Presenters
Hafsa Kaka, MSW
Homeless Solutions Office
City of Riverside
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Hafsa Kaka, a social worker who has 15 years of experience around Southern California coordinating efforts to help people out of homelessness, directs the City of Riverside’s Office of Homeless Solutions. Previous to this role, Ms. Kaka led the City of Santa Ana's first Homeless Services Manager where she spearheaded efforts in Orange County’s second-largest city to work with local, state and federal officials to reduce homelessness. Under her leadership, Santa Ana created a 200-bed shelter in 28 days, from which more than 100 people have been able to find permanent housing through partnerships with private, non-profit and government entities. Among the resources she helped create are Santa Ana’s Homeless Data Dashboard, Homeless Strategic Plan, and Homeless Hotline. Kaka has a Master’s Degree in Social Work from the University of Minnesota Twin Cities and a B.A in Psychology and Social Behavior and Criminology Law and Society from the University of California, Irvine. She has worked as a contracted Adjunct Professor with the USC School of Social Work. She also is trained and has experience in mediation and anger and conflict de-escalation.
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Matthew Glesne
Senior City Planner
Los Angeles Department of City Planning
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Matthew Glesne is a Senior City Planner for the Los Angeles Department of City Planning. In this position he leads the Department’s Housing Policy Unit, which is responsible for developing various citywide housing related initiatives. He has recently led the development of the City’s Accessory Dwelling Unit (ADU) policy, the Transit Oriented Communities (TOC) affordable housing incentive program, the Home Sharing Ordinance, the Affordable Housing Linkage Fee, Permanent Supportive Housing Ordinance, as well as coordinating the implementation of state legislation. He has a Master’s Degree in Urban and Policy from the University of Illinois at Chicago and a M.F.A. in Urban and Regional Planning from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
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Gregory J. Bradbard
President, Hope through Housing Foundation
Senior Vice President of Strategic Partnerships, National CORE
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Gregory (Greg) Bradbard, President of the Hope through Housing Foundation and National CORE’s Senior Vice President of Strategic Partnerships, has spent the past two decades as a community champion and nonprofit leader throughout Southern California. Greg is a passionate advocate for moving individuals from poverty to self-sufficiency. Under his leadership, Hope through Housing has launched its Pathways to Economic Empowerment financial coaching initiative, deepened youth career readiness through Building Bright Futures, and expanded community leadership through the creation of regional Executive Leadership Councils. Prior to joining Hope through Housing and National CORE, Greg served as President and Chief Executive Officer of the Inland Empire United Way. Past roles have included serving as Executive Director for Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA) of Orange County, and Executive Director for the Irvine Public Schools Foundation. Greg holds a B.A. in Psychology and Social Behavior from UC Irvine and a Master of Arts in Management from the University of Redlands. He has a long history of community service including roles on the Funders Alliance of San Bernardino and Riverside Counties, the Rancho Cucamonga Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors, San Bernardino County’s Vision Leadership Council, and currently serves on the SoCal Policy Forum and writes a monthly column for Southern California News Group and the Foothills Reader section of the LA Times.
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Recent Addition to the Panel
Rodolfo Rodríguez
Director of Health and Wellness Ecosystem, Housing Authority of the City of Austin
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Rodolfo L. Rodriguez (he/him/his/el) has spent over 12 years empowering marginalized families around the US by co-governing on public policy that impact them, co-designing social services that serve them, and co-planning their own neighborhoods and built environment. As founding Director of Health and Wellness Ecosystem for HACA, he partners with 20,000 low-income residents to align health and housing systems to improve their own lives. He leads all health needs assessments, whole-health initiatives, and transformational partnerships. While in Colorado, he joined forces with a Denver City Councilwoman and impacted communities to dismantle systemic inequities: established a permanent fund for affordable housing, memorialized immigrant protections, updated police Use of Force policies, and updated building code to require gender-neutral restrooms. In Southern California, he partnered with a Mayor to assemble a Health and Wellness Commission, and founded a national model that confronts an obesity epidemic impacting children across the greater Los Angeles area. Rodolfo has been selected as a Culture of Health Leader by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, a Health Leader by the Urban Land Institute, and a Design Justice Leader by the American Institute of Architects, just to name a few.
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