Key Milestones

Key Milestones in the History of the Social Equity Caucus

1989

Carl Anthony, Karl Linn, and David Brower of Earth Island Institute found the Urban Habitat Program (UHP, later UH). Anthony becomes Executive Director. UH is one of the first environmental justice organizations in the Bay Area.

1990

In 1990-91, The Bay Vision 2020 Commission gathers approximately thirty leaders from the Bay Area to debate how regional economic and population growth could be managed more humanely and effectively. Three people of color are appointed to the Commission: James Head, NEDLC, Eileen Hernandez, a private consultant, and Lynette Lee, EBALDC. Several Bay Area organizations representing environmental and economic issues were represented.

1991

UH attends First National People of Color Environmental Leadership Summit and presents on the connections between environmental justice (EJ) and sustainability issues.

1993

The President’s Council for Sustainable Development (PCSD) is established.

1994

Vice President Al Gore brings a multi-million-dollar redevelopment package to SF for the Presidio. UH attends a Presidio Council meeting with Gore and distributes its Sustainability and Justice report.

1997

The Bay Area Alliance for Sustainable Development (now BAASC or BAA) is formed.

1998

Urban Habitat convenes between sixty and eighty representatives from Bay Area social and environmental justice groups at an initial meeting to shape the Social Equity Caucus. The SEC is established.

1999

The BAA begins work on the Compact for a Sustainable Bay Area and the Community Capital Investment Initiative (CCII) with SEC member participation.

2000

The BAA begins its Smart Growth/Regional Livability Footprint Project. ABAG contracts with UH and the SEC to conduct regional development community meetings in the nine Bay Area counties.

2001

Footprint community meetings are opened with a video, “Voices from the Community: Perspectives on Social Equity and Smart Growth,” produced by UH and Earth House Center that features interviews with SEC members. - Anthony leaves Urban Habitat and becomes a Program Officer for Sustainable Metropolitan Communities at the Ford Foundation. - Juliet Ellis becomes UH’s Executive Director. She convenes the SEC to evaluate its future.

2002

Manual Pastor of U.C. Santa Cruz’s Center for Justice, Tolerance and Community (CJTC) facilitates an SEC strategic planning process. - The SEC sends delegations to Johannesburg, South Africa for the World Summit on Sustainable Development and to Washington, D.C. for the Second National People of Color Environmental Leadership Summit.

2003

SEC and CJTC host the Bridging the Bay regional summit in April, attended by approximately ninety-five individuals. Two priority SEC campaign issues are identified – Transportation Justice (TJ) and No on Proposition 54. - The No on Proposition 54 Taskforce is established. Prop 54 is defeated in October. - The TJ Working Group (TJWG) is formed.

2004

The SEC sends a delegation to the World Social Forum in India. - TJWG efforts influence the Metropolitan Transportation Commission and contribute to the allocation of $200 million to the Lifeline Program.

2005

The SEC sends fourteen members to the World Social Forum in Porto Alegre, Brazil. - UH and the CJTC release a report: “The Big ‘G’ Word: What’s Globalization got to do with the SEC?”

2006

The SEC’s Quality Jobs Working Group (QJWG) is established. - The TJWG has a significant victory when the MTC adopts two of four proposed EJ principles. - Members of the TJWG file suit (on-going) against the MTC over alleged-discrimination in transportation funding patterns.

2007

The QJWG releases its “Quality Jobs” edition of Race, Poverty & the Environment and tools to define and measure job quality. - An SEC delegation participates in the first-ever U.S. Social Forum in Atlanta, Georgia. - Urban Habitat hires ISEJE to guide the SEC evaluation and strategic planning projects.

2008

The SEC will celebrate its ten year anniversary.