We are proud to share that Bisnow has named Ellen Castillo to its Southern California Women Leading Real Estate list. The recognition honors influential women making impacts and driving the commercial real estate industry forward.

Ellen is a Senior Urban Planning Consultant in Akerman’s Real Estate Practice Group in Los Angeles. Her practice focuses on providing strategic real property development advice, land use diligence, planning analysis, and entitlement processing across all sectors of development. She offers extensive knowledge of local and regional planning, land use, zoning, and subdivision regulations in jurisdictions throughout California, with a particular emphasis on Southern California, and is adept in state government code land use regulations, including the California Subdivision Map Act and the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA). As part of her work, Ellen regularly appears at public hearings before agencies, boards, commissions, and legislative bodies.

In additional to working as an urban planner, development consultant, and LEED Accredited Professional for nearly two decades, Ellen recently served as the co-president of the Board of Directors for the Westside Urban Forum, a nonprofit organization dedicated to providing a platform for uncensored discussion focused on making Los Angeles a more livable place.