Our Board

Lauren joined Burbank Housing in 2017 as the Director of Resident Services and was charged with developing a now thriving department. In this role she leads a resident services team responsible for the delivery of programs and services that support the housing stability and wellbeing of Burbank Housing’s 3500+ residents.

Lauren’s past experience developing and evaluating programs as well as the strong working relationships she has with many of our County’s leading service agencies, has been in an invaluable contribution to the organization. Her knowledge and awareness of theories including Social Determinants of Health and Equity Gaps combined with a passion for improving systems at the upstream level has deepened the understanding of the importance of the resident services department as well as led to a deeper impact among those served. Most recently, Lauren has taken a leadership role in equipping Burbank Housing, and the broader community, with how to best implement Housing First practices within the complexities of operationalizing Permanent Supportive Housing.

At Burbank Housing, Lauren chairs the Board of Directors sub-committee focusing on Community Engagement & Advocacy. Externally, Lauren is on the Non-Profit Housing “Best Practices in Permanent Supportive Housing” coalition, and was recently appointed to the Sonoma County Coordinated Entry Advisory Committee as well as the Sonoma County Coordinated Entry’s (CE) Assessment and Prioritization Redesign Working Group. Locally, she is a graduate of the Santa Rosa Metro Chamber’s Leadership Santa Rosa Program. She is a Sonoma County native who earned her BA in Human Services from Northeastern University in Boston, Massachusetts. Currently, she is pursuing a Graduate Degree in Organizational Leadership with a focus on Innovation and Change from the University of Pacific. Most significantly, Lauren brings a passion for making Sonoma County a thriving community for all of its residents.

Harman Singh Dhillon was born and raised in Punjab, and migrated to the U.S with his dad at the age of 8. After settling, he grew up in Santa Rosa. Harman attended Cardinal Newman High school and got his bachelor’s in business accounting from the University of Francisco. After graduating, he quickly started taking leadership in their family business, and through that, he has found a passion for impacting people positively every day. Growing up in Sonoma County, Harman noticed the urgent need to support families in our city’s housing crisis. Being in local businessman, Harman knows how tough it is to find staffing. One the main reasons for that is, housing.

When Harman isn’t at work, you will likely find him playing basketball and spending time with the people he loves.

Born in India, Joti came to the U.S. with his family in 2000 and is the 2nd of four children. He obtained his degree in finance from Sonoma State University. Today Joti is the COO and Sr. Vice President of Chandi Hospitality Group. As such he spends his time overseeing and developing all Chandi Hospitality Group’s projects. His motto is “Don’t run behind success. Run behind excellence. Success will come.”

Joti is deeply rooted in the Sonoma County community and has served on several nonprofit boards, including four years on the Wednesday Night Market Board of Directors. He was also the recipient of the Under Forty Award in 2017. When Joti is not working, he is biking or spending time with his children.

Peter Rumble serves as CEO of the Santa Rosa Metro Chamber. Peter brings a breadth of experience in the public and private sectors to his leadership on critical issues such as housing, workforce development, advocacy, tourism promotion, and downtown revitalization. Peter’s team has expanded the organization’s career development programs in local schools, launched an employer-sponsored child care initiative, established an employers housing council to invest in workforce housing, and created new programs to support small business growth in Sonoma County.

As vice president of industry relations for the Napa Valley Vintners, Rex Stults oversees the association’s work on wine industry issues, from protecting the Napa Valley name worldwide to furthering the region’s commitment to the preservation of agriculture.

Rex was CEO of the St. Helena Chamber of Commerce before joining the NVV in 2006. He is highly active in the community, including serving on the City of Napa Parks and Recreation Commission and the boards of Free the Grapes! and Friends of the Napa River.

Rex is a graduate of Washington State University.

The Diaz family of Sonoma County traces its roots to the small town of Santa Gertrudis, in the state of Oaxaca. Mexico. Octavio Diaz. The oldest of the seven siblings, moved from Oaxaca to Rohnert Park at age thirteen to live with aunt and uncle to study English. With a love for cooking instilled by his mother, his job in Rohnert Park hotel restaurant helped him find his passion for the food & beverage business and the culinary arts.

Today, the family enterprises now include 6 food-related businesses including the Two Agaves one in Healdsburg and second in Oakland Agave Uptown, El Gallo Negro in Windsor, Casa De Mole in Healdsburg and Mitote Food Park in the heart of Roseland in Santa Rosa.

Many of Octavio Diaz immediate family members have also immigrated to Sonoma County, making their success a family affair. Between the market and the five restaurants, the Diaz family employs more the 150 people in Sonoma County and 42 people in Oakland.
This family has provided a powerful example of success though hard work, family solidarity, and outreach to the community. The family maintains a continuing connection with Santa Gertrudis, a community with high levels of poverty and illiteracy. The Diaz family finds meaningful ways to give back to both of its communities: Sonoma County. Oakland and their hometown of Santa Gertrudis in Mexico.

The opportunity to open a second location of Notre Mere Inc, DBA: Mitote Food Park 2, is to serve a diversity of clientele, a multi-purpose community hub and outdoor dinning experience for social impact provides the Diaz family with the opportunity to continue to build their tradition of combining culinary innovation, building bridges of the community by donating food to community events, backing local fundraising effort, and creating incentives for its customers to engage with Mitote Food Park in the support of community for social impact.

The Diaz family has lived in Sonoma County for three decades operating for successful businesses: Agave Healdsburg, Agave Uptown Oakland, Casa De Mole, Healdsburg, El Gallo Negro, Windsor, El Falorito in Healdsburg, Mitote Food Park in Roseland. Each of these operations is on sound financial footing and operating successfully in the black.

The Diaz family will apply the same business acumen and “can-do” spirit to scale up the success of Mitote Food Park 2 at pier 30-32 in San Francisco.

Mitote means two things the place where you talk BS or the place where ideas are created to make them reality. The Nahuatl people in Mexico danced around fires to sing and dance in a circle to come up with better ideas or share best practices.