Our Work
Dig into our publications to find tools and lessons that drive today’s equitable community development practices.
Publications
Freedom’s Revival: Research from the Headwaters of Liberation is an inquiry into freedom and its possibilities. It seeks to explore the freedom that is central to all our struggles for justice, equality, and our planet’s survival. It seeks to recover a freedom unlike the one that has taken root in the United States.
The toolbox includes materials for local government staff and community partners to embed racial equity in housing and planning agencies’ structures, policies, and practices.
The constant loss of affordable units to the speculative market is accelerating displacement and chipping away at the forever dwindling stock of affordable housing. The intensity of the crisis has led us to explore best practices in preservation strategies to stabilize housing and make it permanently affordable.
The Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing (AFFH) Policies and Programs Toolkit highlights 15 key strategies to support Bay Area jurisdictions in completing the crucial step of establishing fair housing goals, policies, and actions in their housing plans.
Seeding Climate Resilience through Equitable Investment presents case studies illustrating the impact of community-driven investment in climate resilience.
The Opportunity to Purchase Act Campaign Playbook outlines the essential building blocks for a successful OPA campaign and provides resources to help you run your campaign.
This report provides comprehensive research on how states are considering energy efficiency, health, and equity in affordable housing.
Jairius Matthews, co-director of the Embers Project in Stockton, CA discusses what it takes to build truly community-centered development collaboratives.
Structured Funds 101 looks at a community investment tool practitioners use to advance large-scale development initiatives.
Blog Posts
Our framework for advancing housing justice outlines practical strategies for housing practitioners to advance racial equity despite current political headwinds. It presents four key elements for success - clear theories of change, creative legal approaches, strategic institutional partnerships, and robust implementation.
Drawing lessons from California's Statewide Housing Advocacy Committee (SHAC), effective power-building starts with mapping where power lies rather than jumping straight into campaigns. Through strengthening relationships and aligning priorities across 13 organizations, SHAC demonstrates how housing advocates can build the collective power needed to advance bold, systemic solutions.
Ever wonder what it takes to make economic development work for everyone? Through our work with two regional collaboratives in California's San Joaquin Valley and a funder collaborative in St. Louis, one thing has become clear: we need new ways of working together. But what does meaningful collaboration actually look like in practice?