Welcome and (re)Introduction of Alba Velasquez
The Los Angeles Food Policy Council (LAFPC) is pleased to welcome and celebrate Alba Velasquez as our new Executive Director. In case you missed it, last month we officially announced this planned executive leadership transition between Christine and Alba.
Many of you already know Alba, who has been with LAFPC for over half of the organization’s existence. Her tenure began in 2017 when she joined the team as the Program Director. She has been instrumental in leading our flagship program, the Healthy Neighborhood Market Network, strengthening and improving our program implementation and financial oversight. Her leadership has been vital in the evolution of HNMN’s program design and in the expansion of partnerships. Pivotally, she fostered key relationships with local elected officials in order to achieve program outcomes.
In early 2020, Alba was appointed as Interim Executive Director, where she skillfully led the organization's leadership search and developed strong relationships with the Executive Committee, Leadership Circle, and other critical partners. Her contributions were invaluable, leading to her promotion to Operations & Program Director, where she served as a thought partner to the Executive Director.
Prior to joining LAFPC, she worked at National Health Foundation, where she oversaw their Nutrition Education Obesity Prevention grant and was involved in organizing youth around systems and environmental changes including market conversions. With a strong focus on creating more livable and healthy communities through participatory planning and advocacy, Alba plans to build on LAFPC’s many partnerships to collectively achieve social, economic, and spatial justice in the built environment.
Alba holds a Bachelors of Arts in Sociology from the University of California, Santa Barbara, and a Masters in Urban Regional Planning from UCLA, where she worked extensively on community-mapping projects. One notable project: Cultivate Los Angeles, is a comprehensive report on urban agriculture in Los Angeles County. Alba’s passion for food equity stems from her experience expertise as a refugee of a war-torn country and growing up in a low-income community, understanding the multi-faceted complexities faced by some of our most vulnerable communities.
We are excited for Alba and for LAFPC as we embark on this new chapter. We are confident that Alba’s vision for LAFPC’s future and her thoughtful leadership will continue to strengthen our ability to serve our communities as they continue to face great challenges regarding food access and equity.
Please join us in supporting Alba as she stewards LAFPC into a new era of the food justice movement. Congratulations Alba!
Bryce Fluellen
Executive Committee Chair
Los Angeles Food Policy Council
