by the El Reportero staff
San Francisco civil rights organization La Raza Centro Legal has named Hillary Ronen as its next executive director, marking a return for the former District 9 supervisor to the Mission District nonprofit where she began her legal career.
The group, founded in 1973 during the civil rights and Chicano movements, provides free legal services to immigrant, low-income and working-class communities. Ronen, who is Jewish American, will officially assume the role on August 1, following a competitive search process.
Ronen, a graduate of UC Berkeley School of Law, first worked at La Raza Centro Legal as a young attorney, eventually serving as co-director of its Workers’ Rights Unit. In that role, she represented low-wage immigrant workers in wage theft and labor abuse cases, while also helping shape policy efforts aimed at strengthening worker protections.
She later spent roughly 15 years in public office, including two terms on the San Francisco Board of Supervisors representing the Mission District and surrounding neighborhoods. During her tenure from 2017 to 2024, Ronen became known for championing tenant protections, immigrant rights and affordable housing initiatives.
According to city records and prior reporting, she helped advance policies tied to eviction protections, sanctuary city provisions and workforce standards, as well as efforts that contributed to the development and preservation of thousands of affordable housing units across District 9. She also backed expansions in shelter capacity and worker wage recovery programs.
La Raza Centro Legal’s work spans direct legal representation, community education workshops, and policy advocacy, often assisting clients facing deportation proceedings, unsafe working conditions, eviction threats, or barriers to public benefits and services.
Ronen is fluent in Spanish, a skill developed through years of legal advocacy and public service in the Mission District, allowing her to communicate directly with many of the communities the organization serves. She is married to Francisco Ugarte, an immigration attorney of Chilean descent, reflecting a shared professional focus on immigrant rights.
Her appointment comes at a time when legal service providers across California report rising demand, particularly in immigration defense and housing-related cases. Advocates say ongoing federal immigration enforcement pressures, combined with the Bay Area’s high cost of living, have intensified the need for free legal assistance.
In a statement, Ronen said she sees the role as both a return and a responsibility, citing concerns about immigrant families facing deportation risks and economic displacement. She emphasized the organization’s role in providing direct legal services and advocacy at a time of widening inequality.
As executive director, Ronen will oversee La Raza Centro Legal’s four main program areas: immigration services, deportation defense, workers’ rights and elder and disability law.
Community leaders say her combination of grassroots legal experience and legislative background could help the organization expand its reach and policy influence in the years ahead.
