Practitioner in Residence
Dr. Marlon Mussington
2025 Pracitioner in Residence
As an education administrator within the U.S. Department of Defense, Dr. Mussington has spent over 25 years supporting student and educational program success. In the summer of 1996, he volunteered as a high school football coach in Brooklyn, NY, and continued assisting the program through 2001. Following this success, he was hired by the YMCA of Greater Providence to serve as Teen Director for Youth in Providence. This experience led to a faculty appointment at the Paul Cuffee School, where he served for 21 years. To serve this population better, Dr. Mussington eagerly and consistently sought professional development that dealt directly with his responsibilities, including those that challenged him.
Always looking to increase his knowledge base, he attended Anti-Bullying Conferences at Harvard University. He was also deeply involved in Origins Responsive Classroom work, the basis for Paul Cuffee’s classroom management system. He encouraged faculty and staff to make healthy life choices, sponsoring the Biggest Loser weight loss challenge. While earning his doctorate at the University of Pittsburgh, he was instrumental in creating the Equity and Justice Spirit Award designed to support and celebrate students in the School of Education who plan to work as practitioners in education. In addition, during the 2021-22 school year, Dr. Mussington implemented a weekend backpack program to address the issue of food insecurity experienced by many of his students. In 2012, Dr Mussington received a teaching award from the National Association for Sport and Physical Education. Adding to these accolades, in 2023, he received the Distinguished PreK-12 Educator Award (University of Pittsburgh School of Education). In 2024, he received the Civilian of the Quarter Award while serving in his current role as education administrator.
Dr. Mussington earned his BA from the University of Rhode Island, an MEd from the University of Missouri-Columbia, and an EdD from the University of Pittsburgh.
Tuere Fa'aola
2024 Pracitioner in Residence
Tuere Fa’aola is a Certified Professional Transportation Planner and the Sustainable Communities Program Manager in the Regional Planning Department at SANDAG. She has 20 years of experience in transportation and land use planning with an emphasis on regional planning studies, housing policy, multimodal corridors, transit, alternative forms of transportation, and transit-oriented development to support sustainable community planning. In her current role, Tuere leads SANDAG’s Housing Acceleration Program, the Regional Plan and Sustainable Communities Strategy, and all agency efforts related to social equity in planning, including the tribal consultation program.
Tuere has served on boards for the WTS San Diego County chapter, City of Chula Vista Safety Commission, 2018 WTS International Conference, and ULI Mentorship Program. Her leadership and commitment to advancing women and young professionals in the planning industry resulted in her being honored with the 2015 Member of the Year and 2020 Rosa Parks Diversity Leadership Awards by the WTS San Diego County chapter. Her leadership continued in her role at SANDAG where she collaborated to form and chaired for 2 years their Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Council.
Tuere earned her the Master’s in City Planning from San Diego State University and Bachelor of Science in Geography from Old Dominion University. Name pronunciation: Tuere (to-air-ray) Fa’aola (fāh-āh-o-la)
David Estrella
2023 Pracitioner in Residence
David Estrella joined the County of San Diego in 2002. He is currently the Director of Housing and Community Development Services (HCDS) in the Health and Human Services Agency. He oversees funding for the development of permanent affordable housing, community improvement projects and the Housing Choice Voucher program, which provides rental subsidies for approximately 11,000 families. Under his direction, HCDS has invested $205M and made eight (8) County excess sites available for development, which will result in the creation of 3,990 affordable housing units in 45 developments across the region. These investments leveraged nearly $1.8B in federal, state, local and private sources. The newly developed units will be home to 41,000 low-income residents over the course the properties’ lifetimes.
David was the first Director of the Office of Integrative Services in the County’s Health and Human Services Agency. Integrative Services was created to functionally thread housing solutions throughout the various Health and Human Services Agency service departments. A key accomplishment during his tenure was the implementation of Project One for All (POFA). This regional program combined street outreach, ongoing services, and housing subsidies for hundreds of San Diegans experiencing homelessness with serious mental illness.
Prior to joining HHSA, David was the Deputy Chief Administrative Officer (DCAO) for the County of San Diego’s Community Services Group. As the DCAO for Community Services Group, David was one of the five general managers that report directly to the County’s Chief Administrative Officer. In this role, David ensured fiscal responsibility and provided management direction for six high-visibility County departments including: Registrar of Voters, Animal Services, County Library, Housing and Community Development, General Services, and Purchasing and Contracting. He led a team of 1,000 employees and had a budget of $334M. His departments’ notable accomplishments during his time as DCAO include construction of the downtown Waterfront Park (which transformed vast parking lots into the most significant green space on the downtown bayfront, providing family recreation and hosting special events and music festivals); construction of new libraries in various communities; sheltering of 25,000 animals annually; conducting presidential/state/local elections; operating 33 regionwide libraries; and managing a multi-billion dollar contract portfolio for all County services/acquisitions.
During his tenure with the County, David has served as the County of San Diego’s Executive Sponsor for Diversity and Inclusion and the Chair of the County’s Diversity and Inclusion Executive Council. David is a graduate with distinction from San Diego State University. He holds a degree in Mexican-American studies and a law degree from California Western School of Law.
Prior to joining the County of San Diego, David work
