Board of Directors
At Century Housing, our Board of Directors consists of distinguished professionals who bring diverse and extensive expertise to our mission of creating quality affordable housing. With backgrounds in law, finance, architecture, public policy, and community development, our board members leverage their deep experience to guide our strategic vision and ensure that we continue to innovate and advocate for sustainable, inclusive communities across California.
Kristina Olson
CHAIR
President
California Technology Council
Kristina Olson is a new business development leader with proven success and established expertise creating sales strategies, strategic planning, integrated marketing strategies and brand communications with global execution across multiple channels. Having held senior executive positions with companies such as Metromail, RR Donnelley, Valassis and Cenveo, she has developed strong client and network relationships with a hands-on approach to create solutions for short- and long-term strategic opportunities.
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Kristina Olson
CHAIR
President, California Technology Council
Kristina Olson is a new business development leader with proven success and established expertise creating sales strategies, strategic planning, integrated marketing strategies and brand communications with global execution across multiple channels. Having held senior executive positions with companies such as Metromail, RR Donnelley, Valassis and Cenveo, she has developed strong client and network relationships with a hands-on approach to create solutions for short- and long-term strategic opportunities. Her clients have included AT&T, Carnival Cruise Lines, Hilton Hotels, Petco, Carl Zeiss, Netflix, Hyundai and Blackstone.
Success in the business world has afforded Kristina the ability to share those skills towards her social passions of education, at-risk youth and homelessness:
—President, California Technology Council
—Director, Member of the Board of Century Housing Corporation, a leading Community Development Financial Institution (CDFI) where she serves on Loan and Audit Committees
—Director, The Midnight Mission Board where she chairs the Programs Committee and serves on the Development and Community Relations Committees
—Vice-President, Los Angeles Police Department Central Division Boosters with focus on Youth Programs
—Charter Member, Past-President of the Downtown Los Angeles Rotary
—Co-Founder and Founding Board Chair of Equitas Charter Academy located in the underserved area of Los Angeles’ Pico Union District
—Her affiliation with The Salvation Army spans over twenty years during which time she has served on the Metropolitan Board, Advisory Chair for the Alegria program and currently serves on the Advisory Council for Bell Shelter.
Kristina has an undergraduate degree in Human Behavior (Sociology, Psychology and Cultural Anthropology) from California Western/ United States International University. Her post-graduate studies were focused on Psychology and International Business.
Ms. Olson is an accomplished pianist and enjoys reading, music and the arts. She lives in the Hollywood Hills and maintains an active lifestyle.
R. Steven Lewis
VICE CHAIR
Principal
ZGF Architects
R. Steven Lewis is a Principal of ZGF Architects based in Los Angeles, California. He was the founder of Thinking Leadership, a consulting practice built on collaborative problem-solving that enhances the ability of clients to achieve superior outcomes. His talents as an architect, planner, project/program manager, and leader within the design and construction industry offer clients a reservoir of resources.
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R. Steven Lewis
VICE CHAIR
Principal, ZGF Architects
R. Steven Lewis is a Principal of ZGF Architects based in Los Angeles, California. He was the founder of Thinking Leadership, a consulting practice built on collaborative problem-solving that enhances the ability of clients to achieve superior outcomes. His talents as an architect, planner, project/program manager, and leader within the design and construction industry offer clients a reservoir of resources. Since launching Thinking Leadership in April of 2011, Mr. Lewis has amassed an array of interesting projects, including convening a prestigious Mayors Institute on City Design in Birmingham, Alabama, and authored an urban design report targeting 10 Los Angeles light rail station areas as sites for promotion for First Lady Michelle Obama’s Project reNEW (Nutrition, Exercise, Wellness).
He was appointed by LA County Supervisor Mark Ridley-Thomas to the Urban Design Review Committee overseeing Phase 2 of the Exposition light rail line, and was also appointed by LA Council Member Jan Perry to serve on the Arts Oversight Committee for the planned downtown LA football stadium.
Along with partners Roland Wiley and Steven Lott, he founded RAW International in 1984. Key clients managed by Mr. Lewis were Pacific Bell, Kaiser Permanente, and GSA. In 2004, after 20 years of building RAW into a successful design practice, Mr. Lewis joined the prestigious Office of the Chief Architect with the US General Services Administration in Washington, DC. He returned to Los Angeles in 2008 to join Pasadena-based Parsons Corporation as a principal project manager, working on a range of programs including US Custom and Border Protection and US Postal Service.
Yvonne B. Burke
Mediator
Alternative Resolution Centers
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Yvonne B. Burke
Mediator, Alternative Resolution Centers
Yvonne B. Burke currently works as an Arbitrator for the American Arbitration Association and the Financial Institutions Resolution Authority (FINRA). She was appointed by President Obama in 2013 to a five-year term on the Board of AMTRAK.
Ms. Burke retired from the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors in 2008 after 17 years of service, including three terms as Chairwoman. She was the first African-American elected to that body. She served three terms in the United States House of Representatives, the first African-American woman to be elected to that body, and the first Member of Congress to receive maternity leave. Prior to her service in Congress, she served three terms in the California State Assembly, the first African-American to be elected to that body. Since retirement, Ms. Burke served on the Committee on Congressional Ethics from 2009 to 2013.
