Media Contact: Brian Maxey, bmaxey@calreinvest.org

The training program selects working professionals from across California with the drive to create tools for addressing structural racism. 

LOS ANGELES, CA — The California Reinvestment Coalition is pleased to announce that it has selected 10 working professionals for our 2022 Racial and Economic Justice (REJ) Cohort, an eight-month training program meant to help equip senior and mid-senior leaders with the skills to help their organizations undue the unequal distribution of wealth in California, and address the power structures that perpetuate structural racism. 

The 2022 REJ Cohort members were selected from a record number of outstanding applicants based on their demonstrated leadership and their commitment to dismantling systems of oppression within organizations. The cohort begins on Wednesday, April 6.

The 2022 cohort, which features professionals from Northern, Central and Southern California, includes:

  • Aura Aguilar, Corazon Healdsburg
  • Mercedes Carbajal, Sacred Heart
  • Trisha Chakrabarti, DAISA Enterprises
  • Christine Erickson, New Legacy Institute
  • YaVette Holts, Bay Area Organization of Black Owned Businesses (BAOBOB) 
  • Roberto Jimenez, Mutual Housing CA
  • Monica Joe, Non-Profit Housing Association of Northern California 
  • Mahdi Manji, Inner City Law Center
  • Angela McNair, Legal Aid Foundation- Los Angeles (LAFLA)
  • Rita Zhang, Community Roots Financials

“Capital is inaccessible to many communities of color, which was exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic,” said CRC Executive Director Paulina Gonzalez-Brito. “CRC created the Racial and Economic Justice program to equip leaders with the necessary tools, language and resources, including an intentional supportive community, to challenge the legacy of white supremacy embedded in our financial system.”

In this highly interactive training program, cohort members meet several times throughout the year for skill-building workshops and receive personalized development plans tailored to their personal and organizational goals for the year. 

“The 2022 REJ Cohort are professionals who bring impressive experience, knowledge and a drive to address the power structures that make it difficult for Black, Indigenous and People of Color to build wealth in this country,” said Jyotswaroop Bawa, CRC Chief of Organizing and Campaigns. 

Launched in spring 2021, the program’s first cohort included participants from 14 organizations, including the Center for Responsible Lending, Law Foundation of Silicon Valley, and Unite A Nation.

 

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About the California Reinvestment Coalition

The California Reinvestment Coalition (CRC) builds an inclusive and fair economy that meets the needs of communities of color and low-income communities by ensuring that banks and other corporations invest and conduct business in our communities in a just and equitable manner. CRC’s 300 organizational members include multi-service agencies, affordable housing developers, housing and financial capability counselors, tenants’ rights and legal aid organizations, small business technical assistance providers, Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFIs), small farm incubators, immigrant service organizations, and other community-serving organizations located throughout California. We envision a future in which people of color and low-income people live and participate fully and equally in financially healthy and stable communities without fear of displacement and have the tools necessary to build household and community wealth.