Our Team
Laura Diaz-Tovar
Laura Díaz Tovar (ella/she/her) is a poet, artist, creative educator, and community worker born in Guadalajara, Jalisco, México. She lives, works, plays, and loves on Ohlone land in the Bay Area. Her poetry and art celebrate her cultural background, the strength of community, family, and above all, love.
As an advocate against gender based violence for over 25 years, she has created, developed, and
implemented trauma-informed programming from a social justice and equity lens.
She has organized around the issues of gender-based violence, immigration, public health, worker’s rights, and housing. She is the co-founder of Colibrí Collective, a San José-based grassroots collective of womyn of color working to decolonize & redefine systems that keep communities oppressed through education, wellness, and cultura. Laura serves on the Board of Directors of the South Bay Community Land Trust, the Board of Directors of Poetry Center San José, and of La Raíz Magazine.
Operations Director
Dina Ree
Asset Management Director
Organizing Co-DirectorDelma Hernandez
In August 2022, SBCLT welcomed Delma Hernández Villaseñor as Community Organizer Co‑Director. Delma began her community work after joining Sacred Heart Community Service in 2015 and volunteering with Colibrí Collective, a grassroots group of women of color focused on education, community organizing, wellness, and cultura to raise awareness and foster healing around domestic violence and trauma. She went on to organize with Latinos United for a New America (LUNA), working on tenant, immigrant, and worker rights, and served as a leader with the Silicon Valley Renters Rights Coalition from 2016–2019 to strengthen tenant protections in San José. From 2019–2022 she worked as a Domestic Violence Advocate in the housing department at Next Door Solutions for Domestic Violence. Delma currently serves on the LUNA board and brings deep passion for community building and justice informed by her lived experience as an immigrant from Jalisco, Mexico and as a resident of East San José
Organizing Co-DirectorJuan Angel Lujano
Born and raised in East San Jose, Juan has spent over a decade advocating and doing community work. Prior to joining South Bay CLT in 2023, Juan previously worked for the City of San Jose’s PRNS Department, Alum Rock Union School District, MidPen Housing, and SOMOS Mayfair. In each of those roles, issues around housing security, affordability, and tenant rights were far too common. These issues made it clear to Juan that community voices needed to be centered in policy and community decisions. In his free time, Juan enjoys spending time with family and watching his favorite teams, the Raiders and San Jose Sharks.
Board of Directors
Elizabeth “Liz” Gonzalez
From East San José, daughter of immigrant parents. She began organizing in high school around issues of racial justice in education with Californians for Justice. She is a co-founder of Silicon Valley Debug — a nationally recognized organizing and media collective — working as a media editor and organizing around worker’s rights, immigration issues, against police violence and most recently housing justice issues. She was a leader of Silicon Valley Renters Rights Coalition 2015–19, dedicated to improving tenant protections in San José. She is the Incorporator, President, and Board Chair of South Bay CLT, part of grants/finance committee.
Board President
Sandy Perry
Sandy Perry was raised as a Quaker in Massachusetts, attended Stanford University from 1967–70, and moved to San Jose in 1990 with his wife Andrea and daughter Christina. He has been an active volunteer in the Affordable Housing Network and what is now known as CHAM Deliverance Ministry ever since. From 1997 to 2009, Sandy collaborated with CHAM and First Christian Church to shelter unhoused families at the church, overcoming City efforts to shut it down. In 2001, he helped organize to pressure San Jose to allocate 30% of its affordable housing funds to extremely low‑income families for the first time. He joined the 2015–18 campaign to strengthen rent control in San Jose, and was part of the Serve the People San Jose campaign to stop the Google expansion into the City. Sandy was a commercial roofer for 20 years and helped manage the CHAM–First Christian Church shelter from 2000–09.
Board Vice-President
Board Tresurer
Jose Javier Lujano
José brings over 5 years of experience advocating for the construction of more permanent supportive and affordable housing in his hometown of San José, CA. Born and raised in the East Side, José believes we can develop communities equitably and sustainably, all while keeping families and individuals in their homes. As a project manager, José is in charge of managing affordable housing and mixed-use developments from feasibility to project completion. He is the first in his family to attend college and has a B.S. in political science and sociology from Santa Clara University as well as a Master of Public Policy degree from the Ford School of Public Policy at the University of Michigan. In José’s previous work for the City of San José, he’s advanced a citywide anti-displacement strategy, a citywide immigrant legal defense strategy and the first major update to the City’s rent control ordinance in decades.
Board SecretaryAlyssa Serrano
Alyssa graduated from UC Santa Cruz in June of 2021. During her time in college she began to reflect further on housing justice through Community Studies classes and organizing with community and student led organizations. After graduating college she completed the California Coalition for Rural Housing internship program and has since been working for MidPen Housing Corporation. She has been involved with the South Bay CLT since 2020 and is inspired by CLT movements across the country. In her free time she likes to take walks on the SJSU campus and hang out with her friends.