Dora Leong Gallo

Dora Leong Gallo is the President and Chief Executive Officer of A Community of Friends (ACOF), a nonprofit affordable housing developer whose mission is end homelessness through the provision of quality permanent supportive housing for people with mental illness. In her role, Ms. Gallo is responsible for the execution of ACOF’s strategic priorities and is an advocate for increasing the supply of affordable homes for those most vulnerable. Under her guidance, ACOF’s portfolio has grown 240%, with the agency currently operating 53 supportive housing communities throughout Los Angeles and Orange County, housing over 3,200 people, with recent expansion into Ventura, Riverside and San Bernardino counties.

Prior to joining ACOF, Ms. Gallo worked in local government for 12 years, for the City of Los Angeles in various capacities including six years for a local councilmember, as well as for the Culver City Redevelopment Agency.

Ms. Gallo currently serves on the Boards of Merritt Community Capital and Community Housing Capital. She is a member of the Advisory Board for Building America CDE, and sits on the Affordable Housing Advisory Council for UCLA’s Ziman Center. Ms. Gallo is also a member of the Supportive Housing Alliance, a local advocacy group of supportive housing developers in Los Angeles County. She most recently stepped down as the Board Chair of the National Low Income Housing Coalition after having served 10 years on the Board. Ms. Gallo previously served as Board Chair of the statewide Housing California, was a mayoral appointee to the City of Los Angeles’ Neighborhood Council Review Commission, and on the Board of Directors of the California Housing Finance Agency (CalHFA), Enterprise Community Partners, the MIT Alumni Association, the Asian American Architects & Engineers Association of Southern California (AAa/e), and the Southern California Association of Non-Profit Housing, as well as the Affordable Housing Advisory Council of the Federal Home Loan Bank of San Francisco.

Ms. Gallo received a Masters in City Planning from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and a Bachelor of Science in Public Administration from the University of Southern California.