LAHSA Welcomes Jayanthi Daniel
Today, LAHSA is proud to announce the addition of Jayanthi Daniel as the Executive Management Officer. We are looking forward to the perspective developed from her experience in the Los Angeles Mayor’s Office will add to our work at LAHSA. Jayanthi started her new position on Monday.
After spending 15 years working in journalism in New York, Jayanthi Daniel was ready for a change.
But instead of making the natural transition into communications, Daniel left New York for Los Angeles, UCLA, to be specific.
“I decided to transition careers from telling people’s stories to influencing those stories in positive ways,” Daniel said.
Daniel came away with a master’s degree in social welfare in 2015, and as a winner of the David Bohnett Leadership Fellowship — which places graduate students from the UCLA Luskin School of Public Affairs into positions with local governments — she joined Mayor Eric Garcetti’s office in 2016.
But Daniel’s course took shape when she joined the Mayor’s Office of City Homelessness Initiatives (MOCHI) in 2019. In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, MOCHI stood up emergency shelter beds across 24 Recreation and Parks sites and eight trailer sites in a matter of weeks.
“We housed thousands of vulnerable, unsheltered Angelenos throughout the pandemic, setting them on a path towards finding more stable housing,” Daniel said. “I couldn’t be prouder of our swift reaction to needing to house our neighbors when the pandemic first hit.”
And now, Daniel is looking beyond the city and to all of Los Angeles County as she steps into a new role at the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority as executive management officer.
LAHSA has grown dramatically over the last three years and now serves as the backbone entity of the region’s homeless rehousing system driving system-wide strategy, execution, and active system performance management in addition to the administration of more than $600 million in program funding.
In her new role, Daniel will report directly to LAHSA Executive Director Heidi Marston and will be responsible for implementing organization-wide strategy to execute Marston’s vision. She will also act as a liaison between key legislative, congressional, community, business, provider, and lived-experience leadership.
As LAHSA seeks to improve efficiency and better deliver services, Daniel will provide leadership and oversight over the agency’s day-to-day functions.
“We’re excited to have Jayanthi’s experience, and expertise as we look to improve the homeless services delivery system across Los Angeles County,” LAHSA Executive Director Heidi Marston said.
Daniel said one of the things she’s looking forward to most is building on Marston’s work since taking over as executive director on an interim basis and later once taking up the role permanently.
“I’m very much looking forward to working with a tremendous team and a tenacious leader in Heidi Marston,” Daniel said. “A strong executive team sets up any department for success. I can’t wait to join LAHSA’s leadership team and to offer my skills and experience from the City side to achieve LAHSA’s goals.”
