Connie Galambos Malloy, Director of Programs, Urban Habitat Low-income communities and communities of color have always been disproportionately impacted by pollution, but much of the inequities we see today have been significantly perpetuated by land-use decisions and transportation investments made over the past 50 years.  "How We Got Here: Climate Injustice in the Bay Area," an interview with Connie Galambos Malloy, aims to provide some historical context as to how such decisions have helped perpetuate the inequitable distribution of pollution in the nine-county Bay Area region, the inequitable impacts it has had on low-income communities and communities of color, and, more importantly, how despite our best intentions and efforts, the climate policies and efforts we’re pursuing today will be limited in success if we do not address the systemic racial and economic factors that drive pollution throughout the region. 

 

Prerana Reddy, Director of Public Events, Queens Museum of Art Prerana Reddy has been the Director of Public Events for Queens Museum of Art in New York City since 2005, where she also spearheads the Museum's community engagement initiatives combining arts and culture with social development goals in nearby neighborhoods predominately comprised of new immigrants. She was one of four inaugural Douglas Redd Fellows for emerging leaders in Arts and Community Development awarded by the Ford Foundation. Currently she is overseeing Corona Studio, a series of long-term socially-engaged artist residencies in the neighborhood where the Museum is located. She is also developing a new Critical Social Practice concentration for the MFA program at Queens College (CUNY) in Spring, 2012. She recently returned from a semester-long Asian Pacific Leadership fellowship at the East-West Center at the University of Hawaii-Manoa that links advanced and interdisciplinary analysis of emergent Asian Pacific regional issues with experiential leadership learning.

Please listen to her presentation at the BCLI Issues and Advocates Speakers Series, Fresh Thinking about Community and Anchor Partnerships: Creating Shared Value for More Equitable Communities

Juliet Ellis, Assistant General Manager of External Affairs, San Francisco Public Utilities Commission Juliet Ellis currently serves as Assistant General Manger of External Affairs on the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission. She was formerly the Executive Director of Urban Habitat. Prior to becoming Executive Director of Urban Habitat, Juliet was the Associate Program Officer for Neighborhood and Community Development at The San Francisco Foundation and was responsible for all aspects of grantmaking in the areas of workforce development, housing, homelessness, economic development, community development, and neighborhood planning. Juliet has served on numerous regional and local boards and committees, including the Oakland Homeless and Low-Income Taskforce, the Ella Baker Center for Human Rights, the San Francisco School of Volunteers, and the Alameda County Public Health Disparities Taskforce. Juliet holds a Master of Science degree in Business Administration with an emphasis in environmental and urban studies from San Francisco State University.

Please listen to her presentation at the BCLI Issues and Advocates Speakers Series, Fresh Thinking about Community and Anchor Partnerships: Creating Shared Value for More Equitable Communities

Sam Chapman, Manager of State and Community Relations, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory Sam Chapman is the State and Community Relations Manager for Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. Sam is responsible for developing strategic plans, building relationships and leading actions that strengthen the Lab's ties with state officials and the local and regional community. Prior to coming to the Lab, Sam was Publisher of the Pacific Sun newspaper and website in Marin County and a part of the management team for Embarcadero Media. Previously, he was Chief of Staff for U.S. Senator Barbara Boxer for many years. Prior to joining Senator Boxer he was an elected County Supervisor and practiced law in Napa County. Sam has also held various regional and state government positions, including serving as a member of the California Air Resources Board, chairing a Governor’s commission on renewable energy, chairing the Bay Area Air Quality Management District board and serving on the San Francisco Bay Conservation and Development Commission. He’s a graduate of U.C. Berkeley’s Boalt Hall School of Law.

Please listen to his presentation at the BCLI Issues and Advocates Speakers Series, Fresh Thinking about Community and Anchor Partnerships: Creating Shared Value for More Equitable Communities

Vu-Bang Nguyen, Land Use Program Coordinator, Urban Habitat Vu-Bang Nguyen is the Land Use Program Coordinator at Urban Habitat. Vu-Bang began his journey into the world of land use planning after studying Architecture at the University of California (UC) - Berkeley with an emphasis on City and Regional Planning and Design in the Third World while also working for the City Planning Departments of San Jose, Oakland and Berkeley, CA. He continued his studies at UC - Berkeley and completed a Masters in City and Regional Planning with an emphasis on Community Development and Land Use Planning. His research included working with the San Jose Redevelopment Agency on increasing community engagement in the City’s Strong Neighborhoods Initiative, especially among San Jose’s Vietnamese American population. After City Planning positions for the City of Berkeley and Town of Los Gatos, Vu-Bang switched to the private development side as a Project Manager for a real estate development company in San Jose, CA. He is Urban Habitat's site coordinator for the Great Communities Collaborative, working in several planning efforts throughout the Bay Area including Sunnyvale and East Palo Alto. Vu-Bang is a member of the American Planning Association (APA) and the American Institute of Certified Planners (AICP).

