Donna Tripp

Biography

Donna Tripp has over 25 years of experience in community planning, housing and economic development advocacy, zoning analyses and land use entitlements, and representation of land development projects. As a Partner at land use consulting firm Craig Lawson & Co., LLC (CLC), she and her team have successfully represented and entitled tens of thousands of units of affordable and market-rate housing, dozens of religious and medical institutions and schools, and millions of square feet of commercial and industrial projects throughout the Los Angeles region and beyond. Prior to joining CLC, she served for over a decade as Regional Manager of a land use consulting firm that specializes in Coastal development projects. Before that, as a U.S. Presidential Management Fellow, Donna served as Special Assistant to the Assistant Secretary of Community Planning and Development (CPD) at the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD).  While at HUD, Donna was involved with CPD’s affordable housing, homelessness assistance, community planning and economic development programs and grants. 

Donna is a member of the Urban Land Institute’s (ULI’s) national Transit Oriented Development
(TOD) Product Council. She also currently serves as Chair of the Land Use Committee for the Valley Industry & Commerce Association (VICA), and is a member of Everychild Foundation where she serves on the Grant Screening Board, reviewing, evaluating, and making recommendations on applications for Everychild’s annual million dollar grant. Since February 2025, Donna has served as a Commissioner on the Blue Ribbon Commission on Climate Action and Fire Safe Recovery which was assembled by Los Angeles County Supervisor Lindsey Horvath to provide recommendations to the County and City of Los Angeles on critical redevelopment steps needed post-January 2025 wildfires.

She also previously served on the City of Los Angeles’ Housing Element Update Task Force, a ULI- LA Technical Assistance Panel, and LA Family Housing’s Board of Directors.

She holds a B.A. Degree in Sociology and Government from Georgetown University, a Master of Science degree in Public Policy and Management from Carnegie Mellon University, and a Juris Doctor degree from the University of San Diego.

Since 2020, Donna has been an Adjunct Professor at the University of Southern California (USC), Price School of Public Policy, in the Master of Real Estate Development (MRED) program, where she teaches a course on land use regulations and approvals processes.