California CLT Action
A force for expanding community ownership and permanently affordable housing
Board of Directors
Veronica Beaty
Sacramento CLT
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Veronica has been an advocate for affordable homes in the Sacramento region for more than 7 years because they believe housing is a human right. They are currently the Director of Policy and Research for the California Coalition for Rural Housing. Veronica loves hsaring what they know and empowering people to get engaged in local politics.
Jen Collins
OakCLT
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Jen Collins is Operations and Stewardship Manager at the Oakland Community Land Trust and board secretary for the California CLT Network. She and her family are also OakCLT homeowners. Prior to joining OakCLT’s staff, Jen served as a resident representative on the OakCLT board of directors.
Sua Hernandez
T.R.U.S.T. South LA
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Suairis Hernandez serves as T.R.U.S.T. South LA’s Housing & Real Estate Steward. She brings a solid background in real estate development, housing justice, and community engagement, which mixes with a proven ability to lead impactful projects and secure funding.
As the founding Executive Director of a sister CLT, she led housing and economic resilience initiatives, raised over $4M in grants and assets and built strong community partnerships. She is experienced in asset management, overseeing multi-family properties, managing tenant relations, and working with government agencies, community groups, and funders.
Her past roles involved managing asset portfolios, guiding development project projections, and ensuring compliance. With organized women of color, she developed the fundamental framework and approaches that guide her work, strengthened her leadership, and engrained a commitment to social, housing, environmental and economic justice.
Jacky Rivera
California Community Land Trust Network
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Jacky Rivera is a community organizer, advocate and first-generation Mexicana working with community for over 10 years on issues of food sovereignty and dignified housing for all from the Bay Area to the Central Valley. She is a founding member and the previous Operational Co-Director of South Bay Community Land Trust in San Jose, CA – incorporated in 2019. She participated in local tenants rights advocacy as a renter herself in San Jose from 2013 – 2020 and in issues of food sovereignty and food access through her paid work in La Mesa Verde at Sacred Heart Community Service. She has also organized around the issues of immigration, workers’ rights and unionizing.
She holds a B.S. in Nutritional Sciences with minors in Global Health, Globalization, Ethnicity & Development and Inequality Studies from Cornell University. Jacky’s passion for land-use, community development and justice is inspired by her upbringing in the agriculturally-dense areas of Ventura and Madera, California. In her spare time, she enjoys reading and connecting with friends and community at free cultural, comedic and/or outdoorsy events around the Central Valley.
Shekinah Samaya-Thomas
Oakland CLT
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Shekinah (& husband Christopher) Samaya-Thomas realized homeownership dreams with Oakland CLT in 2013. She enthusiastically embraced CLT Resident Board leadership in 2014, increasing her involvement in truly affordable housing advocacy. As part of “the original 6 Ambassadors”, the National CLT Network trained her to connect her CLT story to permanently affordable housing public investments. She took that back to her own community, regularly engaging in advocacy efforts with her City, County, & State representatives.
Since 2023 Shekinah has served on the Ambassador’s Council of the United Way Bay Area (UWBA). She attended both CA-CLT Network conference’s in Oakland, & in 2024 in LA, significantly increasing her involvement in 2024. “Policy is my Passion” is her motto, knowing legislative action creates positive social change, & believing that the Civil-rights grounded CLT model of permanent affordability is primary to helping address our societal housing crisis!
Shekinah’s professional career includes being an Adult Learner Public Educator, Non-Profit Program Director, & Individual & Family Spiritual Counselor. Shekinah holds dual Master’s degrees, dual CA teaching credentials, & is an Ordained Interfaith Minister. Raised in MN, she has lived in CA since 1992. Her “fun” time involves “All things Disney” & she longs to “play in Anaheim” whenever possible.
Eddie Torres
El Sereno CLT
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Ian Winters Northern CA Land Trust (NCLT)
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Ian Winters has served as Executive Director of the Northern California Land Trust since 2002 and is a long-term CLT & coop resident. Professionally he has over 10-years of experience in sustainable construction and architecture as well as community activism and organizational development. He trained as a photographer/filmmaker and art/architectural historian at Tufts University and the Boston Museum School and graduate architecture/design work at the San Francisco Institute of Architecture. Outside of the CLT world, he maintains an active life as a working artist.
Top Priorities
We are campaigning for Housing Justice through these six priorities for community-owned, permanently affordable land and housing:
- Fair taxation for CLTs and Limited Equity Housing Cooperatives (LEHC’s)
- Growing the movement for tenant control of housing with five active Tenant Opportunity to Purchase Act (TOPA) campaigns and more on the way
- Ending displacement by real estate speculation
- Supporting new CLTs
- Establishing social housing as local and state policy
- Prioritizing public land for community ownership
Committees and Working Groups
Recent News
Popular Education Materials
These materials are crafted to simplify complex housing issues, fostering community involvement and advocacy in affordable housing and land trust initiatives.
Aimed at promoting understanding and action, they serve as a bridge between technical knowledge and community-led efforts for sustainable housing solutions.
CACLTN Trainings and Webinars
We offer a range of trainings and webinars designed to enhance the knowledge and skills of those involved in community land trusts and affordable housing.
These sessions cover a variety of topics, including organizational development, financial management, policy advocacy, and practical tools for community engagement, providing valuable insights for both newcomers and experienced practitioners in the field.
Policy and Advocacy Materials
These materials designed to equip organizations and individuals with the resources necessary for effective advocacy and policy engagement in support of Community Land Trusts (CLTs).
These materials include policy briefs, advocacy guides, and legislative updates that provide insights into current housing policies, strategies for influencing policy decisions, and best practices for mobilizing community support for sustainable, affordable housing initiatives.
