Thank you to all who attended #Coopalooza week last month! We had nearly 300 people participate in our workshops, hosted more than a dozen partners and collaborators in conversations, discussions, and panels, and learned so much from all the great questions you all had throughout the week. And thanks to your support, we made our $20,000 grassroots fundraising goal! We couldn’t do this work without support from people like you. If you’re feeling extra generous, you can still donate here :-)

Uh oh…did you miss #Coopalooza? Fear not! 

Click here to get access to all the workshop recordings, slide decks, and more. 

If you attended, what did you think about #Coopalooza? Reply to this email if you had any questions or ideas that came up during the week. We’d love to hear from you!

Welcome Erika Sato!

Erika is our 2021 Equal Justice Works legal fellow. If she looks familiar it's because she was an intern last summer! Fun fact about Erika: she loves propagating her house plants. If you want to learn more about what Erika is working on, click her staff bio here.

"Shifting Cultural Power" with Law Center Legal Fellow Hope Mohr

Hope Mohr works at the intersection of art and social change. She is a working artist, an attorney licensed in California, and a 2021 Law Center Legal Fellow. Mohr has woven art and activism for decades as a choreographer, curator, and writer. She recently released a book, “Shifting Cultural Power: Case Studies and Questions in Performance” in which she explores the work of curating performance in conversations about social change, with a special focus on advancing racial equity in the live arts. Read this SF Chronicle interview for more info on Mohr and her new book.

ICYMI: We're in the News!

Oaklandside | October 20, 2021 | Nonprofit run by homeless people says it was unfairly taxed for trying to build housing | Our inspiring friends at Homefulness/POOR Magazine have encountered every legal barrier imaginable as they work to build housing for Oakland's unhoused community. We partnered with them to address the latest!

High Country News | October 5, 2021 | How community control of housing and land can help solve the housing crisis | Our co-workers Chris and Dorian share insights about liberating land in this interview with High Country News

Next City | August 24, 2021 | Comprehensive Planning Sucks. These Oaklanders Want to Make It Better | The last time Oakland updated its general plan was in 1998, but it took a four-year process to get to that point. This time around, we want to do it right!

Nonprofit Quarterly | August 18, 2021 | Grandmas4Housing: How a Tenant-Led Community Land Trust Came to Be | “My mother had just died, and I was being retraumatized by seeing the foreclosure notices. Christine [Hernandez of Sustainable Economies Law Center] was telling me I had more options than cash for keys. But then I realized I had to tell people my situation and be naked. I had to know my rights and stand in my power.