Blanca López is an experienced professional with over two decades in community development, planning and housing. Currently, López serves as the Commissioner of Planning for Westchester County.
She previously served as Assistant Director of Operations for Westchester County. In that role, she was responsible for oversight of all county housing-related programs; oversaw the recommendations and implementation of policies from the Police Reform Task Force across all county departments; and worked with the Probation Department on Raise the Age implementation. López joined the Latimer administration in 2018 serving as advisor on Fair and Affordable Housing and liaison to various county departments such as Corrections, Emergency Services, the Human Rights Commission and the Office for People with Disabilities.
López’s prior experiences include working in the not-for-profit sector as Program Director for Human Development Services of Westchester, a program funded by New York State to preserve affordable housing, and as Legislative and Community Affairs Representative for then U.S. Representative Nita M. Lowey assisting constituents in the areas of housing, immigration and veteran affairs, as well as developing strategies to reach Spanish-speaking and immigrant populations throughout Lowey’s congressional district.
López holds a bachelor’s in Latin American and Latino Studies from Fordham University and a master’s in Urban & Public Policy and Management from the New School University. She is a Fellow of the New York Immigration and Social Justice Institute’s Immigrant Advocacy Fellowship Program and was honored by the Business Council of Westchester as one of Forty under Forty Rising Stars in 2011. López is also the first Latina elected to office in the Villages of Port Chester and Rye Brook, serving as Trustee for the Port Chester-Rye Union Free Board of Education from 2009 through 2012. In 2016, she was recognized by then New York State Senator George Latimer for her noteworthy achievements as part of the Women of Distinction Event Honoring Women in New York.
A lifelong advocate for affordable housing and community services for vulnerable families and individuals, Blanca was born in Peru and immigrated to the United States at 8 years of age. She is a member of the Port Chester-Rye Brook Kiwanis Club, a member of King Street Elementary School PTA, and serves on the Board of Directors of the Council of Community Services for Port Chester, Rye Brook, and Rye Town, a nonprofit organization that provides support to local nonprofit organizations serving these communities. López lives in the Village of Port Chester with her partner and three children.