It’s almost that time of year again…

…green shoots of new growth are just emerging as the fragrant blossoms of fruit trees begin to burst forth. At SELC, our programs are also beginning to blossom in a variety of colorful ways. However, this wouldn’t be possible without the strong root system we have been cultivating over the years – our staff, fellows, interns, and volunteers. As our programs burst forth into spring, help us tend the roots of our growing organization – support our Spring Matching Grant Campaign!

Donate Now and Double Your Impact!

By contributing between now and May 1st, your donation will go toward meeting a generous $10,000 matching grant provided by the 11th hour project.

Your Support of The Spring Matching Grant Campaign Will Help Us Continue To:

• Offer direct legal services through our innovative Resilient Communities Legal Café in East Oakland, CA
• Advocate for new laws that enable thriving local economies, such as the California Homemade Food Act and the Federal CROWDFUND Act
• Develop engaging workshops on the sharing economy for sharing lawyers and community members alike
• Publish our comprehensive online legal resource libraries
• Train the next generation of sharing lawyers through our dynamic Apprentice Ship (Stay tuned for details!)
• And build the movement for just and resilient communities!

Thanks for your support!

Legal apprenticeships as another path to practicing law.

Assemblyman Mike Gatto (D-Los Angeles) introduces SELC's The California Homemade Food Act (AB 1616) to create a pathway for the legal sale of safe homemade food products -- helping micro food businesses throughout the state prosper, and ultimately foster the healthy/local food movement.

An update on the JOBS Act which was signed into law in April of 2012 and has since been winding its way from general legislation to specific regulation. When finally implemented, the law should make it much easier and cheaper for small ventures to get funding-for-equity from the crowd.

A new state law eases the way for culinary entrepreneurs to legally create and operate food-related businesses in their kitchens, producing homemade edibles for sale to businesses and to the public.

SELC is launching a six-month pilot project called the Resilient Communities Legal Cafe in winter 2013!

Find all Dates, Times, and Locations Here!

The Resilient Communities Legal Cafe provides direct legal support to individuals and groups who are working to create new solutions for resilient local economies in Oakland, Berkeley, and the greater East Bay community. We're currently running the Legal Cafe as a 6-month pilot program between February and August 2013 as a joint effort of SELC and the Green-Collar Communities Clinic (a project of the East Bay Community Law Center).

Why The Resilient Communities Legal Cafe?

Sharing doesn’t have to mean just cars and apartments. There are lots of small ways you can bring the ideas behind the sharing economy into your life, and a new guidebook shows you how.

The Sustainable Economies Law Center cooks up a bill to allow individuals to supplement their incomes through sale of produce grown at home or on other urban or suburban land.

The California Homemade Food Act clears the way for home cooks to make and sell a wide range of products, such as jams and jellies, without the need to invest in commercial kitchen space or comply with zoning and other regulations.

We’re sharing more things, more deeply, with more people. Why sharing is the answer to some of today’s biggest questions.