State of the Region

Urban Habitat and the Bay Area Social Equity Caucus hosted our first annual State of the Region on December 15, 2008 at the California Ballroom in Downtown Oakland. With over 200 individuals and more than 50 organizations representing labor, business, and non-profit sectors, the event was an opportunity to deepen our coalition's understanding of the macro political, environmental, economic, and social forces impacting the lives of low-income people and people of color in the region. We explored how applying a regional framework can strengthen the work of organizations fighting for social justice in the Bay Area. We built partnerships and alliances while sharing strategies and challenges and publicly demonstrated that a commitment to social equity in the Bay Area unites organizations across sectors and issue areas. In time for the Spring Quarterly Meeting, Urban Habitat will finalize a summary report and film to inform this year's work of the Bay Area SEC and that of our member and ally organizations.

Facilitated by Dr. Manuel Pastor, Director of the Program for Environmental and Regional Equity at the University of Southern California's Center for Sustainable Cities, the day examined the current state of the Bay Area using a regional equity lens. The Bay Area has a rapidly changing demography, occurring in the context of economic insecurity, inequality, and change, and new environmental constraints that offer possibilities for job creation and policy. The research focused on the new demography, the new economy, and the new environment of the Bay Area. Each of these areas was presented in context of our coalition's main foci of housing, jobs, transportation and land use and identified possibilities for organizing and policy action.

Our speakers - Carl Anthony, Earth House Center, Judith Bell, PolicyLink, and Juliet Ellis, Urban Habitat - laid the groundwork surrounding the national history and importance of social justice organizations utilizing a regional equity framework to achieve positive change in low income communities and communities of color. We had a panel composed of leaders from labor, business, local government and non-profit sectors that discussed the impacts of the new demography, the new economy, and the new environment within their respective work and sectors. They fielded questions from the audience and offered insights into the areas where their work overlapped and the opportunities for collaboration.

Panelists included:

• Keith Carson, Alameda County Board of Supervisors, District 5
• Phaedra Ellis Lamkins, Executive Director of Working Partnerships USA & South Bay Labor Council
• Angela Johnson Meszaros, Director of Policy, California Environmental Rights Alliance
• Jim Wunderman, President & CEO of the Bay Area Council

• How do we develop and drive investments to create green jobs in the most disadvantaged communities?
• How can we increase the political voice of the under served communities?
• How can regional transportation funding be leveraged to promote equity in addition to smart growth?
• Given the current housing situation, what are some alternative, or new housing policies that can be considered and implemented to alleviate foreclosure crisis while maintaining wealth in a community?
• How can we initiate enforcement of the city's inclusionary housing ordinance to produce more funds for affordable housing developments?

This activity highlighted how the work of the Bay Area SEC is crucial in promoting a multi-issue regional equity agenda and challenging decision makers to equitably distribute both the costs and benefits from our public resources and policy.

Judith Bell of PolicyLink closed the day and reminded us that local leaders are the new national leaders. Under the Obama administration, what's happening in regions will increasingly drive what happens at the national level. We have already seen how the analysis and impact of like minded coalitions in Atlanta, Seattle, Boston, and other parts of the country are driving and informing new national priorities. She challenged the coalition to cultivate new leaders that could move a progressive regional agenda and to hold current leaders accountable to the needs of low income communities and communities of color.

Thank you to our sponsors and participants for your roles in making the 2008 State of the Region a success. Feel free to contact our coalition's staff with any feedback or questions following up from the event. Stay tuned to stateoftheregion.org in the coming months as we continue to post additional resources, and plan for State of the Region 2009!

See the photos from the event!