March 15, 2023

Interactive zoning map of the United States

Try Out Our New Interactive Zoning Tracker!

We are excited today to launch the Zoning Reform Tracker, which is meant to serve as a hub for documenting zoning reform efforts across the United States.

There are two components to the Zoning Reform Tracker: a sortable database, and an interactive webmap. The tracker has significant implications for zoning reform, and zoning reform consequently has considerable implications for tackling the housing crisis nexus and addressing the racist roots of exclusionary single-family zoning. We welcome your contributions to this project and hope that this work can help educate the public and serve as a supportive resource for advocacy efforts across the United States.

Visit our Zoning Reform Tracker

Illustration by Jorge Losoya shows hands of different races co creating a residential yard

The Climate Gap and the Color Line

Two of our public health faculty scholars co-authored a new research paper published last week in the New England Journal of Medicine, titled, "The Climate Gap and the Color Line — Racial Health Inequities and Climate Change." In it, Rachel Morello-Frosch and Osagie Obasogie outline several ways the climate crisis disproportionately harms communities of color, and they offer different ways to proactively respond. Read it here.

Video: Watch this conversation between Kerry Washington and V

Watch playwright and performer V (formerly Eve Ensler) converse with actress Kerry Washington in this recent online conversation. The two reflect on their relationship as activists and artists, as well as the importance — and challenge — of working across racial lines and standing up for each other. The conversation was part of the 100k Acts of Solidarity campaign we're involved in, in partnership with SCORE.

Do you have connections with Africa-based organizations? Helps us spread the word!

We are looking for African organizations that are working on climate, agri-food, and environmental issues to participate in a survey on their efforts. The goal of the survey is to establish relationships with African environmental organizations, and to learn about their missions, approaches, challenges, and needs. The survey is running until March 21, and the information and data collected will allow us to identify shared visions, objectives, needs, and areas of meaningful collaboration. We invite you to share this survey with your networks, to post on social media, or to email us recommendations for organizations to connect with.

Survey Link: https://forms.gle/Cv6rGp91YRocN8hQ6

للنسخة العربية، الرجاء الضغط هنا

Pour la version française cliquez ici.

Event promo card withpink background, blue text, and speakers' headshots

Event: What if Justice is Getting in the Way?

Bayo Akomolafe's most recent essay on the limits of Black excellence and the risks of recognition forces strange considerations: what does a politics based on the rehabilitation of Black bodies and their subsequent inclusion leave out of focus? In what ways might Blackness exceed the conditions of its violent formulation? What if justice gets in the way of the transformations we yearn for? Join us Wednesday, March 29, 2023 (8:00 AM - 9:00 AM PST / 11:00 AM - 12:00 PM ET / 5:00 PM - 6:00 PM CET) for our next event in the ongoing series The Edges in the Middle, where scholar and activist Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor and Global Senior Fellow Bayo Akomolafe will explore Black identity, Black excellence, and the limits of seeking inclusion.

Bioneers 2023: Revolution From the Heart of Nature

Since 1990, the Bioneers Conference has served as a trellis on which this visionary movement of movements has grown and grown together around authentic “solve-the-whole problem” solutions. As we roll into our 34th annual conference, the big wheels of massive change are turning. We invite you to join us at Bioneers 2023 where OBI Director john a. powell will be giving a keynote, and several of our staff, faculty, and current and former senior fellows will be speaking. Together, we’ll join forces with the Bioneers community of leadership in this time when we’re all called upon to be leaders. Be sure to use the "OBI20" discount code!

Register for Bioneers 2023

side by side headshots of john a powell, Allison Briscoe-Smith, and Eboo Patel

Event: Why We Need to Build and Bridge

We invite you to join us for an evening of rich discussion on bridging differences.

Please join us on Tuesday, April 25 at 7:15pm for this important, in-person discussion at UC Berkeley's Chevron Auditorium, featuring Eboo Patel, who was our former Senior Fellow. Eboo, who heads Interfaith America, will share what he has learned bridging differences to create a more just and inclusive society. After his talk, Patel will be joined by OBI director john a. powell, and Allison Briscoe-Smith, a senior fellow at the Greater Good Science Center and the co-instructor of our popular online course, Bridging Differences.