BETH YOUHN

Board President (since 2006)

Board President Beth Youhn is the former Executive Director of Tradeswomen Inc., a nonprofit that supports tradeswomen, and assists unions and employers to recruit and retain skilled tradeswomen.

Ms. Youhn worked as a heavy equipment operator with Operating Engineers Local 3 for 20 years, and later worked to promote construction careers for women and minorities at Laney Community College and the City and Port of Oakland.

She serves on the California Apprenticeship Council’s Blue Ribbon Committee on Women in Apprenticeship, is a founding board member of Tradeswomen Now and Tomorrow, a national policy coalition, and is a founding member of the AFL-CIO Building and Construction Trades Department’s Standing Committee on Women in the Trades.

MARIE WHIDDEN

Board Secretary 

Board Secretary Marie Whidden is a founding member of BACLT, and was elected to the board in 2012. She has served actively as a member of the Membership Committee and assisted with many of BACLT’s events. She has been active in the community for 40 years, sponsoring youth groups, directing improvisational theater groups and volunteering in the schools. She has been a massage therapist and teacher for 31 years. She is a long-time co-op supporter, was a member of the Berkeley Food Co-op, and lived in a co-op in the 1980s.

CHRIS BAILEY

Tech Expert (since 2009)

Chris Bailey is a founding BACLT member and was elected to the board in 2009. She was one of the early women members of the Carpenters Union in the 1970's and an officer in the Oakland chapter in the 1980's. In 1985, she went to Nicaragua with the Bay Area Construction Brigade to build houses on a coffee cooperative. Ms. Bailey worked for Alameda County as a Construction Project Manager, the San Francisco Housing Authority as a Construction Inspector and recently retired from twelve years as a Building Inspector and Plans Examiner with the San Francisco Department of Building Inspection.

WALTER HARDZOG

 Resident

Walter Hardzog was elected to the board in 2018. He is a carpentry craftsman and a resident at Brown Shingle Collective He serves as an alternate board member.

MIKE JONES

Community Partner

Mike Jones is a filmmaker and a Bay Area native. He is a deacon and trustee of the McGee Avenue Baptist Church, a partner of BACLT’s Stuart Street project in South Berkeley.

REGINA MOUTON

Resident (since 2018)

Regina Mouton was elected to the board in 2018. Regina Mouton, a San Francisco native, has received training as an artist, historian and educator. Regina was an activist in the formation of the Women's Building in San Francisco where she focused on issues around reproductive rights, led workshops and participated on the steering committee of annual International Women's Day celebrations.

She taught art history at Mills College and San Francisco State University, and curated the first public art program for the City of Oakland, and other Bay Area galleries, museums, and institutions. She led docent programs working with artists, teachers and organizations to provide access to exhibits, performances, and arts/work-training programs for thousands of K-12 students.

Regina has raised her son in shared housing for the past decade, is an avid gardener and writer, and currently works as an education specialist for secondary students of color with learning differences in Oakland public schools.

STEPHEN BARTON

Board Vice President (since 2012)

Board Vice-President Stephen Barton retired from the City of Berkeley after serving as Housing Director, Deputy Director of the Rent Stabilization Board and as a housing planner. He has a Ph.D. in City and Regional Planning from the University of California, Berkeley and is the author of numerous articles on housing policy and economics. He received an Affordable Housing Leadership award from the Non-Profit Housing Association of Northern California in 2006 and a National Planning Award from the American Planning Association in 1997.

MARY LUCAS McDONALD

Board Treasurer

Board Treasurer Mary Lucas McDonald is a founder of the BACLT Hibiscus Commons project, a model for affordable elder housing cooperatives, which will help seniors of all incomes to retire comfortably and affordably in community. Mary served on the steering committee for United in Action, the community organization that developed the 2020 Vision to close the achievement gap in Berkeley schools. She volunteered for Ashby Village which helps seniors live independently. Mary is an avid dragon boater and served on the boating club’s non-profit board of directors as the outreach director.

MARCIA CAINE EDELEN

Resident (since 2014)

Marcia Caine Edelen joined the board in 2014. She grew up and raised her family in West Berkeley. At the Consumers Co-op of Berkeley, she was an employee-member later elected to the CCB Board. She also served on the Board of the West Berkeley Fund for Community Progress and committees of the Berkeley Climate Action Coalition. In 2015, Marcia became a resident/member of Brown Shingle Mutual Housing, a resident-managed project of the BACLT. She has been an active member of the BACLT for several years.

AJA FASAH

Resident

Aja Fasah was elected to the board in 2018. He is a resident and board member of the Oregon Park Senior Apartments, a resident controlled nonprofit.

