Taking Charge of OUR Corridor 🚀
7th St Belongs to Us All | Co-op Election Results | Our Team Grows!
The difference two years can make!
Last Saturday, EB PREC and LISC Bay Area (as 7th St. Thrives) hosted our 2nd Annual corridor cleanup in partnership with Oaklandish, Kingmakers, Soul Blends Coffee Roasters, residents, and more to celebrate Black Earth Day and honor West Oakland's historically Black-owned business district. More than 100 people, spread out across 13 blocks, collected OVER 240 BAGS of trash on 7th Street.
We encountered significantly less hazardous waste during this cleanup in comparison to our first Black Earth Day in 2023. We feel so proud that our organizing and beautifying efforts are having a lasting effect on the corridor's character. Our afternoon ended with a block party at Esther's Orbit Room, celebrating our collective action with DJ Starr Gold and some Arizmendi pizza.
Black Earth Day 2024 demonstrates our vision of community co-stewardship and what it takes for us to rebuild our city. With LISC’s support as a national, Community Development Financial Institution (CDFI), we’ve moved past the ideation phase and are now embarking on a full-scale reactivation of the 7th Street corridor. Just like the corridor, our website is a work in progress, but you can check us out at 7thstreetoakland.com!
Click the button below or the photo above to watch a short video recap of the event. You can also check out some great photos sponsored by our friends at LISC and Soul Blends Coffee here:
https://www.instagram.com/p/C6CEbecvbO9/?img_index=1
https://www.instagram.com/p/C6B03mZLc8u/?img_index=1
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EB PREC, BCZ, & Trybe: Taking Charge of our Commercial Corridors!
Join us on Wednesday, May 1 from 1:00pm - 2:30pm as we discuss the groundbreaking work happening on 7th Street, in Deep East Oakland, and in the San Antonio Park area."Activating Your Commercial Corridor" will feature our Executive Director, Noni Session, alongside:
- Carolyn “CJ” Johnson, Black Cultural Zone CDC – Black Cultural Zone and 40x40 Collaborative, East Oakland
- Andrew Park, Trybe – San Antonio Park and Clinton Park, East Oakland
- and moderated by Sasha Werblin, Director of Economic Development at LISC Bay Area.
This panel is part of Oakland's Small Business Week 2024, which features virtual and in-person workshops, a City Services Resource Fair, Multi-Cultural Chamber Mixer and a Celebration of Small Business Reception to end the week - _all free and open to all!_
Oakland small businesses and entrepreneurs are invited to attend all Small Business Week 2024 events and workshops, which are presented by partner organizations, and designed and curated by the City of Oakland Economic Development Department to provide relevant information, actionable strategies, resources and valuable connections to help Oakland businesses survive and thrive.
From financial strategies, taxes and accounting, safety and security, building a digital presence, commercial lease negotiations, access to capital, and transitioning from home-based or mobile business to a brick and mortar space, the 2024 Oakland Small Business Week Schedule offers six days of free educational workshops. Additional workshops and details for the events listed above can be found on the Small Business Week website.
The results are in!
Democracy is alive at the co-op! EB PREC received 16 total nominations for 10 nominees, many of whom were nominated for multiple board positions. Ultimately, the Cooperative confirmed 1 candidate for Governance Director, 2 candidates for Financial Director, 3 candidates for Community Director, and 1 candidate for Resident Director! In total, 5 candidates ran for 4 positions -- 3 candidates ran for 2 positions each. Voting closed on April 5th. Without further ado, we're excited to announceEB PREC's newly elected Board Directors:
- Governance Director: Rakita O'Neal. The Governance Director and Financial Director election had a 13% voting percentage among the 618 eligible voters. Rakita O’Neal confirmed acceptance of the Governance position after receiving the most votes (96% with 4% abstaining).
- Financial Director: Annie Ledbury (Ojan got more votes, but ceded his seat). Annie Ledbury accepted the Financial Director seat after Ojan Mobedshahi winning the most votes (53%) ceded the seat; he is excited to have more support with the Coop’s finances.
- Community Director: Annette Haugabook. The Community Director election had a 11% voting percentage among the 267 eligible voters; Annette Haugabook confirmed acceptance of the Community Director position after getting the most votes (57%).
- Resident Director: Toshia Christal. The Resident Director election had a 43% voting percentage among the 7 eligible voters, who unanimously voted for Toshia Christal; Toshia accepted the seat.
Congratulations to our new Directors and all of our Member Owners who participated in the collective governance of OUR cooperative. We're excited to work closely with our Board to advance our vision!
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Welcome Oraya to EB PREC!
Oraya Hunter is joining EB PREC as our Development and Grant-writing Associate.
Oak Center (West Oakland) native, Oraya Hunter, is an art director by training, and a creative at heart. In 2018, she launched her career at the multicultural, award-winning firm, Carol H. Williams Advertising, and helped build campaigns for clients like the 2020 United States Census, Kaiser Permanente, and US Bank, who were serving the Black community life-changing opportunities and resources. In 2022, she transitioned to working for the City of Oakland as Communications Director for District 7's (Deep East Oakland) City Council Office and supporting events like District 7’s Fiscal Year '22-'23 Budget Town Hall the 2nd Annual Community Safety Task Force Day of Action.
Today, Oraya uses her love for organizing to help #HealPeoplePower and foster a more empowering relationship with Ohlone land among her generation. Oraya holds a B.A. in Advertising from San Francisco’s Academy of Art University. In her spare time she enjoys binge watching historical documentaries, spending quality time with her family, and hiking Oakland’s Bay Trail.
Oraya's role will unlock additional capacity within our Money Circle, allowing our Staff Collective to pursue new funding opportunities, improve our investor relationships, and develop new streams of revenue for our cooperative. EB PREC is excited to welcome Oraya to the team!
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Esther's is on the Airwaves - Again!
We're closing out this month's newsletter with a little treat! KALW's interview with our Executive Director, Noni Session, discusses the history of Esther's Orbit Room, how urban development projects like the freeway and BART line disrupted the surrounding neighborhood, and EB PREC's efforts to restore it as a cultural center and continuing its tradition of supporting the Black Arts Movement.
If you're interested in what EB PREC is building on 7th Street, this is the interview for you!
Housing Opportunities!
The following properties are _potential_ or in progress EB PREC acquisitions looking for new residents! Check out the openings below if you or someone you know is searching for housing and intentional community!
Bicycle Co-op: Upstairs unit. Click here to learn more about this listing.
