Monica Lomeli
Dr. Monica Lomeli is a Human Services Administrator with the LA County Commission on Human Relations. She leads the Intergroup Relations First Response Team and is responsible for responding to emerging human relations issues and cultural shifts within the County as well contributing to other priorities of the Commission. In the area of hate crime, Dr. Lomeli serves as the hate crime database manager overseeing the collection and analysis of hate crime reports from law enforcement, community-based organizations, school districts, and universities and colleges. This data is published in the County’s annual Hate Crime Report. In the area of policing, Dr. Lomeli has led efforts in local Sheriff accountability and with research partners to analyze disparities in suburban police department arrest data. She was lead staff author in developing a best practices report for law enforcement in their hate crime outreach and response with community and author of the Commission motion to replace Columbus Day with Indigenous Peoples Day in LA County.
Dr. Lomeli is a public sociologist who was inspired by her students’ questions of “what can we do?” to pursue a career in the public sector where she could ameliorate social problems and improve intergroup relations in LA County. In her dissertation, White Nostalgic Redevelopment: Race, Class, and Gentrification in Downtown Los Angeles, she interviewed and built relationships with old-time Latina/o business owners, indigenous Skid Row residents, and newcomer loft residents, to improve intergroup relations. Dr. Lomeli has taught sociology college courses on Crime and Delinquency, Race and Ethnicity, and Gender.
Dr. Lomeli holds a Ph.D. with an emphasis in Urban Sociology and Racial and Ethnic Relations and an M.A. in Sociology from the University of California, Santa Barbara. She obtained bachelors’ degrees in Anthropology and Behavioral Science from California State University, Dominguez Hills. She is the daughter of Mexican immigrants from Zacatecas and was raised in South Central Los Angeles. She currently lives in the San Gabriel Valley and is an organic gardener who grows much of her own food, and cooks and eats and composts, too.