Jorge Damian de la Paz: Leads county effort in battle for more affordable housing

Jorge Damian de la Paz has a commitment to fight for the improvement of affordable housing in Miami-Dade County. As a senior strategist for government innovation for Mayor Daniella Levine Cava’s administration, he is working on a wide range of affordable housing initiatives, including the Building Blocks Initiative and the upcoming Housing Summit. 

Prior to joining the county, he worked at the University of Miami’s Office of Civic and Community Engagement and created online tools focused on regional housing issues. He also served as a policy analyst at Miami Homes for All, where he managed advocacy efforts at the city and county level.

Mr. de la Paz won the Knight Cities Challenge and created free software that tracks public meetings across cities to increase in-person engagement. The tool received a second Knight grant in 2020 to cover development costs until the end of this year. 

He has participated in the New Leaders Council, Miami Foundation’s Miami Fellows, and Harvard Business School’s Young American Leaders Program. In April he won a Miami Center for Architecture & Design Urban Warrior Award as a Young Urbanist, an accomplishment he is deeply proud of. 

This month, he was selected for the national Fulcrum Fellowship of the Center for Community Investment at the Lincoln Institute of Land Policy for a program focused on community investment, racial equity, and adaptive leadership.

“Housing has been a constant theme throughout my career, from Miami Homes for All to County Hall,” he said. “It’s also been a constant priority throughout the mayor’s work; her ​​entire professional career has been centered on supporting families and tenants dealing with housing issues, and her commitment to this has always resonated with me, personally [and] professionally.” 

Jorge Damian de la Paz spoke with Miami Today reporter Gabriela Henriquez Stoikow. 

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