Our Team
The Housing and Homelessness Collaborative of Claremont (Housing Claremont) is a donor-supported 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization comprised of volunteers advocating for the construction of more homes at all levels of affordability. This effort aims to help alleviate California’s housing shortage, displacement, and affordability crisis. Passionate housing advocates including Joe Lyons, Jed Leano, Jennifer Stark, and Zach Courser have spearheaded this initiative. Over the past five years, we have urged Claremont to contribute its fair share.
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Together, we promote goodwill and garner support from neighbors and the public for the development of purpose-built, high-quality multifamily housing projects in Claremont. We are committed to welcoming new homes on suitable sites near jobs and transit, especially those designed to accommodate very low-income tenants.
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Our mission continues. Sign up here to join us as a housing supporter, even if you have been receiving our messages. (No dues are required, though donations are gratefully accepted.)
Housing Claremont Board
President
Rev. Gene Boutilier
Gene moved to activist retirement at Pilgrim Place in Claremont in 2004. For over 70 years, since he was a teenager, Gene has been building non-profit organizations. He has been in leadership, founder, and organizer roles in many advocacy, labor, and movement groups confronting poverty, homelessness, hunger, wars, and injustices against immigrants, low-wage workers, and marginalized voters. He has hosted, produced, or edited radio and TV series, numerous media and technology events, and publications. He has pastored congregations, led councils of churches, and participated in multi-faith regional, national, and world-level activities.
In government service, he was the founding Executive Director of the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority, the initial Administrator of the nation’s highest-funded FEMA food and shelter local board, the chair of anti-poverty boards in Los Angeles, Fresno, and Wisconsin, and a lobbyist in Washington DC, Sacramento, and Madison. He is grateful to be a musician and a loved and loving member of a large diverse family, which now includes five great-grandchildren.
Vice-President and Treasurer
Ilsa Lund
Ilsa Lund is a Claremont resident who brings a wealth of knowledge and experience
working on issues related to housing and homelessness. As immediate Past President
of Housing Claremont, she has been integral to the foundation of our organization and its initiatives, with a special focus on working with stakeholders and community members to increase Claremont’s affordable housing stock.
She has worked in the non-profit field since 1996, dedicating her career to agencies in Minnesota, New York, Wyoming and California committed to addressing poverty, its impacts and its root causes. She has worked in a variety of roles at Larkin Street Youth Services since 2004, and currently serves as the Chief of Strategy. Ilsa has worked in many aspects of non-profit management, including oversight of public grants and contracts, project management, and implementation of strategic initiatives.
Secretary
Nancy Treser Osgood
Nancy Treser Osgood served for a decade as an elected member of the Claremont Unified School District Board of Education, with an emphasis as an advocate for homeless students and their families. Nancy has worked in alumni relations for over 30 years (since 1989), at Claremont Graduate University, Pomona College, and Pitzer College. Her colleagues deeply appreciate her experience as a recognized expert in making institutions successful. She is frequently called upon by advancement leaders at other institutions to serve as a consultant to provide an external review of their alumni relations programs and has been a leader of The Council for Advancement and Support of Education (“CASE”), an international nonprofit association of professionals in the field of educational advancement.
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An active parent and community volunteer, Nancy has served on the boards of the Claremont Educational Foundation (CEF) and Claremont After School Program (CLASP). She attended Pomona College and the Claremont School of Theology and has been a Claremont resident since 1988.
Board Member
Lynne Marsenich
As a longtime resident of Claremont, Lynne brings years of both professional and volunteer experience in social work to the board. She has served on Claremont’s Committee on Aging and Human Services Commission. Lynne has taken the lead in helping to form Housing Claremont’s initiatives relating to senior housing and homelessness. She is an effective volunteer political organizer and campaigner, having moved to Mount San Antonio Gardens in 2019.
Lynne is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker (LCSW) with her own consulting practice based in Claremont. She is a frequent co-author on academic articles on implementing evidence-based practices in social services. Her collaborators want you to know that it is so valuable when a board has wisdom like hers, based on broad research experience in the operating and funding of the nonprofit sector, community outreach, policy studies, and mental health programs.
Board Member
Monique H. Ott
After graduating from Pitzer College, Monique traveled the United States conducting research on head injuries in sports before finally settling back in Claremont with her husband to raise their four children. The family is very active in the busy and community-building world of youth sports. In 2004, she obtained her real estate broker license to help more residents become homeowners by founding Advent Property Management and Real Estate. In 2017, Monique served as a board member of Community Relations at Citrus Valley Association of Realtors, where she was selected to represent legislation to California senators and representatives to protect homeowner rights.
