John Darnell
John.darnell@lacity.org
Neighborhood Empowerment Advocate & Chief Resilience Officer
Innovation Division
John Darnell is a Neighborhood Empowerment Advocate (NEA) with EmpowerLA. He is responsible for supporting Neighborhood Council Boards with capacity building, training, and organizing skills that empower board members and engage the community. John supports the Encino, Mission Hills, NoHo, North Hills West, North Hollywood Northeast, Panorama City, Tarzana, Van Nuys, and Winnetka Neighborhood Councils. He also works with the Budget Advocates and collaborates with them to plan for Budget Day every year, and is the Chief Resilience Officer for the Department.
John has been with the City of Los Angeles since July 2009. He started his City career working for Councilmember Paul Koretz as a Field Deputy and District Director. He joined EmpowerLA in April 2017 as a Neighborhood Empowerment Advocate and Chief Resilience Officer.
John earned his BA in political science, and a minor in urban studies and planning from California State University, Northridge. He is passionate about serving people.