Elena I. Popp is a longtime activist and attorney who is dedicated to working for social change. She was born in Mexico and immigrated to Los Angeles in 1968 with her mother and two younger siblings. Elena became a community activist when a teacher brought a young UFW organizer into the classroom to talk about the dangerous conditions faced by workers in the fields. Elena enlisted in the farm workers' movement that day. Since then, she has worked tirelessly on behalf of immigrants, women, children, those that live with disabling conditions, and those that do not have a place to call home.

Elena received her undergraduate degree and law degree from the University of California Los Angeles. Elena has worked for almost 20 years in legal services, focused primarily in the areas of Housing and Community Economic Development. From 1992 through 2004 Elena was an attorney at the Legal Aid Foundation of Los Angeles, a legal services program with a 72-year history of providing comprehensive legal services to low-income residents of metropolitan Los Angeles. In 1994 Elena co-founded the Healthy Homes Collaborative of Southern California an innovative coalition that addresses the health consequences of environmental hazards in childrens' environments.

She created one of the first in court domestic violence prevention programs, a model being duplicated throughout the state; founded the first non-medical model outreach team to the homeless mentally ill, a project that received national recognition and has been duplicated in other parts of the country. Was a leader in the successful effort to save 1.5 million units of affordable housing. Was a key participant in creating the Los Angeles Systematic Code Enforcement Program and other key slum abatement, childhood lead poisoning prevention and asthma prevention initiatives. She has worked in the peace movement and in other projects that seek to eliminate all forms of discrimination. She co-chaired Lesbianas Unidas, an activist group, during the 1990s. In 2006, she ran for a State Assembly Seat in District 45, but did not win.

She is currently the Executive Director of the Eviction Defense Network (EDeN) a social entrepreneurship project dedicated to increasing access to justice for low-income tenants through sliding and below market fees.