Ms. Burke received her B.A. from the University of California, Los Angeles, and her J.D. from the University of Southern California. She entered private practice and specialized in civil rights and laws regarding housing, immigration, eminent domain, and the licensing of board and care homes. She later served as a hearing officer for the Los Angeles City Police Commission, and staff attorney to the McCone Commission, which investigated the causes of the 1965 Watts Riots. She has served as a director of the Nestlé US Advisory Board, the University of California Board of Regents, the Ford Foundation, as chair of the L.A. County Children’s Planning Council, and vice-chair of the 1984 U.S. Olympics Organizing Committee.
Christopher David Ruiz Cameron
Professor of Law
Southwestern Law School
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Christopher David Ruiz Cameron
Professor of Law, Southwestern Law School
Christopher David Ruiz Cameron is the tenured Justice Marshall F. McComb Professor of Law at Southwestern Law School in Los Angeles who teaches and writes about the law of the workplace. His published scholarship includes authorship or co-authorship of numerous legal articles, book chapters and books. Professor Cameron is an Elected Member of the American Law Institute, the College of Labor and Employment Lawyers, and The Labor Law Group. Professor Cameron also serves as a labor relations neutral with over 25 years of experience as an arbitrator and civil service hearing officer. He is listed on three major neutral rosters and 10 permanent collective bargaining panels.
Professor Cameron has extensive experience in public service, including service on the Los Angeles City Employee Relations Commission, the American Bar Association’s Section of Labor and Employment law, and the Mexican American Bar Foundation.
A graduate of UCLA and Harvard Law School, where he was an editor of the Harvard Law Review, Professor Cameron clerked for Judge Harry Pregerson of the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit and practiced labor law in Southern California prior to joining the faculty at Southwestern Law School.
John Chiang
Board Director
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John Chiang
Board Director
John Chiang serves as a member of the Board of Directors of Astrana Health, Chijet Motors, GrubMarket, Pasadena Private Lending and Boom Interactive as well as a member of the advisory board of Adept Development.
From 2015-2018, John Chiang served as California’s 33rd State Treasurer. As the state’s banker, he oversaw trillions of dollars in annual transactions, managed a $75 billion investment portfolio and was the nation’s largest issuer of municipal bonds. He spearheaded efforts to increase financing of housing, stand up the CalSavers program and further advance green bonds.
Prior to being elected Treasurer, Chiang served as State Controller from 2007-2014. During the Great Recession, he took steps to meet obligations to education and bond holders. HIs cash management decisions – which included delaying payments and issuing IOUs – were instrumental in keeping the State’s credit rating from plunging into junk status, and his actions saved taxpayers millions of dollars. Additionally, Chiang aggressively used his audit programs to identify more than $9.5 billion of fraud, waste and abuse in government programs, the most by any Controller in California’s history.
As a CalPERS and CalSTRS Trustee, Chiang led the movement to have the nation’s two largest public defined benefit plans advocate for greater diversity of corporate boards.
In 1998, he was elected to California’s Board of Equalization and served two terms, including three years as chair. During his service, Chiang originated tax and financial education programs for nonprofits, small businesses, women and religious organizations. During his service, he introduced more legislative proposals that became law than any other Equalization member.
As to community service, John Chiang serves as a board member of the Public Policy Institute of California, the Hunt Institute and Raised by a Village, a member of the Leadership Council of California Forward and a member of the Board of Councilors of the USC Sol Price School of Public Policy.
Chiang served as an Aspen Institute Rodel Fellow, Hunt-Kean Fellow and University of Southern California Center for the Political Future Fellow. He has appeared in articles in the WallStreet Journal, New York Times, San Francisco Chronicle and Los Angeles Times, and spoken on CNBC, Bloomberg, Fox Business and numerous state and local media outlets.
John Chiang graduated with honors from the University of South Florida with a degree in finance and received his law degree from the Georgetown University Law Center.
Carrie Hawkins
President
Carrie Hawkins & Associates
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Carrie Hawkins
President, Carrie Hawkins & Associates
In 1993, Carrie Hawkins was elected the first woman President of the California Mortgage Banker’s Association. She also received that organization’s Distinguished Service Award in 1998. In 1995. Mrs. Hawkins sold Trinity Mortgage Company, of which she had been the owner and President for 15 years.
She served as Governor Wilson’s appointee on the board of the California Housing Finance Agency as Vice Chairman. Mrs. Hawkins has also served on the board of the California Housing Partnership Corporation; the Fannie Mae Advisory Board; the LINC Housing Corporation Board; as President of the Southern California Mortgage Bankers Association; and the Board of the Association of Professional Mortgage Women. She is a member of Lambda Alpha, a premier international real estate society.
Mrs. Hawkins sits on Claremont Institute’s Committee on Local Government and is a former Vice Chair of California Housing Finance Agency (CalHFA).
