Housing Is A Human Right Team

Susie Shannon, Policy Director

Susie has worked with unhoused and low-income communities since 2005. Having previously been unhoused herself, she advocates for unhoused and low-income communities through rent control policy, preserving public housing, fighting for new housing to be prioritized for the unhoused, and promoting adaptive reuse and prefabricated modular buildings for the unhoused.

Mary Ann Cellini, Specialist/National Coalition for the Homeless L.A. Field Office

Mary runs the Los Angeles field office of the National Coalition for the Homeless in partnership with Housing Is A Human Right. She also analyzes geographic and county public information for data-specific projects. Mary has a background in design, project management, and advocacy work.

Miki Jackson, Strategist

Miki is a veteran of AIDS Healthcare Foundation, Housing Is A Human Right's parent organization. For HHR, she works on strategy for advocacy and policy, and handles historic preservation issues. Years ago, Miki founded a nonprofit that provides services to house-ridden people living with HIV/AIDS. She has also been involved in land-use and housing policies on the community level for decades.

Patrick Range McDonald, Advocacy Journalist

Patrick is an award-winning investigative journalist and best-selling author. As a longtime staff writer at L.A. Weekly, he won the "Journalist of the Year" award from the Los Angeles Press Club and the national "Public Service" award from the Association of Alternative Newsmedia. For his current work at Housing Is A Human Right, he earned the "Best Activism Journalism" award from the L.A. Press Club. Patrick has been working for the organization since its founding in 2017.

Betty Toto, Policy Advocate & Organizer

Betty brings years of experience in advocacy and community organizing to the Housing Is A Human Right team. She uses collaboration skills, community relationships, and strategic planning to advocate for the passage of rent control policy, the prioritization of housing for low-income and unhoused residents, including new housing; and the utilization of the adaptive reuse of existing buildings for more affordable and homeless housing.