2026 Award Honorees
Monique Berlanga
Executive Director, Centro Legal de la Raza
Monique Berlanga is an experienced leader, and capacity builder with more than a decade of experience in public interest litigation. Prior to becoming Executive Director of Centro Legal de la Raza, Monique served as Interim Co-Executive Director and Directing Attorney of the Tenants’ Rights Practice, where she led a dedicated team of attorneys and advocates working to prevent evictions of low-income tenants in the East Bay.
A Hayward born and East Bay native, Monique has served her community representing low-income tenants. Monique previously worked with Bay Area Legal Aid, and the Oakland Eviction Defense Center, where she litigated more than 1,500 cases on behalf of low-income tenants in Alameda County, Contra Costa County, and San Francisco.
Monique holds a Juris Doctor degree from the University of California, Berkeley School of Law. She was a recipient of the Hon. Cruz Reynoso Social Justice Fellowship and served as co-chair of the La Raza Law Students’ Association.
Bryant-Lipscomb Family
For nearly two decades, Tynesha Bryant and her daughters, Precious and Kali, have been at the heart of the Mutual Housing Sky Park community. A 19-year resident and breast cancer survivor in remission, Tynesha leads with courage, compassion, and an unwavering commitment to community. She has served as a community organizer, led the Summer Lunch Program, and is a consistent presence at meetings and events—always advocating for inclusion, respect, and opportunity for every family.
Precious helped grow the MVP Youth Empowerment Program from just two participants to more than fifteen, completed a workforce-development internship, and contributed to a youth-friendly workplace toolkit now influencing broader organizational practices. Kali continues the legacy through the MVP program, introducing restorative circles to strengthen peer relationships. Without them, there wouldn’t be the youth programs there are now today.
Together, the Bryant family has helped build up the thriving youth programs that define their home community – embodying the power, resilience, and promise of housing justice.
Rev. Zachary Hoover
Rev. Zachary Hoover is the former Executive Director of LA Voice and a seasoned community organizer with more than 20 years of experience. He first learned organizing from Zapatistas in Chiapas, Mexico.
During his tenure at LA Voice, he led impactful organizing campaigns that dismantled unfair car impound policies targeting immigrants, increased access to groceries in food deserts, increased public accountability for reinvestment by major financial institutions, increased voter participation in communities of color, removed obstacles to employment
for formerly incarcerated Angelenos. He also worked to bridge gaps between communities divided by race, class, and geography.
From Coachella Valley to Los Angeles, Zach has led and supported regional and state campaigns to dramatically increase resources for affordable housing production as well as making it easier for faith institutions to build affordable housing through the innovative “Faith in Housing” program at LA Voice.
Zach holds a Master of Divinity from Harvard Divinity School and is ordained in the American Baptist Church.
Veronica Lewis
Managing Partner, ChangeMaker Consulting and Impact Consulting Group, LLC
Veronica Lewis is a recognized leader in Los Angeles County and across California in the fields of homelessness and housing services, substance use disorder support, and re-entry. She is the Managing Partner at Impact Consulting Group and ChangeMaker Consulting. Previously, she served as the Director of HOPICS where she oversaw a $130 million portfolio of multi-service programs and helped house 10,000 households.
Veronica has worked tirelessly to improve homeless services systems, advance racial equity, and cultivate honest dialogue about ways to improve the overwhelming number of health, economic, carceral, and housing disparities for black, indigenous, and other people of color in California and nationwide. She brings a deep understanding of the intersection of race, homelessness, behavioral health, and criminal justice systems.
Veronica is the current Chair of the Los Angeles Care First and Community Investment (CFCI/Measure J) Advisory Committee, Councilmember on the California Interagency Council on Homelessness (Cal ICH), and Los Angeles County Public Social Services Commissioner.
She also formally served as a member of the Collaborative Justice Courts Advisory Committee for California Courts Judicial Council (CJCAC), Co-Chair of CJCAC’s Racial Equity and Inclusion Workgroup, and Housing California Board of Directors.
