Yanitsa Buendía de Llaca. Courtesy photo.
CENTRAL COAST — In an expansion of existing programming, People’s Self-Help Housing (PSHH) has hired a new member to their leadership team: Yanitsa Buendía de Llaca is serving as the new Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) Advisor.
With a PhD in Religious Studies and expertise as a qualitative researcher, Yanitsa brings both theoretical and professional knowledge to her role as the Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Advisor. Drawing on her background in higher education, her role is a collaborative effort to make People’s Self-Help Housing a more equitable workplace and community partner. Building on the commitment of her fellow team members, Yanitsa is passionate about advancing equity in all aspects of the PSHH mission. With roots in Mexico, Yanitsa has lived in Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo, today she is proud to call the Central Coast her home.
The work that Yanitsa now facilitates began in 2019 with the formation of the PSHH IDEA (Inclusion, Diversity, Equity, and Action) Commission. This staff-led effort works to create inclusivity in decision-making, promote opportunities for advancement, and change structural lapses related to equity, diversity, and inclusion. In that time, the IDEA Commission has achieved a number of goals including: creation of ongoing DEI trainings for staff, a confidential feedback form, increased language accessibility, and a company-wide culture survey for tracking metrics across all PSHH staff.
“We are thrilled to have a new collaborative partner in our journey towards organizational equity,” said PSHH CEO & President, Ken Trigueiro, “The investment of a full-time advisor means that we are now better poised to take action, change policies through a better focused equity lens, and ensure greater access to equitable outcomes for all who engage with PSHH.”
To learn more, please visit pshhc.org.
About People’s Self-Help Housing (PSHH)
Founded in 1970, PSHH is the longest-serving nonprofit affordable housing organization on the Central Coast. With a mission of building homes and providing services to strengthen communities and change lives, PSHH serves low-income households, working families, seniors, veterans, farmworkers, those living with disabilities and the formerly homeless. It also provides homeownership opportunities through a self-help, “sweat equity” program that has seen over 1,200 homes successfully completed. PSHH has a presence in San Luis Obispo, Santa Barbara, Ventura and Monterey counties, manages over 2,000 rental units, and employs over 200 staff members. PSHH acknowledges the indigenous people of the territories that our organization occupies, including the Chumash, Salinan, Yokuts, Kitanemuk, and Tataviam people. To read the full land acknowledgement, visit pshhc.org/IDEA. For more information about the organization, visit pshhc.org, email info@pshhc.org or phone (805) 781-3088.