under my leadership, the Los Angeles Jobs-Pus Program gained national recognition for dramatically increasing employment earnings of public housing From 2000 to 2006, as the Assistant Director of the Resident Relations Department, I developed and implemented educational, employment, leadership and social service programs for residents living at 16 public housing developments. I cultivated relationships with over thirty partner agencies and secured funds in excess of $4 million via grant writing and leveraging in-kind services. To support youth learning, I assisted with the implementation of a Summer Youth Employment Program, employing more than 400 public housing youth each year and expanded the number of Computer Learning Centers at public housing sites, from 6 to 10.From 2006-2009, I served as the director of the nation’s second largest Housing Choice Voucher (Section 8) Program at HACLA. While serving as the Section 8 Director, HACLA’s Section 8 Department went from a “Troubled” status program to “High Performer” status in less than three years, responsibly managing a budget of $420 million that assisted more than 50,000 families. I also was involved in the creation of LA’s Permanent Supportive Housing Program, which has led to the development of 700 new housing units for homeless individuals, youth and families. During the displacement of New Orleans residents after Hurricane Katrina, I was invited by the faculty of the UCLA School of Law to participate in a cross-regional consultation to collaborate with other leaders from the Gulf Coast and the West Coast, to identify an expansive and coordinated response to this national disaster.