Former Mayoral Candidate Jessica Lall Confirmed to Commission Overseeing Homelessness in Los Angeles
- The Indian American is president and CEO of Central City Association which represents more than 300 LA County businesses, trade associations and nonprofits.
The Los Angeles City Council has confirmed former mayoral candidate Jessica Lall’s appointment to the commission that oversees the Los Angeles Homeless Services. The Indian American was confirmed unanimously by a 10-0 vote on June 8, Whittier Daily News reported. Lall, president and CEO of Central City Association was nominated by Mayor Eric Garretti on May 2 to fill the commission’s vacancy left by former commissioner Kelli Bernard, the report added.
“Our city’s homelessness crisis is deeply personal to me, and I’ve dedicated my career to realizing our great city’s potential including advancing comprehensive solutions to homelessness,” Lall said after Garcetti nominated her. She added that she is “ready to meet our challenges with urgency and will work to improve coordination across all levels of government and to ensure that the agency delivers for the most vulnerable Angelenos.”
Lall ended her brief mayoral campaign on Feb. 8, saying she believed “the mark of a good leader was being brave enough to step in, but also “wise enough to know when to step back.” She got into the race because the city “is in crisis – from rising homelessness and crime to decreasing affordability and opportunity.
Lall ended her brief mayoral campaign on Feb. 8, saying she believed “the mark of a good leader was being brave enough to step in, but also “wise enough to know when to step back.”
The Central City Association represents more than 300 LA County businesses, trade associations and nonprofits. Before she led the association, Lall was executive director of the South Park Business Improvement District. She also served as senior policy director in the Department of Economic and Business Policy under former Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and communications director for Austin Beutner’s mayoral campaign.
The daughter of an Indian immigrant father and mother of a military family from Oklahoma, she grew up in Texas and England. She first came to Los Angeles when she was in high school and attended Taft in Woodland Hills for one year. She returned to earn her undergraduate degree at USC where she was elected student body president. “LA welcomed me for exactly who I was,” she says on her website. “This city has allowed me to pursue my dreams and make something of myself.”
She earned a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science and Social Sciences from the University of Southern California (USC) and is a graduate of the Coro Fellowship in Public Affairs. She lives in Los Angeles with her husband and their one-year-old daughter.