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At the beginning of the pandemic in 2020, Monique opened the doors to HOTT Homes Real Estate and Property Management and also joined the board of Housing Claremont, where she has mentored her collaborators with her insight into housing issues as they relate to buying and selling property, as well as to better understand the relationship between landlords and tenants. That expert knowledge has greatly strengthened the Board.
"As a board member, it will be my duty to motivate builders to provide affordable housing and work with the City of Claremont to write ordinances that will allocate a portion of every building to affordable housing."
Board Member
Zachary Courser
Zach is a founder and former president of Housing Claremont. He became engaged in homelessness issues through volunteering for the Claremont Homelessness Advocacy Program (CHAP), having served as their grant writer. In January of 2019, he was asked by former Claremont council member Joe Lyons to spearhead creating a new non-profit, envisioned as part of the city of Claremont’s Homelessness Services Plan. The result has been the creation of Housing Claremont, focused on advocacy, education, and coordination of housing and homelessness issues in the Claremont community.
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Zach is a professor at Claremont McKenna College and a fellow at the Bipartisan Policy Institute in Washington. He teaches and researches public policy, and co-directs the CMC Policy Lab. He is a former Chair of Claremont’s Traffic and Transportation Commission and served on the boards of Claremont Heritage and Pilgrim Place. Zach has mentored our interns and his colleagues on our Board in understanding housing politics and policy, and led our effort to increase Additional Dwelling Unit construction in Claremont.
Recent Housing Claremont Fellows
Many thanks to our recent fellows who have provided invaluable assistance and energy
in advancing Housing Claremont’s mission.
Gwen Tucker
Gwen Tucker served as our Joseph Lyons Fellow in the spring of 2023 focused on the Tenant Protection Ordinance that prevailed in Claremont. Gwen brought a wealth of organizing experience and passion for affordable housing.
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Gwen is a student at Scripps College majoring in Politics and Sociology. Originally from Evanston, Illinois, she spent her high school years organizing with Chicago’s diverse Jewish community around issues of community safety, immigration justice, and economic justice. Since starting college in Claremont, Gwen has become passionate about meaningfully engaging college students in local issues. As the lead organizer for Inclusive Claremont, a sister pro-housing group, she has worked with students and community members alike to advocate for affordable housing and tenant protections in Claremont.
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She is proud to have been a part of powerful efforts to amplify community support for the Larkin Place development, and to pass an ordinance restricting unjust renovation evictions at City Council. Gwen believes strongly in the power of building political coalitions, making an impact at the local level, and pursuing justice in all facets of life.
Jessica Gallegos
Jessica Gallegos is a student at Claremont McKenna College, studying public policy and environmental analysis. Through an internship with Tenants of LA, Jessica worked on raising awareness about tenants rights.
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She was also a member of the La Habra Water Guardians and helped promote the importance of water conservation in the community.
Virginia Paschal
Virginia Paschal is a student at Pomona College, studying Public Policy and Environmental Analysis. She has been a student advocate for affordable housing issues in Claremont for the past four years. She has worked with Councilman Jed Leano on housing advocacy both within the City of Claremont and at the regional level, attending SoCal Association of Governments meetings and advocating for Measure H funds for projects such as the affordable housing development on Baseline Road. She has worked with Housing Claremont since early 2021, assisting in report writing and ADU development work.
Virginia has also worked with the Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti’s Office of Sustainability on electrification projects to meet UN Sustainable Development Goals and with the City of Alameda on efforts to fund the City’s Climate Action and Resiliency Plan. She is currently working for the Farm and Energy Initiative at Vermont Law School to make information on statewide farmland solar policy more accessible to stakeholders. Following her graduation, she hopes to continue to work in the realm of housing advocacy and climate resiliency at the city level.
Jordan Hoogsteden
Jordan Hoogsteden is a student at Pomona College studying Public Policy Analysis and Computer Science. Through coursework, Jordan has researched Measure H and evaluated the Los Angeles County Homeless Initiative strategies. Jordan has also worked as a District Intern for California State Senator Scott Wiener. Through this opportunity, Jordan has advocated for progressive housing legislation while connecting constituents with housing resources. Jordan has been a fellow with Housing Claremont this past year, focusing on ADU development, Claremont’s Inclusionary Housing Ordinance, and website expansion for the organization.