Community Investment: In early June, City veteran Abigail R. Marquez was sworn in as the General Manager of the newly established Community Investment Department (CID).
The new department, Community Investment, brings together youth development, workforce and economic development, aging services, community development, and family-support programs into one streamlined department focused on delivering intergenerational services and creating greater opportunity for Angelenos.
Abigail Marquez has spent 19 years working for the City of Los Angeles, advancing anti-poverty programs and policies. Prior to this appointment, Marquez served as Assistant General Manager of the Los Angeles Housing and Community Investment Dept., (HCIDLA), overseeing the Community Services and Development Bureau. In that role, she was responsible for the planning and administration of the City’s Consolidated Plan, which includes $120 million in federal funds to support capital projects and neighborhood improvement programs, and the implementation of the department’s social service delivery systems; FamilySource, Domestic Violence/Human Trafficking Shelter Operations, and Housing Opportunities for Persons with HIV/AIDS (HOPWA). In this role, she also worked with staff to provide strategic direction to the bureau’s four commissions: Commission on Community and Family Services; Community Action Board; Domestic Violence Alliance; and Affordable Housing Commission. During her tenure, she played a significant role in helping to increase the Domestic Violence/Human Trafficking Shelter budget, implemented several key COVID-response programs, and managed the allocation of increased federal funding allocated through the CARES ACT.
As General Manager, Marquez will work closely with the Mayor and City Council to establish poverty-reduction goals for the City; play an active role in implementing homelessness prevention programs; oversee the implementation of L.A.’s Guaranteed Basic Income pilot, the largest in the nation; and implement the Children’s Savings Account program, Opportunity LA, which will support 35,000 first-graders annually across the region.
Prior to Housing, she was Director of Education and Workforce Development under Mayor Eric Garcetti, and Area Director and liaison to 14 communities in the eastern region of LA under Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa.
She earned a Bachelor’s degree from UC Riverside, and a Master’s degree in project management from University of Redlands. She was the Board Chair for Legacy LA, a community-based nonprofit focused on youth development.
The Club congratulates Abigail and wishes her much success in her new leadership role.