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Disabled Access Appeals Commissioners

Commission Members

Harper Halprin
Harper Halprin
President

Commissioner Harper Halprin became a member of the Disabled Access Appeals Commission in August 2021. Ms. Halprin graduated from the University of Southern California with a Bachelor of Architecture in 2008. In 2015, she founded her private architectural practice and has had the pleasure of designing many residential and commercial projects across the country. She has played key roles in managing high-end projects for private clients and thoroughly enjoys being able to assist clients in bringing their projects to life.

Commissioner Alexa Vaughn
Alexa Vaughn
Vice President

Commissioner Vaughn is a landscape designer and accessibility specialist at Sasaki, PhD candidate and educator at UCLA, and founder of Design with Disabled People Now. As a late-Deafened woman who grew up without access to sign language and joined the Deaf community later in life, she is a fierce advocate: she recognizes the importance of celebrating and honoring lived experience as a form of expertise. As a scholar-practitioner, she bridges the gap between research and practice in critical disability studies and the built environment. As an expert in designing with and for the Deaf and disabled communities, she works to go beyond minimal compliance across the design process, in a variety of project types and scales. She was born and raised in Greater Los Angeles and holds both a Bachelor of Arts and Master of Landscape Architecture from the University of California, Berkeley.

Hector Ochoa
Hector Ochoa
Commissioner

Commissioner Ochoa became a member of the Disabled Access Appeals Commission in January 2025. Born with Osteogenesis Imperfecta and a wheelchair and hearing aid user from an early age, Mr. Ochoa brings a wealth of lived experience and professional experience to this commission. He was appointed to the County of Los Angeles Commission on Disabilities in 2016 by Supervisor Hilda L. Solis and actively serves on the State Plan for Independent Living Committee for the State Council on Independent Living. He is the Chief Development Officer at California Resource Services for Independent Living. He is a lifelong resident of the City of Los Angeles and actively works both personally and professionally to ensure true access becomes a reality in Los Angeles.

Pat Williams
Pat Williams
Commissioner

Commissioner Pat Williams has been a member of the Disabled Access Appeals Commission since August 2014. Ms. Williams has been a life-long community activist, volunteering for many diverse issues such as land conservation, animal advocacy, and HIV / AIDS issues. Since retiring, Ms. Williams held a position on the Commission on the Status of Women. Having been a pioneering women in the non-traditional building trades industry, Ms. Williams' main passion and advocacy is in the Tradeswomen's community, with an emphasis on raising the numbers of women in all phases of non-traditional employment.

Commissioner Maya Flores-Villagrán
Maya Flores-Villagrán
Commissioner

Commissioner Maya Flores-Villagrán became a member of the Disabled Access Appeals Commission in July 2026. Ms. Flores-Villagrán graduated from Woodbury University with a Bachelor of Architecture in 2026. Ms. Flores-Villagrán grew up in Los Angeles, being an avid member of her neighborhood through the community's neighborhood association. She volunteers with Habitat for Humanity, helping rebuild houses in Altadena that were lost in the 2025 Altadena fires.