Build your business in West Oakland | We're rebranding! | Meet our Comms hire

Attend our Black Business Orientation

Are you interested in reviving a piece of Oakland's history and creating a thriving Black economic ecosystem through collective ownership? The Black Business Operators Orientation is the launch of a yearlong series of community meetings with Artists & Black business operators to prepare Esther's Orbit Room for a vibrant future.

• Date: Thursday, July 20th
• Time: 5:00pm - 7:00pm
• Location: Esther's Orbit Room, 1724 7th Street, West Oakland, CA

At this intimate mixer and orientation, we'll break bread, define, design, and plan for the future of Esther's Orbit Room—a cultural arts center, performance stage, bar, commercial kitchen, art gallery, and yoga/movement studio. Don't miss this opportunity to:

• Begin co-creating a cooperative business model 🤝
• Network and collaborate with like-minded individuals in various fields 🔗
• Explore available spaces to support your business's vision 🚀

Please share this email and flyer with other local Black businesses and artists who would resonate with this work. Visit www.ebprec.org/ESTHERS to learn more about Esther's Orbit Room. We can't wait to welcome you to the future of the West Oakland 7th St. Corridor.

- Noni and the EB PREC Staff Collective

Spaces are limited!
Secure your spot using the button below to RSVP by July 14th.

We've had some work done 😉

You may have noticed our new logo above...that's because we're in the process of rebranding! Our original logo was inspired by drawings created by our friend Janelle Orsi who is part of our parent organization SELC (Sustainable Economies Law Center). Janelle's playful cartoons can be found all throughout EB PREC's bylaws, website, and more.

As our organization grows, we wanted to create a logo that could grow with us. We wanted a design that's easily recognizable in both digital and print environments, had elements that we could use to create a visual "language" for future materials, while also inheriting the playfulness of Janelle's original drawings. The new design is based on a lino-cut print we had in our office and includes the Oakland Federal Building that helps make our city's skyline distinct.

Over the next few months, you'll see us slowly rolling out our logo across different platforms as we feel out how, when, and where we want to use it; but rest assured anything with our new branding is still us! We hope you like it and would love to hear your feedback: info@ebprec.org

Introducing our new Comms Manager!

EB PREC is excited to welcome George Syrop to our Staff Collective as our new Communications and Marketing Manager! George (he/him) was born & raised in Hayward, and has lived most of his life throughout the East Bay on Ohlone Land. He brings a combination of design, communication, and project management experience from his early career in the tech industry.

In the wake of the George Floyd protests of 2020, George helped form the Hayward Community Coalition (HayCoCoa), which successfully organized to reform policing, prevent school closures, and improve tenant protections in his hometown. George was elected to Hayward City Council in 2022, where he is committed to fighting against displacement as the Council's only renter. He also serves as an advisor to the Friends of the Public Bank East Bay, which aims to democratize finance and unlock capital for underserved communities.

George's experience and perspective on housing has helped him integrate into our team quickly. In addition to leading our rebranding process, he's already revamped our website and made it mobile compatible within his first month: check it out! With the Communications role filled, EB PREC is ready to improve the pace and quality of our interactions with you. We're developing new strategies to engage and activate our community around #restorativeeconomics and collectively owning #landwithoutlandlords. We can't wait to show you more.

EB PREC in the News 🗞️

We'll wrap up this month's newsletter with some coverage we've received over the last few months. Check us out:

Forbes - Justice And Land: How Communities Heal Through Ownership
Nonprofit Quarterly - Cooperatives as Ancestral Technology

“The current ecosystem of options for housing and land ownership is perpetuating deep social and racial injustices,” said Annie McShiras [EB PREC's Investment & Fundraising Director]. “We shift the dominant paradigm of land and housing commodification by building a movement around the Permanent Real Estate Cooperative (PREC), a new model that de-commodifies land and housing, builds collective wealth in and for communities of color, and re-weaves the right relationship to the land beneath our feet.”