Our Team
Introducing our Working Board
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Connie Tamkin
President (she/her)
Rev. Connie Tamkin is a retired ordained clergy of The United Methodist Church, serving in parish and community ministry for over 20 years. Prior to her call to ministry, she was engaged in the real estate development, design, and construction professions. This uniquely positions her to guide the newly formed non-profit organization, the San Gabriel Valley Community Land Trust of which she is a founding member and serves as a volunteer president. Tamkin has also been engaged with Making Housing and Community Happen in advocating for affordable housing. She holds a Masters in Divinity from Perkins School of Theology, Southern Methodist University, as well doctoral studies in missional engagement.
Margaret Lee
Vice President (she/her)
Dr. Margaret Lee is an assistant professor in the Social Work Department at Azusa Pacific University. She teaches graduate-level courses in policy, community organizing, organizational development and management, anti-racism and inclusion, and faith-based social justice strategies. She is actively involved with the local community in areas of housing and education justice. She is on staff as an executive advisor to Making Housing and Community Happen, is on the board of Elizabeth House maternity shelter, and is the Principal Investigator for the Love Azusa Project. She received her MSW and PhD in Social Welfare from UCLA.
Jasmin Shupper
Treasurer/Secretary (she/her)
Jasmin Shupper is the Founder and CEO of Greenline Housing Foundation, a non-profit organization that seeks to close the racial wealth gap by granting access to homeownership for people of color, to ultimately reverse the effects of systemic racism in housing. Prior to starting Greenline, Jasmin worked as the Business Director at Fellowship Church in Monrovia for four years, where she managed a multi-million dollar budget. She holds a BS in International Business from Pepperdine University, as well as a California Real Estate Salesperson’s license and a Certificate in Real Estate Development from the University of Southern California. Jasmin worked as a corporate credit risk underwriter and financial analyst for 10 years, underwriting large contractors, developers and fortune 500 companies. Jasmin also serves on the Board of Directors of Harambee Ministries.
Grant Power
Board Member at Large (he/him)
Grant Power has worked in community development and affordable housing for 35 years, including 25 years with nonprofits in the LA area. Power is now in his fourth year as Director of Real Estate Development for San Gabriel Valley Habitat for Humanity.
Samuel Brown-Vazquez
Board Member at Large (he/him)
Samuel Brown-Vazquez is a community organizer (Union de Ranchos), is a long time resident of the East San Gabriel Valley. Having attended local public schools, he became involved in Environmental Justice organizing with a community group called PODER while studying at San Francisco State University (BA in Spanish; Environmental Sustainability and Social Justice; minor Latino/a studies). Sam remains inspired by the labor farmworker organizing his father had participated in through the 1980s along with mobilizations against displacement in the Excelsior neighborhood of San Francisco. Sam helped launch an environmental justice collective with Elena Brown-Vazquez (Avocado Heights Vaquerxs), before championing public interest advocacy in agricultural zoning, land use planning, education, civil rights, and public health. He is a co-founder of the Hacienda La Puente Community Coalition which is addressing educational equity issues in Hacienda La Puente Unified School District.
Grace Dyrness
Board Member at Large (she/her)
Dr. Grace Dyrness is a community development consultant and professor. Recently retired from the Price School of Public Policy at the University of Southern California, she has also taught at Azusa Pacific University, Fuller Theological Seminary, and institutions in the Philippines, Indonesia and Kenya. Her teaching areas are social context of planning, public service in an urban setting, and sustainable development. For more than a decade she was the Director of Community Research and Development for the Center for Religion and Civic Culture at the University of Southern California where she conducted applied research on the role of faith based organizations in the civic life of Los Angeles, San Francisco, Santa Barbara, and in Kenya, Tanzania, and India. She is also the founder and senior researcher at the Institute for Transnational Research and Development at the Hub for Urban Initiatives in Pasadena, CA. She has a Master of Arts degree in Urban Anthropology and a Doctorate in Planning and Development Studies from the University of Southern California. Her current research focus is on urban land justice, displacement, and poverty in the city. Grace has a long history of engagement on advocacy for the unsheltered in Los Angeles, was a long-time Board member and interim director of the L.A. Coalition to End Hunger and Homelessness and currently serves on the boards of Housing Works and the San Gabriel Valley Community Land Trust.
Ryan Ku-Borden
Board Member at Large (he/him)
Ryan Ku-Borden is a mortgage loan officer and broker with Ohana Mortgage Solutions. His passion is for for-profit businesses to achieve social impact through aligning sustainable business with nonprofit mission. He is the founder of UDK International, a holding company and small scale investor in Social Enterprises. In addition, he is the founder and volunteer executive director of Kairos Community Ventures, a public charity in east Los Angeles working to provide financial literacy, career education and development, as well as administering a revolving loan fund to free our community from predatory lending. He received his MBA from Thunderbird School of Global Management.