SAKI BAILEY

Program Manager

Saki Bailey has nine years of experience in research, teaching, and policy work in the cooperative management of fundamental resources. Saki received her J.D. from UC Hastings and is currently completing a doctoral degree in Legal Theory at the University of Gothenburg, Sweden where she is researching cooperative models as a solution to the intensified shortages of affordable housing affecting many dense metropolitan areas in the US and Europe. She has published in both popular and academic journals on her work in these areas and is a regular contributor to Shareable.org.

RICK LEWIS

Executive Director

Executive Director Rick Lewis has 28 years of experience in housing and economic development, specializing in the development and support of housing cooperatives. He has a Masters in City and Regional Planning from the University of California, Berkeley. He has over twenty years of experience as a carpenter and general contractor. He was a founding member of BACLT and served on the Board from 2006 to 2010. He has served on the Berkeley Housing Advisory Commission and on the San Francisco Community Land Trust board, and lives in a housing co-op he helped form 32 years ago.

SAKI BAILEY

Board President

Saki Bailey has nine years of experience in research, teaching, and policy work in the cooperative management of fundamental resources. Saki received her J.D. from UC Hastings and is currently completing a doctoral degree in Legal Theory at the University of Gothenburg, Sweden where she is researching cooperative models as a solution to the intensified shortages of affordable housing affecting many dense metropolitan areas in the US and Europe. She has published in both popular and academic journals on her work in these areas and is a regular contributor to Shareable.org.

RONALD FLANNERY

Board Secretary

Ronald is an organizer of Vietnamese descent who campaigns across the East Bay for local tenant protections, deeply affordable homes, and land use policies that promote development without displacement. He follows a transformative organizing practice that emphasizes relationship building across difference and leadership development of those most impacted by structural violence. He believes housing is a human right and that an abundant world that meets our human needs is within our grasp. He completed his MA studies in Global Political Economy at the University of Kassel in Germany and has previous experience campaigning for universal health care in his home state of Maine.

LAYEL CAMARGO

Resident

Layel Camargo (pgp: they, them, theirs) is an indigenous descendant of the Yaqui and Mayo tribes from the Sonoran Desert born and raised on a border town in San Diego, CA. Layel  a transgender & non-binary person, graduated from the University of California, Santa Cruz in 2010 and is a former organizer of six years for Transformative Justice. They are The Center for Cultural Power’s Ecological Arts & Culture Manager. Layel has been involved with performance art in both theater and video since 2008, and have recently began their work in video production. Their most recent artistic work was through their participation in a Bay Area-based artist-in-residency 'Las Hociconas Lab' & Soundwave SF ‘biennial’. They are currently Movement Generation’s Cultural Strategist, Impact Producer for ‘The North Pole Show’ Season Two, on the creative team for PBS POV series creator Marc Weiss’ new project, as well as sit on the advisory committee for Climate Justice Alliance. Most of all they are very passionate about the environment, zero waste and ‘veganismo para el planeta’ & love working with artists as well as with frontline communities. Current 2019 YBCA 100  honoree for their work with Climate Woke alongside Greta Thunberg and Shonda Rhimes.

AJA FASAH

Community Partner

Aja Fasah was elected to the board in 2018. He is a resident and board member of the Oregon Park Senior Apartments, a resident-controlled nonprofit.

REGINA MOUTON

Resident

Regina Mouton was elected to the board in 2018. A San Francisco native, Regina has received training as an artist, historian and educator. Regina was an activist in the formation of the Women's Building in San Francisco where she focused on issues around reproductive rights, led workshops and participated on the steering committee of annual International Women's Day celebrations.

She taught art history at Mills College and San Francisco State University, and curated the first public art program for the City of Oakland, and other Bay Area galleries, museums, and institutions. She led docent programs working with artists, teachers and organizations to provide access to exhibits, performances, and arts/work-training programs for thousands of K-12 students.

Regina has raised her son in shared housing for the past decade, is an avid gardener and writer, and currently works as an education specialist for secondary students of color with learning differences in Oakland public schools.

WALTER HARDZOG

 Resident

Walter Hardzog was elected to the board in 2018. He is a carpentry craftsman and a resident at Brown Shingle Collective. He serves as an alternate board member.

RICK LEWIS

Executive Director

Executive Director Rick Lewis has 28 years of experience in housing and economic development, specializing in the development and support of housing cooperatives. He has a Masters in City and Regional Planning from the University of California, Berkeley. He has over twenty years of experience as a carpenter and general contractor. He was a founding member of BACLT and served on the Board from 2006 to 2010. He has served on the Berkeley Housing Advisory Commission and on the San Francisco Community Land Trust board, and lives in a housing co-op he helped form 32 years ago.

