2026 Coordinators, Speakers and Performing Artists

  • This year's Congress of Neighborhoods will be an incredible event

    thanks to our amazing coordinators, presenters, and speakers.

    Don't miss out—make sure to register

    and be part of this special day of community and collaboration!

    Register here!

People Behind the Scenes

  • Elaine Alaniz serves as President of the Westlake North Neighborhood Council and is a member of the 2026 Congress Planning Committee. A longtime community advocate, she has served on the Los Angeles Mayor’s Crisis Response Team since 2015 and works as a Public Affairs Specialist with the U.S. Small Business Administration’s Office of Disaster Recovery and Resilience. Her background also includes workforce investment and healthcare workforce development. Elaine is passionate about public safety, civic engagement, and building stronger communities, and she is also a devoted animal lover.

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  • Aurora Corona is the 2025–2026 Production Chair for the Congress of Neighborhoods, President of the Friends of the Pico Union Library, a Boardmember of the Los Angeles Neighborhood Council Sustainability Alliance, and Co‑Chair of the Rampart Community Police Advisory Board. Her work spans communities across Los Angeles, with a particular focus on Pico Union, Westlake, and MacArthur Park — the neighborhoods where she grew up and continues to invest deeply in community empowerment, sustainability, and public safety.

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  • Angel Song is a senior at Harvard-Westlake School and founder and executive director of Civicate Youth, a nonprofit teaching teens they can run for Los Angeles Neighborhood Council youth seats at 14 and vote in Neighborhood Council elections at 16. She has served as the youth representative on the Greater Valley Glen Neighborhood Council since 2024, and sits on the Congress of Neighborhoods Planning Committee. She returns as a presenter for the second consecutive year and will also emcee this year's lunch session. Outside of civic spaces, Angel serves as speech team president, edits for the Harvard-Westlake Chronicle, and is a leader of the Ethics Bowl team. 

  • Meet Mihran, an expert Aerospace Engineer and a dedicated community representative!

    With a passion for integrating technical, procedural, and organizational changes into council operations, Mihran brings a wealth of experience in representing large communities and deepening civic engagement with LA City policies and ordinances.

    He also serves as President of the Winnetka Neighborhood Council.  

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  • Kay Hartman has served on the Palms Neighborhood Council, including as current President, previous Treasurer, and previous Area Representative, since 2019; the Congress of Neighborhoods Planning Committee, including as previous Vice Chair and previous Workshops Subcommittee Chair, since 2020; the Neighborhood Council Budget Advocates, including as current Parliamentarian, previous Co Chair, and previous Vice Chair of Outreach, since 2021. She has a degree in Mathematics from California State University, Long Beach and worked in various positions in software development in her 42 year career.

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Speakers and Presenters

  • Interim General Manager of the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power, the nation’s largest publicly owned water and power utility. He was appointed to this position in March 2026, following a unanimous vote by the Los Angeles Board of Water and Power Commissioners. He leads the organization of nearly 12,000 employees, delivering water and power to the approximately four million residents of Los Angeles.

  • President of the Board of Public Works for the City of Los Angeles and also the Chief Film Liaison.

  • Assistant Head Deputy of Organized Crime Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office

  • Executive Director, Los Angeles Neighborhood Council Sustainability Alliance

  • 1st Vice President, Historic Highland Park Neighborhood Council

  • Chair, Panorama Neighborhood Council

  • Office of the City Clerk, Neighborhood Council Election and Funding Division

  • Board Member, Mar Vista Neighborhood Council

  • President, Palms Neighborhood Council

  • Civicate Youth (501(c)(3) nonprofit; Youth Representative, Greater Valley Glen Neighborhood Council; 2026 LA Congress of Neighborhoods Planning Committee Member



  • Charles Miller has two decades of environmental advocacy. A certified California native plant and wildfire defense landscaper and LEED Green Associate, Miller serves on USGBC-LA’s Urban Landscaping Committee and USGBC’s national Advocacy Working Group. His training includes a sustainability education from UCLA and Zero Waste training from the California Resource Recovery Association. He created the advocacy organization, LA Native, which promotes biodiversity through native landscaping on behalf of over 30 stakeholder groups. Currently, Miller is an Environment / Habitat / Natural Resources representative on the LA County Metro Sustainability Council and serves on the Board of Directors of Westwood Greenway, is chair of the Los Angeles Climate Reality Project, and actively participates with the LA Community Forest Advisory Committee. He has served several elected terms with the Palms Neighborhood Council where he founded the Green Committee and has chaired both the Green and Transportation Committees. 

