The Los Angeles County Development Authority (LACDA) announced today that Executive Director Monique King-Viehland is stepping down as Executive Director, effective December 31, 2019. Emilio Salas, Deputy Executive Director, will serve as Acting Executive Director during the transition.
King-Viehland has worked for the agency since 2015. She was named Acting Executive Director in October 2017, and Executive Director in February 2018 – serving as the first African-American female to lead the organization. During her tenure, King-Viehland focused on enhancing operational and organizational effectiveness by utilizing a systems-thinking approach to reorganizing the agency and building employee engagement mechanisms designed to enhance morale and create an improved agency-wide culture. Under her leadership, the agency merged what was the Community Development Commission and Housing Authority into the LACDA, in an effort to augment cross-agency thinking and client service, increase organizational effectiveness, service delivery, and reposition the agency as a forward thinking, industry leader in the provision of affordable housing, community and economic development.
The agency also embraced a new vision – ending generational poverty and homelessness, encouraging community development and empowering Los Angeles County residents and businesses to reach their full potential. The LACDA also introduced six new core values referred to as the “Big 6,” stressing the link between the agency’s vision and “how” employees go about their work daily. King-Viehland instituted “coffee talks” between executive leadership and employees while also implementing a series of non-monetary compensation strategies aimed at enhancing employee morale, and focused the agency on “valuing the people who serve the people we serve.”
King-Viehland also renewed the agency’s commitment to increasing diversity, equity and inclusion in a systemic way. Earlier in the year, the agency completed an aggressive national recruitment effort for its executive leadership team that resulted in five successful recruitments. As a result, the agency now has the most diverse executive leadership team in the agency’s history, reflecting the diversity of Los Angeles County.
In the midst of great organizational change, King-Viehland also focused on enhancing the LACDA’s efforts to execute on its core mission to Build Better Lives and Better Neighborhoods. Fighting the homelessness and affordability crises in unprecedented ways, including a ten-fold increase in the number of affordable and supportive housing units funded, increasing rental voucher commitments by more than 100% for supportive housing developments, while also providing housing assistance to hundreds of thousands, and assisting thousands of individuals and families in securing housing through Measure H funding.
“It has been an honor and privilege to serve alongside the most dedicated, compassionate and empathic group of people I have ever worked with,” said King-Viehland. “Thank you for all you do for the residents of Los Angeles County.”