MIRANDA STROMINGER

Program Manager

As BACLT's Program Manager, Miranda focuses on bringing new cooperative projects into the community land trust. She brings a commitment to housing and land justice grounded in community control. Most recently, she completed the Coro Fellows Program in Public Affairs, where she spent a year immersed in local and regional public policy and housing issues. Previously, she worked in development at Community Works West, a restorative justice nonprofit in Oakland. Miranda holds a bachelor's degree in human biology and a master's degree in sociology from Stanford.

STEPHEN BARTON

Board Vice President

Board Vice-President Stephen Barton retired from the City of Berkeley after serving as Housing Director, Deputy Director of the Rent Stabilization Board and as a housing planner. He has a Ph.D. in City and Regional Planning from the University of California, Berkeley and is the author of numerous articles on housing policy and economics. He received an Affordable Housing Leadership award from the Non-Profit Housing Association of Northern California in 2006 and a National Planning Award from the American Planning Association in 1997.

MARY LUCAS McDONALD

Board Treasurer

Board Treasurer Mary Lucas McDonald is a founder of the BACLT Hibiscus Commons project, a model for affordable elder housing cooperatives, which will help seniors of all incomes to retire comfortably and affordably in community. Mary served on the steering committee for United in Action, the community organization that developed the 2020 Vision to close the achievement gap in Berkeley schools. She volunteered for Ashby Village which helps seniors live independently. Mary is an avid dragon boater and served on the boating club’s non-profit board of directors as the outreach director.

BONNIE CURETON

Technical Expert

Bonnie Cureton was elected to the board in 2019. She is a native of Ohio and moved to the East Bay to be closer to her grandchildren. Bonnie has a passion for co-operative and collective-run organizations and is a firm believer that affordable housing is a human right.

Bonnie was a partner in a construction firm focused on renovating low-income housing for the state housing authority as well as lead abatement, mold remediation and energy efficiency. She spent most of her career supporting Cities, Municipalities and large Industrial consumers to become more knowledgeable, efficient, and effective with the energy they consumed. She has a Bachelor of Science in Engineering from The Ohio State University.

MARCIA CAINE EDELEN

Resident

Marcia Caine Edelen volunteered in the BACLT office, then joined their Board in 2014. She grew up and raised her family in West Berkeley. At the Consumers Co-op of Berkeley, she was an employee-member later elected to the CCB Board. Marcia also served on the Board of the West Berkeley Fund for Community Progress. In 2015, she and her daughter became resident/members of Brown Shingle Mutual Housing a resident-managed project of the BACLT.  She continues as an active “Resident Member” member of the BACLT Board.

MICHAEL WHARTON

Resident

Michael Wharton was elected to the board in 2019. He is a resident of Fairmount House, which joined BACLT in the same year.

MARIE WHIDDEN

Community Partner

Board Secretary Marie Whidden is a founding member of BACLT, and was elected to the board in 2012. She has served actively as a member of the Membership Committee and assisted with many of BACLT’s events. She has been active in the community for 40 years, sponsoring youth groups, directing improvisational theater groups and volunteering in the schools. She has been a massage therapist and teacher for 31 years. She is a long-time co-op supporter, was a member of the Berkeley Food Co-op, and lived in a co-op in the 1980s.

BETH YOUHN

Technical Expert

Beth Youhn is the former Executive Director of Tradeswomen Inc., a nonprofit that supports tradeswomen, and assists unions and employers to recruit and retain skilled tradeswomen.

Ms. Youhn worked as a heavy equipment operator with Operating Engineers Local 3 for 20 years, and later worked to promote construction careers for women and minorities at Laney Community College and the City and Port of Oakland.

She serves on the California Apprenticeship Council’s Blue Ribbon Committee on Women in Apprenticeship, is a founding board member of Tradeswomen Now and Tomorrow, a national policy coalition, and is a founding member of the AFL-CIO Building and Construction Trades Department’s Standing Committee on Women in the Trades.

ELENA AURORA

Resident Community Organizer

Elena Aurora is a healer and creative movement organizer. They are the Co-Founder of Roots of Labor Birth Collective & Woke n Wasteless. As a Queer, Latinx, mixed race person of Peru-Euro descent, Elena is skilled at understanding the delicate intersections of our society and its effects on housing. Some of their other organizing work includes: reducing consumerism and waste, the liberation of land and people from private interest, and reproductive justice. Follow them on Instagram: @Woke_n_Wasteless or @RootsofLaborbc