California Coalition for Rural Housing Announces Selection of Alicia Sebastian as Executive Director
The California Coalition for Rural Housing (CCRH) Board of Directors is pleased to announce the selection of Alicia Sebastian as our next Executive Director. Alicia brings strong rural housing subject matter expertise, extensive involvement in policy and advocacy, a profound commitment to racial equity, internal and external leadership experience, and in-depth knowledge of CCRH and our partners to the position.
“Alicia has a lifelong personal and professional commitment and vision for improving housing conditions in rural communities. She grew up in rural foothills between the San Joaquin Valley and Yosemite National Park, gaining firsthand appreciation of how stable housing changes people’s lives. Stakeholders living and working in rural California communities know and respect Alicia. The Board and I are confident that CCRH will continue to thrive and grow under Alicia’s leadership”, said Tom Collishaw, CCRH Board Chair and CEO of Self-Help Enterprises.
Alicia knows CCRH well from her six years of service to the organization from 2015 to 2021, as attaining the level of Associate Director. Most recently she served as Assistant Deputy Director of the Division of Federal Financial Assistance for the California Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD), where she spearheaded efforts to increase equity for rural communities, built strong relationships with tribal governments, and created a rural and racial equity-focused internship and fellows program that was modeled after CCRH’s highly successful program.
Alicia calls leading CCRH her “dream job” adding “There has never been a more critical time for rural California to have a voice in shaping California’s housing solution. I am humbled by this opportunity to continue my service to California’s rural, agricultural, and Tribal communities in this role with CCRH. It is an absolute dream to work with the support of the most dedicated Board of Directors, the wildly talented and deeply committed staff, and alongside CCRH’s legacy of partners.”
CCRH, which grew from 5 to 16 staffers in the last 5 years, is poised to continue to grow and expand our already significant influence.
Rob Wiener has ably led CCRH since our founding 43 years ago. Rob has voiced his enthusiasm for Alicia’s selection calling Alicia “an excellent choice, who will be a great steward of CCRH for the future.” Alicia’s first day is January 16th. She can be reached at alicia@calruralhousing.org.