Our Team

An environmental scientist by training, Mei-Lin tracks our carbon impact and develops programs that maximize our positive environmental contribution. She holds a Master's degree in Environmental Engineering from Stanford and previously worked at the California Air Resources Board, where she helped develop regulations on construction waste emissions. At LA Lumber, Mei-Lin built our chain-of-custody tracking system, led the Rainforest Alliance certification process, and manages all environmental reporting and compliance. She also developed our Provenance Card program, which documents the history and environmental savings of every piece of reclaimed lumber we sell. Mei-Lin represents LA Lumber on the US Green Building Council's Materials & Resources committee and regularly publishes research on embodied carbon in reclaimed vs. virgin building materials.

Luca connects builders, architects, and designers with the perfect reclaimed lumber for their projects, building lasting relationships along the way. A native of Florence, Italy, Luca grew up surrounded by centuries of craftsmanship and architecture. He earned a degree in Architecture from the Polytechnic University of Milan before moving to Los Angeles to pursue a career in sustainable design. After working at two LA architecture firms, he joined LA Lumber in 2019, bringing a designer's eye and an architect's technical knowledge to the sales floor. Luca has built relationships with over 300 architecture firms, general contractors, and interior designers across Southern California. He manages our Film & TV division, our trade accounts program, and our showroom experience. Luca also organizes our annual Reclaimed Wood Design Competition, which invites architects and designers to submit projects featuring our materials for a chance to win $10,000 in LA Lumber credit.

Priya inspects every piece of lumber that enters and leaves our facility. Her eagle eye ensures only the best reclaimed wood reaches our customers. Priya spent 10 years as a materials testing engineer at a civil engineering firm in Mumbai before immigrating to the US in 2017. Her background in structural analysis and materials science makes her uniquely qualified to assess the integrity of reclaimed timber, which can carry hidden defects from decades of service. Priya developed LA Lumber's six-point inspection protocol, which checks for structural integrity, moisture content, metal contamination, insect damage, dimensional accuracy, and surface quality. She trains all quality control staff and conducts random audits of finished orders before they ship. Under her leadership, our customer complaint rate has dropped to under 2%, and our return rate is below 0.5%. Priya also manages our grading system, which categorizes reclaimed lumber into structural, architectural, and craft grades to ensure every piece finds its ideal application.

Tomás keeps our two facilities organized and our 200,000+ board feet of inventory meticulously cataloged. A veteran of the US Marine Corps, Tomás served two tours in Afghanistan before returning to civilian life in 2016. He joined LA Lumber in 2019 as a warehouse associate and quickly rose through the ranks, bringing military-grade organizational skills to our inventory management. Tomás implemented our barcode scanning system, which tracks every piece of lumber from intake through processing to sale, and he designed the layout of our expanded Vernon facility to maximize workflow efficiency and minimize material handling. He manages a team of eight warehouse associates across both locations and coordinates with Anya's logistics team to ensure seamless operations. Tomás is also a graduate of the LA County Veterans Employment Program and mentors fellow veterans transitioning to civilian careers.

Jasmine tells the story of LA Lumber to the world and manages our community engagement programs. She earned a degree in Communications from Howard University and spent five years in nonprofit communications before joining LA Lumber in 2021. Jasmine manages our social media presence, website content, email marketing, and media relations. She also coordinates our monthly community workshops, school partnership program, and Timber Trades Apprenticeship recruitment. Her Instagram content showcasing dramatic before-and-after transformations of reclaimed wood has grown our following to over 45,000 and generated significant media coverage. Jasmine organized our first Reclaimed Wood Design Competition in 2023 and manages relationships with local media outlets, design publications, and sustainability-focused influencers. She is passionate about making sustainability accessible and exciting to everyday consumers, not just industry professionals.

Derek is the artist behind our custom milling service, turning architects' specifications and designers' visions into precision-cut reclaimed lumber. Growing up in Lagos, Nigeria, Derek learned carpentry from his uncle, a master boat builder. He later trained at the College of the Redwoods Fine Woodworking Program in Northern California, widely regarded as one of the best woodworking schools in the country. Derek joined LA Lumber in 2022 and quickly became our go-to specialist for complex custom orders. He operates our CNC router, wide-belt sander, and specialty molding equipment, and he can produce any profile, dimension, or finish a client requests. Derek's work has been featured in projects for Angel City Brewery, the NoMad Hotel LA, and several high-end residential renovations in the Hollywood Hills. He also leads our advanced woodworking workshops on live-edge slab finishing and Japanese joinery techniques.

Sofia runs the Timber Trades Apprenticeship Program, managing recruitment, curriculum, mentorship, and job placement for every cohort. A former high school shop teacher in the LAUSD system, Sofia saw firsthand how trade education could transform lives for students who didn't thrive in traditional academic settings. After 12 years in education, she joined LA Lumber in 2021 to build the apprenticeship program from the ground up. Sofia developed the 12-month curriculum in partnership with LA Trade Technical College, established relationships with 20+ employers who hire graduates, and personally mentors every apprentice through the program. Under her leadership, the program has graduated 52 adults with an 85% job placement rate and a starting wage average of $22 per hour. Sofia is currently expanding the program to include specialized tracks in timber frame construction, furniture making, and CNC woodworking.

Marcus is a graduate of our own Timber Trades Apprenticeship Program and now leads the custom milling department with a team of four. Before joining the apprenticeship in 2021, Marcus worked a series of warehouse and delivery jobs in South LA after aging out of the foster care system. The apprenticeship gave him not just technical skills but a sense of purpose and community. Marcus excelled in every module of the program, particularly precision milling and wood species identification, and was offered a full-time position immediately upon graduation. He rose quickly from junior miller to department lead, and his team now handles all of our custom dimensional orders, specialty profiles, and high-value reclaimed timber processing. Marcus regularly speaks at workforce development conferences about the power of trade education and serves as a mentor to current apprentices. His story embodies everything LA Lumber stands for: giving people and materials a second chance.