Nicole Montojo is a Housing Research Analyst for the Othering & Belonging Institute. As part of the California Community Partnerships team, she supports collaborative research projects that examine the legacy of exclusionary housing policies and explore ways of transforming existing housing systems and frameworks that perpetuate racial and economic injustice.
Nicole has experience in policy analysis, qualitative and quantitative research, grassroots advocacy, and organizational capacity building via the philanthropic sector. Her past research has focused on displacement and gentrification, equitable planning and governance, affordable housing policy, and structural inequalities in public finance and law enforcement systems that shape the experiences of marginalized communities.
Originally from Southern California, Nicole traces her inspiration and roots in social justice work back to the community of grassroots organizations within LA’s movements for immigrant rights and racial justice that have shaped her path. She holds a master’s degree in City Planning from UC Berkeley and a bachelor’s degree in Sociology and Urban Studies from Scripps College.