Louise Oliver
Regional Operations Officer & Director of Government Contracts
Goodwill Southern California
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Louise Oliver
Regional Operations Officer & Director of Government Contracts, Goodwill Southern California
Louise Oliver is the Regional Operations Officer & Director of Government Contracts for Goodwill Southern California.
Mrs. Oliver is the former Deputy District Director of Real Property of the Western Region of the Federal General Services Administration (GSA), where she served since 1989, responsible for the supervision of more than 10 million square feet of Federal Government-controlled space. She worked with the Federal Government since 1963, with GSA and the Department of Defense, retiring in 1997.
Mrs. Oliver currently serves on the Boards of the Salvation Army, Shelter Partnership, the San Fernando Community Health Center, the Harry Pregerson Federal Child Care Center, the Bell Shelter, the Valley Economic Alliance, and the Rotary Club of Downtown Los Angeles. In the past, she has served as Chairman of the Los Angeles Combined Federal Campaign (United Way), and on the Boards of the Wilshire West Federal Credit Union, the Boys and Girls Club of Greater Los Angeles, and the Ketchum Downtown YMCA.
Gregory Robinson
Owner
Robinson Real Properties
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Gregory Robinson
Owner, Robinson Real Properties
Gregory Robinson is a real estate professional with Robinson Real Properties.
He owns and directs small residential real properties in California, Nevada, Ohio, and Georgia, performing real property trade/business activities, such as development, construction, reconstruction, acquisition, rental, management, financing, and leasing.
Mr. Robinson served as Assistant to the City of Pasadena in the Office of the City Manager, which included providing managerial, fiscal, legislative, and analytical assistance to the City Manager regarding Citywide issues, programs, and operations. He also served as Housing and Community Development Administrator in the Office of the City Manager, Pasadena, with responsibility for the provision of affordable/workforce housing and economic development opportunities citywide.
Mr. Robinson received his B.A. in Business Administration from the University of Cincinnati as well as a Master of Public Administration (MPA), and Master of Community Planning (MCP). He also received a Master of Real Estate Development (MRED) from the University of Southern California.
Darroch “Rocky” Young
Chancellor Emeritus
Los Angeles Community Colleges
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Darroch “Rocky” Young
Chancellor Emeritus, Los Angeles Community Colleges
Darroch “Rocky” Young retired as Chancellor of the Los Angeles Community College District in 2007. In his retirement, he is currently working as the Chief Consultant for the Collegiate Brain Trust (CBT), a subdivision of McCallum Group, Inc. He has recently authored a book on leadership (“A Walk Through Leadership,” available through Amazon.com) and co-authored a book on community college issues (“Harvest from the Vineyard,” also available through Amazon). Besides numerous speaking engagements related to his books, he also recently completed a strategic enrollment plan for the Tulsa Community Colleges at Monterey Peninsula College. Previously, he has provided consulting on strategic planning to numerous colleges including Monterey Peninsula College, College of Western Idaho, Oakland Community College (Michigan), West Valley-Mission Community College District (CA), Contra Costa Community College District, Grossmont-Cuyamaca Community College District, Rancho Santiago Community College District (CA), MiraCosta College (CA) and Citrus College (CA). Furthermore, for the last nine years Rocky has been annually working for the Community College League of California by running their annual New CEO Workshops and the annual Vineyard Symposiums (for experienced CEOs) in Napa Valley.
As Chancellor, Rocky initiated the first formal Comprehensive Strategic Planning effort in the District’s history. Rocky also launched a major Student Success Initiative that aimed at improving all student educational outcomes across the District—including student graduation, transfer, and job placement rates. Chancellor Young initiated an aggressive district wide marketing campaign to publicize community college educational opportunities and revamped the district’s enrollment management programs.
Before assuming district wide responsibilities, Rocky Young was President of Pierce College, a position he took in 1999. Under his leadership, the college increased its enrollment by 51% in less than 3 years, making it one of the fastest growing community colleges in California. He put a Master Plan in place that included extensive community involvement, created a new 15-week semester plan that has become the most copied academic calendar in California and reversed years of financial difficulties to create healthy financial reserves for the college. In addition, Young fostered new partnerships with Caltech, UCLA, UC Berkeley and CSUN, as well as a number of industry partners in the private sector. Young also created strong alliances for the college with neighborhood groups, businesses, and elected officials.
Prior to coming to Pierce College, Rocky Young served as Vice President of Academic and Student Affairs and Vice President of Planning and Development at Santa Monica College where he created the concept for the Santa Monica College Academy of Entertainment and Technology, formed partnerships with fifty entertainment firms, and led the effort to receive the Board of Governors approval of the Academy as an educational center. In addition, he created the Transfer Alliance Program with UCLA, developed a high school dual enrollment program with local unified school districts, created the college’s first Master Plan for Education, Comprehensive Facilities Master Plan, and the Master Plan for Technology.
Rocky was awarded the 2007 Harry Buttimer Award as the outstanding community college executive in California, the 2003 Pacesetter of the Year by the National Council of Marketing and Public Relations, the 2003 Steve Allen Award for Excellence in Education, and the 1998 ACCCA Leadership Award for Administrative Excellence in California Community Colleges.