Please listen to his presentation at the BCLI Issues and Advocates Speakers Series, Close the Opportunity Gap: Prioritizing Schools in Planning for Sustainable Communities.

Jeremy Liu, Executive Director, East Bay Asian Local Development Corporation Jeremy Liu is Executive Director of East Bay Asian Local Development Corporation (EBALDC), which works on community economic development and affordable housing in Oakland and the East Bay Area. Jeremy has been involved in the planning and development of public transit and transit-oriented development projects for over a decade. EBALDC is currently completing a 500+ home, mixed-use, mixed-income community known as Lion Creek Crossings at the Coliseum Transit Village. EBALDC is also involved in the transformation of the San Pablo Avenue corridor in Oakland and Emeryville. Jeremy has previously worked as an environmental planner for Sverdrup Civil on brownfield redevelopment, commuter rail, and highway projects, and as a program associate with the Trust for Public Land.

Please listen to his presentation at the BCLI Issues and Advocates Speakers Series, Curbing Sprawl, Protecting Health: Building Housing for the Bay Area's Most Vulnerable Residents

Dave Vintze, Air Quality Planning Manager, Bay Area Air Quality Management District Dave Vintze is currently the Air Quality Planning Manager at the Bay Area Air Quality Management District (BAAQMD). The air quality planning section is responsible for developing plans for attainment of State and federal ambient air quality standards; preparing, reviewing and commenting on California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) documents; developing CEQA guidelines; participating in regional smart growth and transportation planning activities; and developing and implementing the Air District’s climate protection program. Previously Dave was the Planning Manager at the Placer County Air Pollution Control District and prior to that Dave worked for a consulting firm specializing in land use planning and environmental review.

Please listen to his presentation at the BCLI Issues and Advocates Speakers Series, Curbing Sprawl, Protecting Health: Building Housing for the Bay Area's Most Vulnerable Residents

Eli Moore, Program Co-Director, Community Strategies for Sustainability and Justice Eli Moore is Program Co-Director for the Community Strategies for Sustainability and Justice program. Eli brings to the Institute expertise in participatory research strategies and spatial analysis and a depth of experience with community health, environmental justice, community safety, and sustainable economic development issues. Eli currently directs projects on nitrate contamination of drinking water, community reintegration after incarceration, and community resilience to climate change. He holds an M.A. in Geography and an M.A. in International Relations from the Maxwell School at Syracuse University.

Please listen to his presentation at the BCLI Issues and Advocates Speakers Series, Curbing Sprawl, Protecting Health: Building Housing for the Bay Area's Most Vulnerable Residents

Lindsay Imai, Transportation Justice Program Coordinator, Urban Habitat Lindsay Imai is Transportation Justice Program Coordinator at Urban Habitat, where she works to increase funding for bus and other public transit systems serving low-income neighborhoods through research, policy analysis, advocacy, coalition building, community organizing support and media activism. Lindsay is also playing a key role at Urban Habitat advocating for an equitable implementation plan of the Bay Area’s sustainable communities strategy as required by SB 375. Lindsay holds a Masters degree in Public Administration from Syracuse University and a BA in Ethnic Studies from Stanford.

Please listen to her presentation at the BCLI Issues and Advocates Speakers Series, Curbing Sprawl, Protecting Health: Building Housing for the Bay Area's Most Vulnerable Residents

Marisa Raya, Regional Planner, Association of Bay Area Governments Marisa Raya is a Regional Planner for the Association of Bay Area Governments, where she works on creating regional equity policies and implementing California's sustainability and climate change legislation. She has also worked as regional planner with Metro, the regional government based in Portland, Oregon. Prior to public service, she helped develop the Program on Human Rights and Justice at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, promoting social, cultural, and economic rights through planning and development. She has a degree in Anthropology from Columbia University and a Masters in Spatial Planning from the Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm, Sweden.

