Thank you to everyone who attended EBHO’s Affordable Housing Month Kickoff Celebration! Over 300 EBHO community members joined us in Oakland on May 6th to network, honor our Housing Heroes, hear from some of our biggest supporters, and dance.
As a new addition to close out our Kickoff program, we invited attendees to take to the dance floor and see how much we could raise in just 3 minutes and 50 seconds (the duration of the “Cupid Shuffle” 😎). We are happy to report that our Donate and Dance activity helped raise $1,418 in support of our Leadership Academy program, which begins in just a few weeks. There’s still time to give!
We loved getting to see so many new and familiar faces at our Kickoff, and hope to see even more of you at the remaining AHM events—there are still over a dozen left! Keep reading for more highlights and photos from our Kickoff.
Event Highlights
Affordable Housing Heroes
Each May, we honor our Housing Heroes, individuals or organizations who are going the distance to create the world that we need. Congratulations to our 2026 Affordable Housing Month Honorees: Housing California and Alameda County Supervisor Nikki Fortunato Bas!
Fireside Chat
One of the perks of being a Partner level sponsor is the opportunity to say a few words during our program. We were happy to welcome representatives and friends from MidPen Housing, JP Morgan Chase, and the San Francisco Foundation’s Partnership for the Bay’s Future initiative, for a quick fireside chat about why they support EBHO’s work.
Featured Artwork
For several years, EBHO has been proud to partner with artists and friends at Civic Design Studio to feature student artwork in our Affordable Housing Month Kickoff Celebration materials.
This year’s featured artwork is the original mockup of a 40 x 12 foot mural that now lives at MidPen Housing’s Downtown Oakland office. A team of seven Civic Design Studio artists designed and painted the mural, which was completed in 5 days!
Five of the artists started their arts careers through MidPen Housing’s public art project at Brooklyn Basin, and through the years have collectively designed, painted, and installed artwork in nearly a dozen affordable housing projects across the Bay Area. They are mentored by Civic Design Studio Founder Tommy Wong and over a dozen master artists, designers, digital fabrication specialists, and community leaders.
Civic Design Studio Art Squad: Alana Landrum, Xinger Chen, Jingyi Zhou, Tracy Williams, and Sofía López; initial design support Lauryn Marshall, and Nanea Ciprazo.
Event Photos
Thank you to Photographer Bryon Malik for capturing the joy and vibrancy of the EBHO community!
Thank you to our Sponsors!
