executive director of the Leadership for Urban Renewal Network, which advocates on behalf of street vendors

Rudy Espinoza is an urban planner with a passion for neighborhoods, entrepreneurism, and financial empowerment. He specializes in identifying profitable investment opportunities in low-income communities, researching the informal economy and its innovative entrepreneurs, building private/nonprofit partnerships, and training the working poor to participate in the socio-economic revitalization of their neighborhoods. Rudy has worked at Emerging Markets Inc. and the AARP Foundation where he used his skills to design and manage place-based initiatives with financial institutions, foundations and regional non-profits. Most recently he was a Senior Program Officer at Senior Program Officer at Community Financial Resource Center (CFRC), a Community Development Financial Institution in South Los Angeles where he provided micro-loans and business assistance to street vendors and other informal entrepreneurs. He is currently the Executive Director of Leadership for Urban Renewal Network (LURN) a community development nonprofit dedicated to building sustainable communities through advocacy, research and creative economic development. He serves on the Human Relations Commission of the City of Los Angeles, as an Advisory Board Member for the Los Angeles Development Fund, and is a member of the Los Angeles Food Policy Council. Rudy holds degrees in Business Administration and Urban Planning.