Please listen to her presentation at the BCLI Issues and Advocates Speakers Series, Close the Opportunity Gap: Prioritizing Schools in Planning for Sustainable Communities.

Jeffrey Vincent, Deputy Director, Center for Cities & Schools Jeffrey M. Vincent, PhD is Deputy Director and cofounder of the Center for Cities & Schools (CC&S) at the University of California, Berkeley. CC&S is an action-oriented think tank, whose mission is to promote high quality education as an essential component of urban and metropolitan vitality to create equitable, healthy, and sustainable cities and schools for all. Jeff has a PhD in city and regional planning from Berkeley and a master’s degree in community and regional planning from the University of Nebraska. Prior to joining CC&S, he worked in city planning and community development related positions for more than ten years in addition to working for five years as an instructor at a Montessori farm school. Jeff’s research interests lie at the intersection of land use planning, community development, and educational improvement, with a particular focus on how school facilities serve as educational and neighborhood assets. Jeff’s work has been published in peer-reviewed journals, practitioner-oriented journals, books, and other outlets on a variety of issues, including school siting and design, housing redevelopment, state school construction policies, joint use of schools, youth engagement in redevelopment, refugee resettlement, and transit-oriented development aimed at families. He is also a researcher with Building Educational Success Together (BEST), a national collaborative providing research and resources to improve public school facilities.

Please listen to his presentation at the BCLI Issues and Advocates Speakers Series, Close the Opportunity Gap: Prioritizing Schools in Planning for Sustainable Communities.

A third generation Mexican-American, John Avalos, was born in Wilmington, California, a predominantly Latino industrial town in the City of Los Angeles. John graduated with honors from UC Santa Barbara where he studied English Literature. Upon arriving in San Francisco in January 1989, he worked as an English teacher and cafe worker before finding his calling in the human services and community organizing fields. John followed the path of a worker and a leader to become a candidate for Supervisor. He has been a strong community member, spending the past 15 years fighting for social justice and equity at the grassroots level. He has worked as an educator and counselor with the San Francisco Conservation Corps and the Columbia Park Boys and Girls Club, where he taught high school equivalency and college prep classes. He also connected hundreds of San Francisco youth with employment, health care, and housing.

Jose Corona has championed inner-city job creation efforts with a comprehensive series of community and economic development programs and partnerships. The centerpiece of Corona’s efforts has been the creation of strong and vibrant public-private partnerships with an emphasis on a shared commitment ensure the presence of sustainable, responsible inner-city companies that provide quality jobs, reinvest in the community, and contribute to the local economy. Jose’s primary focus is on effective and innovative management, the cultivation of a strong network of high-caliber consultants and advisers, and on promoting a fundamental change in the way communities invest into inner-city economic development and revitalization. This formula has led to Inner City Advisors reliably delivering high-caliber pro bono business consulting, strategic advice, practical entrepreneurial education, and smart capital to inner-city entrepreneurs.

Marilyn Langlois is the Community Advocate in the office of Richmond Mayor Gayle McLaughlin. She is the point person for the mayor’s efforts to promote worker cooperatives as a strategy for worker empowerment-based economic development and job creation in Richmond. Marilyn has worked on several strategies to create jobs and revitalize the community, including strengthening Richmond’s local-hiring ordinance (an effort that was initiated by Richmond’s Human Rights and Human Relations Commission), creating the Richmond Youth Corps, participating in the East Bay Green Corridor’s efforts to bring green businesses to Richmond and the East Bay, and partnering with the Healthy Richmond initiative funded by The California Endowment. Marilyn is a founding member of the Richmond Progressive Alliance, a political organization that works to elect progressive candidates to the Richmond City Council and promote economic, social, and environmental justice in Richmond.

India Pierce Lee has 22 years of experience in community and economic development. She helps lead the foundation's revitalization efforts in Cleveland's Greater University Circle area, an initiative that includes transportation and housing assistance, education, safety, community wealth, and economic inclusion. Prior to joining the Cleveland Foundation, India served as Senior Vice President of Programs at Neighborhood Progress Inc. (NPI), where she led several joint initiatives, including the Cleveland Neighborhood Partnership Program. She was also Senior Program Director with the Northeast Ohio Local Initiatives Support Corporation (LISC), Director of The Empowerment Zone with the City of Cleveland's department of Economic Development, and Executive Director of Mt. Pleasant NOW Development Corporation. Prior to that, she worked as an air traffic control specialist. India completed the prestigious Loeb Fellowship from the Graduate School of Design at Harvard University. She spent 10 months on the Harvard campus studying best practices in neighborhood revitalization, with a special interest in sustainability.

