Keynote Speaker

Rochelle mills

President and CEO of Innovative Housing Opportunities (IHO)

A NATIONAL LEADER WITH LOCAL INFLUENCE

As Rochelle Mills is President and CEO of Innovative Housing Opportunities (IHO), she is responsible for implementing the nonprofit’s vision and expanding its portfolio of high-quality affordable housing. Since joining IHO, she has helped multiply the organization's assets and footprint from a single-asset entity to an award-winning developer with projects throughout Southern California. She has guided the organization to living its values and positioned IHO's small and culturally diverse team to compete, and win, with peers many times their size and balance sheet. Prior to joining IHO, she and her husband founded mills studio, where their high-end designs were featured on FineLiving, Homes Across America, and national print media. Ms. Mills also founded architours, a boutique art and architecture tour, and symposia company that was recognized internationally. She was an Extension instructor at UCLA and Otis College of Art & Design, editor of LA Architect magazine, and a proud graduate of Crenshaw High School. Ms. Mills believes her diverse background which includes architecture, construction administration, cultural tourism, and creative placemaking, has uniquely prepared her to lead this organization at this moment. She served two terms on the South Los Angeles Area Planning Commission and the Crenshaw Community Design Review Board. Past leadership roles include the California Cultural Tourism Advisory Committee, the Kennedy Commission, the SoCal Chapter of the National Organization of Minority Architects, the Association of Women in Architecture (now AWA+D), and Southern California Association of NonProfit Housing (SCANPH). She currently serves on the boards of the California Association of Local Housing Finance Agencies (Cal-ALHFA), Housing California, Arts for LA, and is a founding member of the Black Developers Forum. Ms. Mills was recognized on the California State Senate floor for her work in affordable housing and received awards as one of Congressman Lou Correa’s 2020 Women of the Year, CREW OC 2019 Spire Top Woman in CRE, and a Bisnow 2022 SoCal Power Woman.