Meet Our Staff

Kayla is a Southern California-based digital designer who began her journey with public policy while studying Urban Studies at Loyola Marymount University. She holds an MFA in Production Design and is certified in human-centric UX design. In 2020 she became involved in local housing policy as a planning commissioner, and since then volunteers her time with transportation advocacy organizations. Kayla is excited to combine her design technology and housing advocacy experience to make California a more affordable and inclusive place to live. She enjoys exploring the secret staircases of Los Angeles, relaxing in her favorite Costa Mesa coffee shop, and convincing her family and friends to go camping with her.

Prior to joining California YIMBY, Melissa served as Executive Director of the League of Women Voters of California, where she worked to empower voters, protect democratic institutions, and find sound policy solutions to California’s most pressing problems. Beginning her career as a community organizer and grassroots fundraiser, Melissa also served as Executive Director of Resourceful Women and Director of Programs for the Center for Volunteer and Nonprofit Leadership. In addition to being a first-time homeowner, Melissa is passionate about marine conservation, and can often be found exploring the nearest ocean.

Aaron grew up in Iowa after his parents were forced out of the Bay Area by high housing costs and underfunded public schools. He moved to California two years ago, where he was taken by the beautiful landscape, amazing produce, and obscenely high rent. He is excited to apply his organizing experience from the 2012 Obama campaign and his YIMBY experience with East Bay for Everyone to the task of ending California’s housing shortage.

M. Nolan Gray is the research director for California YIMBY and a professional city planner. He is currently completing a Ph.D. in city planning at UCLA. Gray currently lives in Los Angeles, where he serves on the North Westwood Neighborhood Council. He is a widely published author, with work appearing in outlets such as The Atlantic, Bloomberg Citylab, and The Guardian.

Brian co-founded the California Renters Legal Advocacy and Education Fund (CaRLA) in 2015, which sues cities that violate state housing law. CaRLA’s novel impact litigation strategy yielded victory against Berkeley, lead to the drafting of SB 167, generated enormous press coverage for the YIMBY movement, and put scofflaw cities on the defensive across the state. Prior to co-founding CaRLA, Brian spent 10 years working for the US EPA and the US Forest Service. When he’s not fighting to expand housing affordability and access, Brian can be found cycling in the East Bay hills.

After a decade in sales and account management, Konstantin realized his passion for empowering people to own their voice through volunteer leadership on the 2008 Obama Presidential Campaign. Beginning in Summer 2010 as an Obama campaign Regional Field Director, his Southern California volunteer operation was the most active in the country and he ultimately became the Operation Vote and Early Vote Director for Wisconsin in early 2012. After the Obama campaign, he returned home to positively impact Los Angeles communities by continuing to lead the grassroots organizing efforts of several political campaigns and nonprofits to deal with the most pressing issues of the day. A proud dad and avid boarder, you might find Konstantin with his two sons, Kaliq and Konstantin II careening down the slopes on snowboards or cruising along the beach on skateboards. They can’t wait until his baby daughter, Zadie (aka The Boss Baby) is old enough to join them.

Emily started her career in politics with grassroots housing advocacy while a student at UC Davis. After completing her degree in political science, Emily interned with the Voting Section of the Civil Rights Division in the US Department of Justice in Washington, DC, before returning to California to focus on California policy issues. She served in field management positions for several local and national campaigns before turning her attention to communications and campaign management. Most recently, Emily worked as a Public Affairs Associate with Dewey Square Group’s Sacramento Practice, supporting a variety of campaigns related to housing, land-use, water rights, homelessness, and more. In her free time, she can be found reading, playing board games, cuddling her cat, or exploring California’s natural beauty.

After a ten-year career as a broadcast and print journalist, Matthew moved into advocacy communications with a focus on environmental justice, energy policy, and climate change. From 2008 through 2012, he was Director of Communications for the ClimateWorks Foundation, an international philanthropic effort launched by the Hewlett and Packard Foundations to support global pollution-reduction and clean energy policy efforts. During his tenure at ClimateWorks, he co-founded Climate Nexus, a New York-based media and communications firm focused on climate science. In 2012, he was recruited to join Next Generation, where he helped manage campaigns related to early childhood health, poverty alleviation, climate policy, and clean air. He also co-lead the Risky Business Project, an effort to quantify and communicate the economic risks of climate change in the U.S. Matthew is a YIMBY homeowner who believes there’s plenty of room on his block for more neighbors. 

Leo draws his experience from the non-profit and political realm. Prior to joining California YIMBY, Leo worked at American Leadership Forum – Mountain Valley Chapter as a member support analyst. During the 2018 California election cycle, he interned for Kaufman Campaign Consultants, assisting with NO on PROP 5. Shortly after, he interned with Sacramento Self-Help Housing as a community engagement intern. There he helped local groups to combat homelessness in neighborhoods throughout
the Sacramento region.

This LA area native gets inspiration and motivation from his immigrant community. He strives for a more equitable and inclusive California for all. Leo graduated from UC Davis with a B.A. international relations and sociology.

Lilia was raised in Kern County and has always been interested in doing work with a social conscience. She has worked on the Kern County General Plan 2040 while working as a Planning Technician – ensuring materials were accessible to a diverse community. And during the 2020 presidential election she worked at MoveOn.org as a Campaign Strategist with a focus on attracting younger voters to the polls through a vote tripling strategy. Most recently, she worked at Change.org as an Email Engagement Specialist with petitions covering a wide array of topics, some of which focused on the housing crisis. Lilia is excited to use her experience in digital media and organizing as she takes on the Distributed Organizing role at California YIMBY.