Dave Room co-founded Bay Localize, a public benefit organization that inspires and supports Bay Area residents in building resilient communities, and coordinates the Local Clean Energy Alliance. He was instrumental in the start up phase of Post Carbon Institute, playing a key role in donor cultivation, the End of Suburbia screening campaign, and engagement with local groups. He was also a frequent interviewer on Global Public Media. Dave's most important identifier is Melia's Papa. On stage, Melia's Papa uses storytelling and solo performance theater (The Monkey Trap) to awaken and activate mainstream audiences, people of color, and youth. Dave is leading efforts to use new media and social media for social change and political advocacy. Dave coined the term "Energy Preparedness" and was on the Oil Independent Oakland by 2020 task force. He has B.S in Electrical Engineering with a Power Systems focus and a M.S. in Engineering-Economic Systems from Stanford University.

Vivian Chang, Director of State and Local Initiatives at Green For All , has a background in urban planning and more than 15 years of experience with community organizing and policy advocacy. Prior to joining Green For All, Vivian served as the Executive Director of the Asian Pacific Environmental Network, a nationally recognized environmental justice organization focused on building leadership in Asian immigrant and refugee communities. As a well-recognized experienced organizer in the Asian community, Ms. Chang has spoken on numerous panels as well as in media outlets including KPFA (the Bay Area’s Pacifica network radio station), National Public Radio, the most popular Chinese ethnic media outlets including Sing Tao and Channel 26 KTSF. She holds a master's degree in Urban Planning from the University of California Los Angeles (UCLA) with a concentration in regional economic and community development. Vivian is a recipient of the 2007 Gerbode Fellowship and Oakland’s 2009 Woman of the Year award.

Throughout her 30 years in the planning profession, Jeanette Dinwiddie-Moore has been a tireless, committed, and passionate advocate for good community planning, particularly for the disenfranchised and communities of color whose needs are too often neither heard nor considered. She has effectively advocated for improvements within the profession to ensure that the planning decision making process is inclusive of those individuals and their needs. The first seven years of Ms. Dinwiddie-Moore's professional career were spent working for non-profit corporations and the City of Berkeley on housing and community development programs. She has also served as a mentor and advisor to many planners of color, is the primary author of California’s Membership Inclusion Plan, has served on the APACA Board for over six years (including the position of Vice President of Administration), and is well known in California and nationally for her strong advocacy on diversity issues. She has been Principal and owner of Dinwiddie and Associates since 1981.

Tommy T. Moala is Assistant General Manager of the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission Wastewater Enterprise, which protects public health and safety through the collective treatment of raw sewage and stormwater runoff. Tommy oversees operations, equipment and facilities maintenance, structural design, and governmental compliance for the City’s three innovative wastewater treatment plants, 900-mile long sewer system and network of wastewater pumping stations. Tommy began his 20-year career with the SFPUC as a Stationary Engineer, moving up steadily through the ranks. A team recipient of the National Protection Agency O & M award and the National Association of Clean Water Agency award, Tommy has also received Mayor Gavin Newsom’s Public Managerial Excellence award and the SFPUC’s O’Shaughnessy award for organizing the SFPUC Emergency Response Team dispatched to Hurricane Katrina.

Fernando Martí has been the Director of Community Planning at Asian Neighborhood Design since 2004. Fernando’s work at AND includes community-based plans for San Francisco's Eastern Neighborhoods; affordable housing and community economic development policies; and urban design for the Mission BART Plazas and the Chinatown Central Subway Station. He is also a licensed architect, recently completing the renovation of a 21-unit Chinatown building as SF’s first community land trust cooperative. He has over 15 years of experience working on custom green homes, affordable multifamily residential, and structures for spiritual communities. Fernando is the recipient of the Frederick P. Rose Architectural Fellowship, and teaches design studios at U.C. Berkeley and USF. He works with local community organizing efforts as a board member of PODER and of the Center for Political Education. Fernando was born in Guayaquil, Ecuador, and has made the Bay Area his home since 1990.