Sean Spear
President & CEO, Community HousingWorks
Sean Spear has served as a top local and state government leader in successive community development roles in the cities of New York, San Francisco, Los Angeles, and in Sacramento for the State of California. Sean is currently the President & CEO of Community HousingWorks.
Prior to joining Community HousingWorks in 2020, Sean was the Assistant General Manager at the Los Angeles Housing + Community Investment Department where he was responsible for leading its housing production efforts and directing the operations of its Housing Development Bureau. The Bureau facilitates the financing of housing
development projects with its business and community partners, leveraging its resources to the maximum benefit of the City’s residents and neighborhoods.
Sean was formerly the Managing Director with Hunt Mortgage Group where he consulted on the acquisition, development, financing and execution of affordable housing development transactions, and originated new debt and equity executions. He also most notably served as the Executive Director of the California Debt Allocation Committee (CDLAC) from 2009-2015, administering the $3.8 billion private activity bond program for California.
Sean brings additional private sector experience from his time with Fannie Mae; then providing housing development and public financing resources across the Western United States. Throughout his career he has developed both new project financing structures (especially for affordable housing preservation), as well as designed and implemented billion-dollar governmental programs with the goal of building better communities for those in greatest need.
Sean holds both graduate and undergraduate degrees from Cornell University and is a member of the invitation-only Lambda Alpha International Society for Land Economics.
California State Attorney General Rob Bonta
Policymaker of the Year
Rob Bonta is using his role as Attorney General of the State of California to make life better for everyone in the Golden State. Be it tackling crime, addressing the rising cost of living, or holding bad actors accountable when they harm Californians, Attorney General Bonta is committed to serving, protecting, and solving problems for the 39 million people who call California home.
Bonta’s passion for justice and service was passed on to him by his parents, who served on the frontlines of some of America’s most important social justice movements. Instilling in him the lessons they learned from the United Farm Workers, the civil rights movement, and the People Power Revolution in the Philippines, Bonta’s parents lit a fire inside him to stand up for those who are taken advantage of or hurt. It is why he decided to become an attorney — to help right historic wrongs, fight for vulnerable communities, and find real solutions that help everyday people.
Since becoming California’s 34th Attorney General, Bonta has led California DOJ to take on some of the biggest challenges of our time — the lawlessness of the second Trump Administration, attacks on healthcare, deception peddled by Big Oil, and the state’s housing crisis. As California’s Chief Law Enforcement Officer, crime and public safety are Bonta’s top priorities, which is why he is at the helm of California DOJ’s work to crack down on fentanyl, dismantle organized retail crime schemes, remove illicit firearms from communities, fight for commonsense gun reforms, combat human trafficking, and address hate crimes. As the People’s Attorney, Bonta sees seeking accountability from those who abuse their power and take advantage of hardworking people as a critical component of the job. From protecting the rights of workers, tenants, and homeowners to taking on greedy corporate giants, wage theft, price gougers, and hidden fees, Bonta is standing up for consumers and making life more affordable for all Californians.
Before serving as Attorney General, Bonta spent more than eight years serving in the State Assembly, where he authored nation-leading legislation to make our communities safer and more affordable, and to ensure government institutions work for all of the people they serve. Some of his proudest achievements as a legislator include creating the strongest tenant protection law in the nation, ending surprise medical bills, strengthening voting rights, banning for-profit private prisons, and protecting immigrants and workers.
Prior to serving in the Assembly, Attorney General Bonta worked as a Deputy City Attorney for the City and County of San Francisco, where he represented the City and County and its workers, and fought to protect Californians from exploitation. Before that he worked in private practice, where he protected Californians from racial profiling.
Bonta was sworn in on April 23, 2021, becoming the first person of Filipino descent to serve as California Attorney General. Born in Quezon City, Philippines, Bonta immigrated to California with his family as an infant. He is the son of a proud native Filipina mother and a father born and raised in California. Bonta grew up and attended public school in California before working his way through Yale University and earning his Juris Doctor from Yale Law School. He is married to Mia Bonta, and they are the proud parents of three children, Reina, Iliana, and Andres; and two adorable and cheeky pups, Luna and Sol.