Joaquín Torres was sworn in as San Francisco’s Assessor-Recorder by Mayor London Breed on February 8, 2021. Prior to his appointment, Torres served as the Director of the San Francisco Office of Economic and Workforce Development since 2018, and has led citywide efforts to mitigate economic hardships on businesses and workers during the COVID-19 pandemic. Over the years, Torres has leveraged resources across City departments to create opportunities for all, expand support for small businesses and workers, build capacity and stability for locally rooted nonprofits, and maximize equitable economic and social impact for the benefit of San Franciscan communities, residents, businesses and neighborhoods. In pursuit of these goals, OEWD provides citywide leadership and coordination for workforce development, business development, neighborhood economic development, film, small business and development planning.

Torres is also the President of the San Francisco Housing Authority Commission, leading the oversight body as the Authority and City implement a re-envisioning process to rehabilitate over 3,400 units of public housing with $750 million in improvements, leading to the transfer of ownership to affordable housing providers to best serve low-income communities.

Previously, Torres has served as Director of the San Francisco Invest in Neighborhoods initiative, Director of the Mayor’s Office of Neighborhood Services, and Liaison to the San Francisco Latino and American Indian communities and to Supervisorial Districts Nine and Eleven. He is a current participant in the Government Alliance for Racial Equity program and serves as Chair of the Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Committee for the American Conservatory Theatre (A.C.T.). Torres is a graduate of Stanford University and New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts. He lives in the Outer Mission with his wife, Ruibo Qian.