Our Labor Bears Fruit in the Summer ☀️✊🏾

Farewell Princess | Putting the Barn to Work | We're Hiring! | We need Architects!

Building Leaders is Bittersweet

We're equal parts proud and heartbroken to share that Richmond LAND's next Executive Director is EB PREC's very own: PRINCESS ROBINSON!

From starting off as a Community Owner, to becoming a Staff Owner as our Co-Ownership & Education Facilitator, to organizing an EB PREC acquisition with her family and becoming a Resident Owner...very few members possess the breadth of experience and perspective on our cooperative that Princess has.

Princess has hosted dozens of events, workshops, and trainings for our community, while always proudly hyping herself and the cooperative up as examples of what's possible when you put the PREC model and a little bit of organizing together. We're grateful We are humbled that our co-operative can be a place that grows leaders like Princess, and that she made her home (both figuratively AND literally) in the land sovereignty movement with us over the last two years.

Be sure to check out Richmond LAND's great work if you have a moment (and tell them how lucky they are to have Princess)!

Princess leaves enormous shoes to fill, but the movement continues! We're on the lookout for a new Community Engagement Director. If you know anyone with a strong, creative vision for organizing BIPOC folks and including our community in the opportunities that EB PREC generates, please send them our way!

Building our Movement out of the Barn

Last month, 20 Member Owners came together at the Barn (one of our most recent commercial acquisitions) on West Oakland's 7th St. to practice co-governance through EB PREC's Community Owner Circle.

Not only was the evening filled with fun conversations and collective decisions, it also marked a milestone for the Barn as we begin activating and programming the historic space with more in-person meetings and events. With the rising cost of land and housing in the East Bay, organizing spaces are at an all-time premium. Being able to provide space for us to develop and practice the structures we need for our liberation is critical as we work towards creating #LandWithoutLandlords.

We're excited at how quickly our acquisition of the Barn is reinforcing and accelerating our work as we plan for the Barn's grand opening, and look forward to this space being of use for other aligned groups and organizations in the near future.

Land and Freedom go Hand-in-Hand

EB PREC was honored to participate in the Parable of the Sower Co-operative's Juneteenth Reparations Bus Tour last week. The bus tour offered a fun-filled day of games and celebration, as well as skill-building and strategies for winning reparations in our lifetime.

Our Staff Members, Princess & Oraya, partnered with the Mandela Grocery Co-operative to create a "stop" on the bus tour. Princess shared an overview of our work and model, and discussed the critical role that cooperatives play in generating and protecting BIPOC community wealth. Take a look at some of Parable of the Sower's other work here.

RFP: Calling All Architectural Designers!

Esther's facade & interior needs YOU! We've published a request for proposals for the interior and facade design of our Esther's Orbit Room Cultural Revitalization Project. Our goal is to revitalize this culturally significant structure, ensuring it retains its identity for many years to come. Help us honor 7th Street's History, while setting the visual tone for its future.

The Esther's Orbit Room building is a Potential Designated Historic Property (PDHP) built between 1899 and 1903, and the cornerstone of our long-term vision to revitalize the 7th Street Commercial Corridor in West Oakland. Esther's will house a restaurant and bar, commercial kitchen, art gallery, movement studio, and permanently affordable residences above. View & Download the RFP using the button below.

DOWNLOAD RFP

Want to Work at a Co-op?

Passionate about housing justice? Curious about being part of a worker-run organization? We're looking for new staff members to help us transform the housing system in the East Bay & beyond. Please help us spread the word by sharing these jobs with anyone in your network who you think is a good fit:

The Real Estate & Finance Analyst will support our staff and membership by providing the financial & technical tools and know-how to analyze, finance, and acquire real estate assets within the EB PREC model. They will work closely with our Real Estate and Finance teams, as well as groups of EB PREC members working toward property acquisitions. In collaboration with other staff, they will help analyze and troubleshoot projects for financial feasibility, work through scenarios with stakeholders, develop project concepts and prepare projects for acquisition, conduct site visits and assess physical conditions, identify and acquire financing, engage with sellers and realtors in the acquisition process, and manage assets in our portfolio. They will also support the Executive team with organization-wide financial planning and fund management.
We are also seeking a proactive and innovative Property Management Specialist to join our team and help establish effective property management systems for our growing portfolio. In addition to excellent property management skills and deep relevant experience, the ideal candidate will have a strong understanding of cooperative principles, excellent organizational skills, and a passion for affordable housing and community development. This is a part time position with a contract through the end of December 2024, with potential for extension or expansion of this position as our cooperative grows.

Please click the button below for the full job description, including hours, compensation, benefits and more! ALSO! We're gearing up to hire for three additional community-based roles in the coming months (titles are tentative):

Barn Host : The Barn Host will maintain EB PREC's new co-working space, which includes opening and closing, receiving guests, trash pick-up, and light facilities maintenance.
Esther's Cultural Manager : This role is responsible for booking, events, programming, and community building for the full Esther's Orbit Room Cultural Complex (and will co-manage the Barn alongside the Barn Host).
7th Street Thrives Corridor Manager : This role will answer to the 7th Street Thrives team and work to reactivate the historic 7th Street commercial corridor in West Oakland. They will be responsible for supporting the 13 block project, event activation, merchant organizing, and developing the 7th Street identity and merchant's alliance.

Full job descriptions will be linked soon. If you're interested in these roles or know a great candidate, reach out or share these listings!

VIEW JOB OPENINGS