ESCH staff’s broad and diverse skill sets allow the organization to advocate for affordable housing in the Eastern Sierra region. As a community leader, ESCH has worked on local policy development, Housing Element updates, development agreements, and much more in our mission to support affordable housing initiatives. Affordable housing benefits the local workforce, small businesses, prospective employers, and our community and we are dedicated to spreading this positive message. We thank our Board of Directors, past staff members, and community for their guiding inspiration.
Dana Totman
Interim Executive Director
The Board of Directors selected Dana Totman to serve as the Interim Executive Director from April 22, 2026 through August 31, 2026.
Dana is an affordable housing and nonprofit leader with 40+ years of experience strategically addressing community challenges. He will continue to lead ESCH through our programs and projects, as well as facilitate the selection of a permanent Executive Director.
Leslie Carrillo
Administrative Assistant
Leslie Carrillo joins our team after completing a year-long affordable housing internship in partnership with California Coalition for Rural Housing. She has a degree in Finance from the University of Nevada, Reno. A native of Mammoth Lakes, CA she is passionate about supporting ESCH’s mission and the community she loves.
Jerrett Mendez
Housing Navigator
Jerrett Mendez is a housing professional with a BSBA from Haskell Indian Nations University. He previously served as the Housing Director for the Bridgeport Indian Colony, overseeing HUD homes and programs for Native American families. With Eastern Sierra Community Housing, Jerrett focuses on enhancing programs that help families secure stable housing and access essential resources. He is committed to teamwork and expanding access to housing services that promote long-term stability and well-being.
Russell Villa
Housing Navigator
Russell Villa is our newest team member and brings a variety of skills to our work including customer service and property management.
Jose Diaz
Property Manager
Jose brings high standards, attention to detail, and a strong commitment to tenant satisfaction.
Previous Rural Housing Interns
Recruiting and training qualified community development professionals to work in the housing field in rural California is a role that we take seriously. We strive to hire local community members that are passionate about learning and serving their communities through supportive services, affordable and workforce housing development, homeownership programs, and more. Our partnership with California Coalition for Rural Housing helps make these paid internships possible.
Leslie Carrillo
2025-2026 Rural West Intern, Program and Project Associate
Leslie Carrillo Hernandez was our 2025-2026 Inter. She was born and raised in Mammoth Lakes and graduated from the University of Nevada, Reno with a degree in Finance. One of her many achievements as an intern was leading the lease-up of our newest construction project.
Erik Guzman-Rangel
2021-2022 Rural West Intern, Program and Project Associate
Erik Guzman-Rangel served as the Program and Project Associate after successfully completing a year-long internship through a partnership with the California Coalition for Rural Housing. Erik is a first-generation college student and holds a degree from Humboldt State University in Environmental Science and Management with a focus on Policy and Planning as well as a minor in Natural Resource Recreation. Erik’s interest in natural resource recreation, policy and planning, and affordable housing brought him to the public sector. Erik worked on our First-Time Homebuyer programs, assisted with land and property acquisition, and participated in affordable housing development meetings with architects and property managers. Erik is bilingual in Spanish and English.
Eduardo Bribiesca
2020-2021 Rural West Intern
Eduardo is a first-generation college student attending Cerro Coso studying construction management. He is majoring in mathematics and is currently taking math courses this summer. He is looking forward to becoming part of affordable housing developments as a way to invest in myself and combine affordable housing knowledge with the physical aspect of a development. He hopes to play a prominent role in rural affordable housing developments across the state.
Jake Castro
2019-2020 Rural West Intern
Jake Castro is our Rural West Intern for the 2019-2020 program year, through a partnership with the California Coalition for Rural Housing. He is a first-generation college student currently studying Liberal Arts: Math & Science at Cerro Coso Community College, pursuing a career in civil engineering. Civil engineering and affordable housing are particularly interesting to him because he is drawn to service and assisting others to achieve economic opportunity. He is taking classes over the summer and hopes to graduate from Cerro Coso Community College in December of 2020. He will be working at Eastern Sierra Community Housing part-time throughout the program year, learning valuable skills in community lending, asset management, and affordable housing development. In addition, as part of the program he will attend an intensive training at UC Davis as well as professional conferences.
