Joshua Baum, Founder & CEO
Joshua Baum is a highly respected urban planner with extensive experience analyzing residential and commercial real estate markets, researching climate action strategies, developing economic and workforce development plans, and organizing successful political campaigns. He has made appearances on KPCC (SCPR) 89.3 FM and has been published by Planetizen, the Abundant Housing LA Blog, the Daily Bruin, and Ha'am Jewish Newsmagazine.
Before founding Hilgard Analytics, Joshua worked as a Research Associate at one of California's most prestigious economic research consulting firms. While attending graduate school, he participated in multiple fellowships such as the Summer Associate program at the Southern California Association of Governments and the Graduate Student Researcher program at the UCLA Lewis Center for Regional Policy Studies. Additionally, Joshua worked on several local politicial campaigns in Orange County during the 2016 election cycle.
Joshua received a BA in Political Science from UCLA and a M.A. in Urban Planning from the UCLA Luskin School of Public Affairs. He can be followed on Twitter @JoshuaBaum93.
Noreen Ahmed, Economic & Workforce Development Advisor
Noreen Ahmed, a recent graduate of UCLA's Master of Public Policy (MPP) program, is driven to enhance employers' ability to effectively onboard vulnerable populations and meet their unmet social needs. She is a proud Peace Corps alum, who served in Mali, West Africa on their small business outreach team. Noreen is also a two-term AmeriCorps VISTA alum and a former case manager/college counselor for low-income young adults in a pre-apprenticeship and GED program called YouthBuild in Denver, CO. She completed her Bachelor of Science in public relations at Boston University.
Noreen established LA as home due to its prolific diversity and intersections in social justice, policy, arts, and technology; areas, that when in alignment, she believes have the power to uplift the most disenfranchised community members into high-level leadership. She currently co-chairs North Westwood Neighborhood Council's Community Health and Homelessness Committee and Budget Committee.
David Rosen, Residential & Commercial Real Estate Markets Advisor
David Rosen has a proven track record of success in the real estate and automotive industries and currently works full-time at Mazda (North America) as a Senior Analyst in the CPO Repurchase Promotions Department. At Mazda, has has become a leader in terms of providing excellent customer service, advising management on various regulatory issues, and vehicle lifecycle management.
David is also the Founding Partner of a real estate investment company specializing in repositioning distressed assets in walkable communities that exist in America's most underinvested in neighborhoods. He has a lifelong desire to make the cities we live in more equitable and prosperous and has the ability to generate unique insights from his background in data analytics and knowledge of architecture and urban planning.
He holds a Bachelor's Degree in Finance from California State University, Fullerton and an MBA from the UCLA Anderson School of Management.
Yasmin Akhtar, Geographic Informational Systems Advisor
Yasmin Akhtar is an urban planning and transit enthusiast, particularly focused on the intersection of spatial science and affordability of city life. She is fascinated with the aesthetics of cities and how the built landscape can transform the lives of those within it.
Yasmin has worked within the ESRI suite, particularly ArcGIS Pro, to complete several site suitability analyses, in order to determine the best locations of potential services to fulfill the various needs of communities in the greater Los Angeles area. Yasmin is knowledgeable in geodatabase management, geoprocessing, and creating ArcGIS story maps. She has experience in research and communication studies, particularly in writing reports on nearby developments and compiling US Census data in order to complete demographic analyses.
Yasmin is currently pursuing a GeoDesign degree at the University of Southern California, and in her free time she likes to watch movies and write.