Judith combines rigorous economic analysis with deep community engagement to create real estate, economic development strategies, and policy that strengthen communities and help existing residents and businesses benefit from public investments.
As a Partner in HR&A’s Los Angeles office, Judith brings over 20 years of experience in public policy and real estate advisory, specializing in development that delivers transformative change. By aligning market feasibility with community priorities, Judith helps clients navigate complex issues from displacement to equitable economic development and strategic real estate planning throughout Southern California and the nation.
Judith excels at real estate market feasibility analysis that enables communities to capture value from major development projects while maintaining affordability and local ownership. For example, in her advisory role with the City of San Jose on Google’s Downtown West negotiations, Judy helped secure a $200 million community benefits package with a major portion of community-directed funds. She is currently supporting Los Angeles County’s implementation of the comprehensive Marina del Rey for All plan, identifying the best use of real estate and water assets and helping to consider the financial implications of proposed uses. Judith’s real estate work also includes leveraging transit-oriented development (TOD) for community benefit with projects like City of Los Angeles’ Expo Light Rail Phase Transit Neighborhood Plans’ community benefits framework and vision planning for Metro’s proposed West Santa Ana Branch Light Rail.
Judith designs anti-displacement strategies that deliver bold and actionable solutions that meet community needs and give residents a voice at the table when shaping the future of their neighborhoods. In her planning work in North Sacramento, Judith partnered with a local community-based organization to develop a resident-driven action plan to create economic opportunity, while addressing displacement pressures. In San Diego, she analyzed eviction trends and, in Los Angeles County, she explored rental pricing and cost factors for rent stabilization to develop recommendations to expand market-balanced tenant protection programs in both locals, demonstrating how data-driven policy analysis can strengthen housing security. Judith also helps communities understand and demonstrate displacement pressures, as she did building out an anti-displacement toolkit for Saint Paul, Minnesota. Judith’s anti-displacement work aspires to enable market growth and investment while ensuring that existing residents and businesses can participate in that growth.
Judith’s economic development projects are focused on leveraging local assets to strengthen regional competitiveness while creating opportunities for all. She helped to develop and is currently finalizing the County of Sacramento Office of Economic Development’s five-year economic development strategic plan focusing on job retention, business innovation, and targeted marketing that addresses both emerging opportunities and existing inequities. In East Palo Alto, she is working with the City to develop a strategic framework to guide targeted investments for sustainable economic growth.
Judith also helps regions better understand and accelerate their transition to a green economy through green economy initiatives that channel environmental investments into local economic opportunity. For the Los Angeles Cleantech Incubator, she helped facilitate the collaboration for a new Regional Workforce Partnership across the County and led the development of an initial green jobs roadmap to champion strategies to overcome workforce challenges in sectors like electric transportation. In the Central Valley, Judith has been leading the way as part of California Jobs First initiative to support communities in optimizing the community benefit from utility-scale clean energy investments.
Judith is a graduate of Stanford University with a Bachelor’s of Arts in Economics, and holds a Master’s in Public Policy and Urban Planning from Harvard University’s Kennedy School.
- Director of Real Estate and Economic Planning practice at Pro Forma Advisors
- Senior Associate with AECOM and the former Economics Research Associates
Projects
The Knight Foundation engaged HR&A to evaluate their philanthropic investments in downtown revitalization across nine U.S. cities. Through comprehensive data collection and analysis, HR&A assessed the effectiveness of the Foundation’s priority grants, investigated the sustainability of supported organizations, and identified critical revitalization levers that could be applied to any city. This evaluation provided Knight Foundation with essential insights to guide future investment decisions and promote equitable economic development.
HR&A is working with Sacramento County's Office of Economic Development to create a comprehensive Economic Development Strategic Plan that will guide the County's approach to job retention, business growth, and innovation over the next five years. Our inclusive stakeholder engagement process and analytical framework will inform strategic priorities and implementation approaches for addressing regional economic disparities.
Facing housing affordability pressures, the City of Saint Paul engaged HR&A to develop an anti-displacement and community wealth-building strategy. HR&A provided the City with tools and strategies to mitigate displacement while supporting new development.
Working with Destination Crenshaw, HR&A developed a comprehensive strategic plan that establishes a roadmap for building a global cultural destination celebrating Black Los Angeles while countering displacement pressures. The resulting framework provides clear strategies, initiatives, timelines, and metrics to guide inclusive economic development while preserving the community's rich history and culture.
HR&A supported the Central Valley Community Foundation (CVCF) in its Spring Sprint to prepare a Regional Investment Plan for the Sierra San Joaquin Valley as part of California’s Jobs First initiative. The region, comprised of Fresno, Madera, Tulare, and Kings counties, is expected to generate a disproportionate share of California’s renewable energy needs and required a community benefits framework to ensure that future private investments will benefit local residents and advance equity.
HR&A worked with the City of San José from 2017 through 2021 to negotiate and structure Google's transformative Downtown West development adjacent to San José’s Diridon Station. Through our strategic advisory and direct participation in complex negotiations, we helped secure a groundbreaking $200 million community benefits package and shaped a Development Agreement that has established a new national model for equitable technology campus development, with community advocates calling it "perhaps the strongest community benefits package for a project of its kind anywhere in the country."
HR&A collaborated with LA Metro to develop program and design guidelines for the Transit-Oriented Communities Demonstration Program along the Crenshaw/LAX light rail corridor. Through market analysis, financial feasibility testing, and community engagement, we created comprehensive development guidelines that incorporated community development, economic development, and multi-modal mobility objectives, leading to successful joint development opportunities including a proposal featuring affordable housing, community-serving space, and locally-owned retail.
HR&A partnered with the City of Hayward to conduct a comprehensive housing displacement study that analyzed how rising housing costs were affecting different neighborhoods and populations. Our research provided the City with critical data and insights needed to secure county funding and guide affordable housing development decisions.
HR&A analyzed eviction trends and prevention programs for the San Diego Housing Commission, conducting spatial analysis of eviction data, stakeholder interviews, and best practices research. Our recommendations enabled SDHC to understand local eviction patterns, identify program gaps, and design improved housing stability policies that protect renters from displacement.
HR&A worked with Los Angeles County to review and update the rent increase formula under its Rent Stabilization and Tenant Protections Ordinance following pandemic-era market disruptions. Our comprehensive analysis and stakeholder engagement produced six policy options, with the Board of Supervisors adopting one of our recommendations in June 2024.
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