  • Susanne Kluh is the General Manager of the Greater Los Angeles County Vector Control District, the largest of five vector control agencies in Los Angeles County. Over her 27 years of public service, she has helped lead the agency in various capacities through West Nile virus outbreaks and the introduction of invasive Aedes mosquitoes, while promoting science-based mosquito control strategies locally, regionally, and statewide

  • General Manager, Department of Neighborhood Empowerment

  • LADWP Director of Strategic Initiative

  • Specialized Prosecutions Director Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office

  • Greater Los Angeles County Vector Control District

  • Board Member, Central San Pedro Neighborhood Council

  • Traffic & Transportation Committee Chair and Government Affairs Committee Member, Sherman Oaks Neighborhood Council; Former Council Member.

  • Secretary, Historic Cultural North Neighborhood Council

  • Youth Representative, Sun Valley Area Neighborhood Council

  • LA City Office of Public Accountability / Ratepayer Advocate

  • Atwater Village Neighborhood Council

  • Siyamak Khorrami has been the general manager and chief editor of the Southern California edition of The Epoch Times since 2017. He is also the host of the “California Insider” show, which showcases leaders and professionals across the state with inside information about trending topics and critical issues in California.

  • Reynold Hoover is the CEO of LA28, the Organizing Committee for the 2028 Olympic and Paralympic Games in Los Angeles. He oversees the planning, delivery and execution of the Games and was appointed to the role in June of 2024.

    Before joining LA28, Hoover served in senior civilian leadership roles across the U.S. federal government and spent more than 35 years in the U.S. military, culminating in service as a three-star Lieutenant General. Throughout his career, he led some of the most complex logistics and operational missions ever undertaken, earning the Department of Defense’s highest non-combat award. That experience—building teams, operating at scale and delivering under pressure—directly informs how he is preparing for the 2028 Games in Los Angeles.

    Hoover graduated from the United States Military Academy at West Point and holds master’s degrees in Public and Private Management from Birmingham Southern College, and in Strategic Studies from the U.S. Army War College. He received his law degree from The Catholic University of America’s Columbus School of Law.

  • Treasurer, Winnetka Neighborhood Council

  • LADWP Director of Water Engineering and Technical Services

  • LASAN Assistant Division Manager

  • Greater Los Angeles County Vector Control District

  • President, Eagle Rock Neighborhood Council

  • President, Central Hollywood Neighborhood Council, Pico Union Neighborhood Council Board Member

    Chair, 2025 & 2026 Congress of Neighborhoods

  • Executive Member, Valley Alliance of Neighborhood Councils; Treasurer, Los Angeles Neighborhood Council Coalition, Co-Chair, Neighborhood Council Budget Advocates

  • Public Democracy Los Angeles (PDLA)

  • President, United Neighborhoods Neighborhood Council

  • Angelica Center for Arts and Music (ACAM), an after school and summer arts education program, provides classes in dance, music, theatre, and computer art, at no charge for underserved youth in the Greater Pico Union Neighborhood of Los Angeles. Instruments are loaned to music students free of charge. ACAM serves at risk youth in collaboration with Angelica Lutheran Church, Hope Street Family Center-Margolis Center, and Magnolia Family Center.

  • Global Arts unlocks opportunities for underserved youth through high-quality music education, leadership development, and a nurturing, community-centered network of support. Founded in 2019 by music educators Emily Kubitskey and Jackie DesRosier. Global Arts provides no cost, year round music education for youths in grades 3-12 in the Pico Union area of Los Angeles.

  • Halo Halo Boyz is a Los Angeles DJ crew of four biracial artists of Asian descent. Named after the Filipino dessert halo‑halo (“mix‑mix”), their style blends genres and influences with the same playful spirit. They’re known for their annual Prince parties and have DJ’ed private events, weddings, fundraisers, quinceañeras, and house parties. Their work includes major community and advocacy events such as CicLAvia, LA Forward, Yes on Measure J and Measure ULA, Homeboy Industries, Liberty Hill Foundation, and United Way, as well as nightlife sets at Apothéke, The Stowaway, The Airliner, Verdugo Bar, Shim Sham, Zebulon Café, and Soho Warehouse.

  • Aso known as Mike the PoeT is a Poet, educator, journalist and LA historian Mike Sonksen, grew up in the Los Angeles poetry community. He’s read poems at the Getty Center and City Lights Books and enjoys hosting events with his students across Los Angeles, especially in Pico Union.

    Mike’s poem “We Are Still Alive in Los Angeles” maps Los Angeles. Following the recent fires in Los Angeles, Mike started thinking about how “We” support each other in community and how important it is for us to remember each other. We are still alive in Los Angeles and contrary to popular belief, there’s deep fellowship in LA that isn’t talked about enough. This poem celebrates the city & our beloved community.

  • Stacey Segarra-Bohlinger is a city employee and community advocate. She served as Secretary on the Sherman Oaks Neighborhood Council from 2021 to 2025. She's passionate about government transparency, accountability, and freedom of speech. She is thrilled to be performing at Congress of Neighborhoods for a 3rd year in a row. 

    Performing her original song composed for this year’s Congress of Neighborhoods, “From Challenge to Change”

Performing Artists