Hispanic Lifestyle is pleased to recognize Heidi Marshall, Director of Riverside County’s Housing, Homelessness Prevention and Workforce Solutions Department (HHPWS) as a 2021 Latina of Influence. Annually Hispanic Lifestyle acknowledges the achievements of Latinas who make a difference in our community.

Heidi Marshall was recently appointed Director of Riverside County’s Housing, Homelessness Prevention and Workforce Solutions Department (HHPWS) where she leads the County’s response to homelessness, the current affordable housing crisis and poverty. HHPWS was launched in March 2020 at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic and has played an instrumental role in the County’s community response. Under Ms. Marshall’s leadership, the new department has managed $52 million in CARES funding and launched 10 new programs to assist homeless residents, struggling renters, farmworkers, unemployed youth and adults and students. Additionally, Ms. Marshall is directly overseeing the deployment of $150 million in federal and state rental assistance within Riverside County and preparing the Workforce Division to play a pivotal role in our local economic recovery efforts.

Prior to her appointment, Ms. Marshall served as Managing Director for the Riverside County Economic Development Agency which included oversight of 22 divisions, 900 employees and an annual budget of $300 million. In her role as Managing Director, she made significant contributions to regional economic development and worked to advance to the local small business climate. These contributions include:

• Establishing three Business Centers which provide one-stop, concierge assistance to new and expanding businesses;
• Expanding relationships with the Small Business Administration which led to the siting of two Small Business Development Centers in Riverside County which includes the EPIC SBDC, a partnership with the University of California, Riverside focused on technology transfer and commercialization;
• Launching new and innovative entrepreneur programs, Emprendedores and Cocineros, focused on the unique needs of Latino business owners;
• Utilizing the Riverside County Office of Foreign Trade to strengthen business relationships with Mexico with the goal of increasing local exports and investment in the region;
• Fostering innovation through the creation of Riverside County’s Innovation Month and the expansion of the ExCITE incubator, a joint project of UCR, Riverside County and the City of Riverside;
• Executing large scale business attraction campaigns including the successful effort to relocate the California Air Resources Board (CARB) state-of-the-art Southern California headquarters to Riverside;

Specific performance metrics achieved during Ms. Marshall’s leadership include:

• $330 million in capital investment and the creation of 942 jobs through business attraction and expansion efforts;
• $29.5 million in capital investment and 964 jobs resulting from Foreign Direct Investment projects initiated by the Office of Foreign Trade;
• Over 1,000 entrepreneurs trained; and
• Over 160 small business starts which included access to over $23 million in capital and the creation of 423 jobs.

Ms. Marshall holds a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science from California State University, Los Angeles and a Master of Science in Public Administration from California State University, San Bernardino. She has served on the Program Advisory Board of the Department of Public Administration and as was an Adjunct Professor at California State University, San Bernardino.

Ms. Marshall was born in Honduras and lived there until the age of 10. She and her family currently reside in the City of Riverside.