Staff & Board

Shashi K. Hanuman joined PILP as its Executive Director in May 2022. She leads a dedicated team of impact litigators, policy advocates, and trainers committed to advancing housing justice, protecting public benefits, preventing homelessness, and upholding civil rights for low-income communities across California.

Prior to joining PILP, she spent over two decades at Public Counsel, where she rose from Staff Attorney to Directing Attorney of the Community Development Project. There, she led enforcement and legislative efforts on land use, tenant protections, and affordable housing laws—including the State Housing Element Law and Housing Accountability Act—while partnering closely with nonprofit affordable housing developers, health care clinics, and tenant organizers to support the development of supportive housing, enforce tenant protections, and expand the legal and economic resources for small businesses.

Shashi has co-authored several publications, including: "Race, Place, and Housing in Los Angeles," 29 J. Affordable Hous. & Cmty. Dev. L. 449 (2021); "Local Zoning Best Practices for Shelter, Transitional and Supportive Housing” (Oct. 2017); and "Getting There Together: Tools to Advocate for Inclusive Development Near Transit," 21 J. Affordable Hous. & Cmty. Dev. L. 1 (2012).

Shashi currently serves on the Boards of Directors of Housing California and the Legal Aid Association of California. She previously served on the boards of the Coalition for Responsible Community Development, the Southern California Association of Nonprofit Housing, the Union Bank Community Advisory Board, and the Little Tokyo Service Center, and is a former commissioner for the Los Angeles City Affordable Housing Commission. Ms. Hanuman earned her Juris Doctor from Georgetown University Law Center and a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science with a minor in Business from the University of California at Los Angeles. Earlier in her career, she was an associate at Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher.

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