Marisa Raya has 16 years of California public sector experience creating and implementing economic equity and sustainability goals, programs and accountability measures. She managed the City of Oakland's Economic Recovery Advisory Council, the City’s 2021 Equitable Economic Recovery Plan and its 2018-2020 Economic Development Strategy. As a Regional Planner at the Association of Bay Area Governments, she led the creation of anti-displacement goals, measures and policies in the region’s first 40-year land use and transportation plan, Plan Bay Area.  Her policy background is in equitable access to business resources, capital, land, and housing.

Marisa earned a Masters degree in Spatial Planning from the Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm, Sweden, an accelerated BA in Anthropology from Columbia University, and is currently a doctoral student in the UC Davis Geography program, pursuing a Designated Emphasis in Native American Studies and African American and African Studies. She lectures in Urban, Rural and Regional Planning at Stanford University.