Staff & Board

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

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.

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.

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.

Tafhari Siyani Benjamin Franklin - but all my friends and family call me Taf. Grew up in Watt's CA, and in a little place called Rohnert Park, CA. Graduated H.S. '94. A year later joined the US NAVY. Been all over this Rock, and that's where my compassion for people started. I saw how people were living, but what could I do? After 8yrs, I got out, lived from the North, South, East, and back to the West. It's the same everywhere. The homelessness. But I saw that nobody cared. Eventually I became one. Bad choices and addiction. I ended up at my brother's doorstep and then 10 Kirk - a Vet Homeless Shelter. Was there for 8 months before getting a place of my own. That feeling is what I think everyone who has fallen, and trying to get it together, should feel. The sense of accomplishment! Started working at the VA. I felt I could do anything. How could I help others FEEL this? Then one day SBCLT came and showed me that there WERE other people with like minds. So I have been tugging at CLT's hips, ankles ever since.

Josefina is an urban planner with over 30 years of experience, specializing in economic development, affordable family housing, cooperatives, resident controlled and senior housing development. She has worked for several cities in southern California, including the Redevelopment Agencies in Simi Valley, Palmdale, Redlands, and Santa Barbara. She is the former Executive Director of TRUST South LA, a community land trust.

She has extensive experience as a consultant in strategic planning, grant proposal writing, fundraising and organizational development. Selected clients list include the National Council of La Raza, Community Impact Consulting, Contexto Cultural, California Endowment, Catholic Charities, Watts Century Latino Organization, Mathematica Policy Research, Inc., and individual entrepreneurs. Josefina has done board development and training for several non-profit organizations. She has received various community service commendations from the City of Los Angeles, the State Assembly, and the U.S. Congress for her entrepreneurship and for work promoting art and culture.

Laura Díaz Tovar (she/her) is a collaborative community leader with over 25 years in the non-profit sector. Her experience includes direct services, program development, and leadership roles. As an advocate against gender-based violence, she developed and implemented trauma-informed programming through the lens of social justice and equity.

Laura has organized around critical issues such as gender-based violence, immigration, public health, worker's rights, and housing. She is co-founder of Colibrí Collective, an organization led by women from the global majority, focused on reshaping oppressive systems through education, wellness, and cultura. In addition to her advocacy, Laura is a published poet and mixed media artist.

As a founding member and former South Bay Community Land Trust board member, Laura has collaborated with some of the fiercest community protectors and housing justice advocates. She remains deeply committed as the Operational Co-Director and is excited to continue supporting this critical work.

Laura Díaz Tovar (ella/ella) es una líder comunitaria colaborativa con más de 25 años en el sector sin fines de lucro. Su experiencia incluye servicios directos, desarrollo de programas y roles de liderazgo. Como defensora de la violencia de género, desarrolló e implementó programas basados en el trauma a través de la lente de la justicia social y la equidad.

Laura ha organizado sobre temas críticos como la violencia de género, la inmigración, la salud pública, los derechos de los trabajadores y la vivienda. Es cofundadora de Colectivo Colibrí, una organización liderada por mujeres de la mayoría global, enfocada en remodelar sistemas opresivos a través de la educación, el bienestar y la cultura. Además de su labor de defensa, Laura es una poeta publicada y artista de técnicas mixtas.

Como miembra fundadora y ex miembra de la junta directiva de South Bay Community Land Trust, Laura ha colaborado con algunos de los más feroces protectores comunitarios y defensores de la justicia en materia de vivienda. Ella sigue profundamente comprometida como codirectora operativa y está entusiasmada de continuar apoyando este trabajo crítico.

In August 2022, SBCLT onboarded Delma Hernández Villaseñor for community- organizer co-director position. She joined Sacred Heart Community Service in 2015 and began organizing as a volunteer with Colibri Collective, a grassroots group of women of color working towards raising awareness and healing around domestic violence and trauma through education, community organizing, wellness and cultura. Soon after, Delma became a community organizer with Latinos United for a New America (LUNA) around tenant, immigrant and worker rights. She was a leader of Silicon Valley Renters Rights Coalition 2016-19, dedicated to improving tenant protections in San José. Most recently, Delma was Domestic Violence Advocate (2019-22) in the housing department of Next Door Solutions for Domestic Violence. She is currently a LUNA board member and derives her passion for community building and justice from her lived experience as an immigrant from Jalisco, Mexico and resident in East San Jose.

Dina was born and raised in the Bay Area. She has joined the SBCLT as their Property/Asset Manager with a background of 20 years in real estate from loan agent to Realtor in the Bay Area, business owner of a real estate rehab investment company, corporate housing, short term/long term housing, project management and property management sectors. But she felt like there was always something missing. She is also passionate about trauma informed housing, and helping people in all communities. This opportunity to work with SBCLT beautifully unites her experience for the past 20 years in real estate and her heart for supporting a just cause and purpose in the only community she’s ever known.

Dina nació y creció en el Área de la Bahía. Se unió a SBCLT como su administradora de propiedades con una experiencia de mas de 20 años en bienes raíces, desde agente de préstamos hasta agente inmobiliario en el Área de la Bahía. A propietaria de una compañía de inversión en rehabilitación de bienes raíces, viviendas corporativas, viviendas a corto y largo plazo, sectores de gestión de proyectos y gestión de propiedades. Pero sentía que siempre faltaba algo. También le apasiona la vivienda informada sobre el trauma y ayudar a las personas en todas las comunidades. Esta oportunidad de trabajar con SBCLT une maravillosamente su experiencia de los últimos 20 años en bienes raíces y su corazón por apoyar una causa y un propósito justos en la única comunidad que ha conocido.

Born and raised in East San Jose, Juan has a deep passion for his community. As a first-generation Mexican-American and the youngest of three, Juan was inspired by community organizing at a young age due to his older siblings and their advocacy efforts in the early 2000s. Shortly after graduating from Apollo High School, Juan worked for the City of San Jose’s Parks and Recreation Department for 5 years. In the following years, he would take on roles working with the community at various non-profits such as MidPen Housing, SOMOS Mayfair, and the Alum Rock Union School District. It was through these roles that Juan saw a common issue, the lack of affordable housing in San Jose. Wanting to address this mass displacement, Juan is inspired to continue the fight with SBCLT to ensure that the community stays housed.

Nacido y criado en el este de San José, Juan tiene una profunda pasión por su comunidad. Como mexicano-estadounidense de primera generación y el menor de tres hermanos, Juan se inspiró en la organización comunitaria a una edad temprana gracias a sus hermanos mayores y sus esfuerzos de defensa a principios de la década de 2000. Poco después de graduarse de Apollo High School, Juan trabajó para el Departamento de Parques y Recreación para la ciudad de San José durante 5 años. En los años siguientes, asumiría posiciones de trabajo con la comunidad en varias organizaciones sin fines de lucro, como MidPen Housing, SOMOS Mayfair y el Distrito Escolar Alum Rock Union. Fue a través de estos roles que Juan vio un problema común: la falta de viviendas asequibles en San José. Al querer abordar este desplazamiento masivo, Juan se siente inspirado a continuar la lucha con SBCLT para garantizar que la comunidad permanezca alojada.