East Bay Housing Organizations began as a series of informal, monthly brown bag lunches. Affordable housing developers, architects, advocates, city staff, and community activists gathered to discuss how to advance affordable housing in Oakland.
For our 40th Anniversary in 2024, in the spirit of the year’s theme, Powerful Legacy, Powerful Future, we launched a monthly series of virtual Lunch & Learn events, where we learned from the past 40 years of successful advocacy to help guide us as we mobilize for future action. Now in 2025, we are excited to continue this series into a new year! This series is free and open to the public. RSVP for Zoom information.
Topics will be announced every quarter. Learn more about our upcoming Lunch & Learn events below.
Recordings and materials from each session will be made available shortly after each event.
You can (re)watch all of our webinars and download the materials from 2024 Lunch & Learns here.
Past Events
January — Leadership Academy Turns 10: A Decade of Building Community Power
January 23rd
At East Bay Housing Organizations, we believe that the people most affected by affordable housing policy should be at the forefront of the housing justice movement. We launched the Leadership Academy in 2015, after hearing from resident organizers that they wanted to learn more about housing policy and organizing skills.
Many of our Leadership Academy alumni also participate in Residents United Network (RUN), a branch of Housing California that brings together people who live in or need affordable housing and who believe every Californian deserves a safe and stable place to call home. Through our partnership with RUN, Bay Area leaders have taken powerful action to make sure that our State Representatives vote for affordable housing.
In our first Lunch & Learn of the year, we heard from EBHO Leadership Academy staff and participants about the program, how to apply to join the 2025 cohort, and how to get involved with RUN.
February — Community Land Trusts (CLTs): A Community-Centered Permanent Affordable Housing Model
February 27th
Affordable Housing comes in lots of different flavors. Community Land Trusts (CLT’s) are one model that: ensures affordability in perpetuity, centers residents, and removes real estate from the speculative market.
Join EBHO’s Executive Director, Lindsay Haddix, in conversation with Asn Ndiaye, Executive Director of Northern California Land Trust (NCLT), and Matt Gustafson, Director of Strategic Development, and Resident and former Board Member, Regina Mouton, from Bay Area Community Land Trust (BACLT). We discussed how community land trusts work, the benefits of and challenges facing this model, how to find and apply for CLT units in the East Bay, and how you can advocate for more housing that is community-centered and forever affordable!
April — Housing Elements 102
April 24th
This Lunch & Learn is a followup to our Housing Elements 101 session in February 2024. This upcoming Lunch & Learn will dive deeper into Annual Progress Reports (APRs) and how to engage in advocacy.
After all our efforts advocating for local Housing Elements with strong provisions for affordable housing, tenant protections, and affirmatively furthering fair housing, it’s now time to make sure they’re implemented.
State law requires each jurisdiction to prepare an Annual Progress Report (APR) on the status of their Housing Element and progress in it’s implementation, using forms and definitions adopted by the California Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD). In addition, the report must be considered at an annual public meeting before the legislative body where members of the public are allowed to provide oral testimony and written comments. However, understanding these reporting forms can be challenging.
You’ll gain practical tools on how to read and interpret these forms, as well as how to interpret the data the State posts in its Annual Progress Reports Dashboard.
June — Concord Naval Weapons Station
June 26th
EBHO has championed affordable housing at the Concord Naval Weapons Station (CNWS) redevelopment for nearly two decades. As one of the largest development opportunities in the Bay Area, this project will have a generational impact—offering thousands of new affordable homes in Concord and supporting a shared vision for a transit-oriented, sustainable, and mixed-use community with abundant open space for residents to thrive.
EBHO staff members were joined by affordable housing experts and leaders from Brookfield Residential — the master developer for the Concord Naval Weapons Station — for an engaging conversation exploring the project’s history, timeline, and next steps. Discover how the Concord Naval Weapons Station will bring affordable homes, vibrant parks, open spaces, and essential community amenities to the region, and hear directly from the Brookfield team about the challenges and opportunities ahead. Bring your questions, share your ideas, and connect with project leaders in this interactive discussion.
July — Better Know an Architect
July 24th
We were joined by a few of our architect members for an enlightening discussion about the important intersection of design and community-building, sustainability, and affordability.
Guests included: Anne Torney, a Partner at Mithun, who has made affordable multi-family housing and transit-oriented urban infill the focus of her work for more than 30 years; Paul McElwee, a Principal at HKIT who focuses on the design of residential communities, with specialized experience in affordable multifamily and senior housing projects, encompassing assisted living, special needs, and permanent supportive housing; and Marcial Chao, a Principal at PYATOK who has extensive experience in multifamily housing with an emphasis in mixed-used developments situated within complex urban infill sites.
August — Public Land for Public Good: Latest Developments in the Surplus Land Act
August 21st
Public land is a critical resource for developing affordable housing. California’s Surplus Land Act (SLA) has been strengthened and amended several times in recent years. In this Lunch & Learn, EBHO’s Senior Director of Policy, Jeff Levin, and Staff Attorney, Tahirah Dean, of Public Advocates provided an overview of the SLA including the most recent amendments.
Additional Resources:
- HCD Public Land website
- Public Land for Public Good Frequently Asked Questions
- Public Land for Public Good SLA Flowchart
September — Digital Organizing
September 25th
What is digital organizing? How does information spread on the internet? How do you build an audience? How can we use social media and other digital organizing tools to mobilize online communities?
EBHO’s Communications Manager, Kate Young, and her counterpart from Oakland Rising Action, Communications Manager Kiana Simmons, answered these questions and more during our September Lunch & Learn on digital organizing.
October — All About Prop 50
October 16th
EBHO and the League of Women Voters of Oakland held an informational session about California’s upcoming Statewide Special Election in which voters will decide on Proposition 50.
Visit our 2025 Special Election Hub for more information about how to make your vote count in November!