Sara Pezeshkpour, Esq. is a disability rights attorney and currently serves as DCRC’s President of the Board of Directors.
Sara was first introduced to DCRC (then known as the Westside Center for Independent Living) as a young attorney working at the Housing Rights Center (HRC), a nonprofit organization dedicated to eradicating housing discrimination in Los Angeles. At HRC, Sara represented disabled tenants in housing discrimination cases. Her goal was to preserve housing options for people with disabilities at the start of Los Angeles’s unprecedented housing crisis. At HRC, Sara learned of the Westside Center for Independent Living (WCIL) and the programs it offers to people with disabilities. Sara quickly reached out to WCIL’s staff and established a connection, and routinely referred her clients to WCIL to take advantage of its services.
Since 2011, Sara has been an attorney at Metz & Harrison, where she has litigated hundreds of cases involving the rights of persons with disabilities to full and equal access in housing, education, government services, and social and economic realms. Despite her litigation background, Sara strongly believes that non-legal advocacy is a key ingredient to advancing the rights of persons with disabilities, and because of DCRC’s proven record of delivering excellent results, she is devoted to ensuring it is the best organization it can be.
Sara graduated from UC Berkeley in 2004 with majors in sociology and psychology. As an undergraduate student, Sara volunteered with the Homeless Action Center, where she helped persons with severe and persistent mental illness experiencing homelessness to obtain public benefits and housing. Sara moved to Los Angeles in 2005 to begin law school, and always hoped that she would find a new home in an organization passionate about disability rights.
In 2008, Sara graduated from UCLA Law School and its David J. Epstein Program in Public Interest Law and Policy, and before graduating, was awarded an Equal Justice Works legal fellowship to represent and advance the rights of tenants with disabilities as a new lawyer. Upon learning about DCRC, she quickly knew she wanted to be involved in DCRC beyond just referring clients. When Sara was approved to fill a vacant Board position, she was ecstatic to be able to work with DCRC to continue to fulfill its important mission and to grow the organization in new and exciting ways. As a member of its Board of Directors and now its President, Sara has witnessed first-hand how effective advocacy, tenacity, and a devoted staff can change the lives of some of society’s most marginalized individuals, and she feels lucky to be able to play a small role in this incredibly important organization.
