Zachary Warma

Over the last several years, Zachary Warma has established himself as one of the leading homelessness policy professionals in Los Angeles County. Most recently, Zachary served as the Housing & Homelessness Policy Director for Los Angeles City Councilwoman Katy Yaroslavsky, of the Fifth Council District. In his capacity, Zachary authored over forty pieces of legislation, helping to enact major programmatic reforms pertaining to expediting funding and permitting approvals for publicly-financed affordable housing projects, reducing vacancy and lease-up times in supportive housing units, and the single largest expansion of Domestic Violence (DV) and Survivor Services funding in the city’s history.

Zachary also served as project manager in the creation of two new interim housing facilities in the district — the Village, located in West Los Angeles, and the Meadow at Melrose — totaling 93 new beds for formerly unsheltered adults and Transitional Aged Youth (TAY), respectively. The Village, the culmination of a nearly two and a half year process, was the very first interim housing facility for general population adults to open its doors in the 5th Council district.

Previously, Zachary oversaw policy and legislative affairs for two of the most significant homeless service providers in Los Angeles – the Downtown Women’s Center, where he first engaged with homelessness as a weekly volunteer in DWC’s Day Center for three years, and LA Family Housing. At both organizations, Zachary helped lead major statewide and local victories. In 2022 Zachary co-authored California State Senate Bill (SB) 914, “Homeless Equity for Left Behind Populations (HELP) Act,” to increase support for unhoused domestic violence survivors and other historically overlooked subpopulations and which Governor Newsom signed into law. Zachary also successfully managed the passage of Assembly Bill (AB) 1991, to protect families participating in publicly-funded shelter programs from being “shuffled” in and out of rooms every 29 days and to establish clear guidelines for program exits. Zachary also secured formal recognition for unaccompanied women – who are experiencing homelessness without children or other dependents – from both Los Angeles City and County, and he helped uplift the nexus of homelessness and justice-involvement through the data produced by the annual Greater Los Angeles Homeless Count.

Born in San Diego and a graduate of Stanford University, Zachary has called Los Angeles home for over 12 years. An avid walker, having been car-free since August 2014, Zachary loves planning multi-stop eating itineraries, al pastor trompos, and classic movie palaces.