Joel Montano

Joel Montano is a UCLA Masters in Urban and Regional Planning (MURP) student whose research advocates for universal rent control, tenant right-to-counsel, and anti-tenant harassment enforcement measures. He is a recipient of UCLA’s Luskin Leadership Internship Awards Program working with Liberty Hill Foundation to support their Agenda for a Just Future Los Angeles Housing Justice campaign. He currently serves as the Community Action Co-Chair for UCLA’s Planners of Color for Social Equity. Prior to his arrival to the MURP program, Joel worked as the Affordable Housing Tenant Outreach Organizer for eight and a half years with the Coalition for Economic Survival—a non-profit tenant’s rights organization based in Los Angeles. He organized with tenants residing in HUD Section-8 and rent control housing projects to empower and develop their leadership skills to fight back against poor habitability conditions, inadequate management services, and displacement efforts by predatory landlords.