From Farmer to Land Relations Lawyer
and Other Updates

New Blog Post

Dorian Payán was first a farmer, then became a lawyer at the Law Center. Through farming Dorian found re-connection with their own sustenance. They remember beholding their first harvest of beets and carrots and thinking, “here is the food I am about to become after ingesting it!” What could be more intimate? In this blog post, Dorian shares about their farm-to-law journey and how it has shaped their dreams for the sustainable agriculture movement. They envision a world where agriculture is grounded in rematriation and nourishes and sustains  the bodies farming the land, instead of exploiting them. Dorian asks: What might it look like for the land to host no exploitation, and still take on the very serious task of feeding the world? Read more here!

Law Center Updates

Hope and Has in Sacramento! 

SHOUT OUT TO our co-workers Hope Williams and Hasmik Geghamyan for their inspiring comments at the Labor & Employment Committee hearing for our cooperatives-in-prison legislation! The clear, concise comments convinced another committee member (Kalra) to co-sponsor the bill! And other people in the room stood up to support the bill on the spot! Here are some highlights from the hearing! 

From Left to Right: Leonard Brown, WorkSafe; Kelly Groth, LUCI; Asm. Tina McKinnor; Hope Williams, Law Center; Hasmik Geghamyan, Law Center; Malik Gover, Asm McKinnor’s Legislative Aide

A Proposal to Ban Land Grabs

For 15 years, the Sustainable Economies Law Center has heard from housing justice partners in the East Bay that corporate land grabs and real estate speculation are destabilizing neighborhoods and driving racialized displacement. We have learned with our Indigenous partners that neighborhood gentrification is a form of colonialism—building on the original theft of Indigenous land that California and its system of private property was founded upon. In this report, we equip policymakers and organizers with bold legal tools to fight back against the crisis of corporate land grabs.

Upcoming Events

Democratically Distribute Work (Module 5 Collaborate to Co-Liberate -C2C)

Wednesday, May 21, 2025 at 10:00 AM Pacific

Every group practicing liberatory, collective governance must  decide how to divide and share work equitably and effectively. What structures and processes can we create to avoid the common pitfalls of everyone doing everything (too many meetings!), or work falling through the cracks (not enough clarity!)? How do our structures need to shift and grow as our organizations shift and grow? How can we create clarity about what each group, circle, or body within our organization is empowered to do autonomously, and what must be brought to other individuals, groups, or bodies for collaborative input?

Join Andrew Stachiw from the TESA (Toolbox for Education and Social Action) Collective for Module 5 of Collaborate to Co-Liberate: Democratically Distribute Work. Andrew will share examples of organizational structures that support shared leadership, and tools to clarify domains of authority and decision-making within different organizational bodies.

Wealth Redistribution and the Law

Tuesday, June 03, 2025 at 10:00 AM Pacific

Whether you are an activist, lawyer, wealth holder, or inhabitant of our highly unequal society, you may be wondering: How can we redistribute the wealth? In this webinar, Moh Mookim and Janelle Orsi of Sustainable Economies Law Center will share what they’ve learned about wealth redistribution and the law. In particular: What are the legal and tax considerations of people and foundations voluntarily gifting their wealth? What are considerations for people and organizations receiving that wealth?

Our goal is for wealth to flow without legal barriers and in the spirit of solidarity, not charity. Far too often, professionals like lawyers, financial planners, and foundation leaders misunderstand the law, causing unnecessary blockages to redistribution. We’ll do our best to give a broad overview of the legal terrain and the various resources we’ve created on these topics, helping to dispel some myths while we’re at it.