+ Paula Saenghoi, Lessee Representative

Paula Saenghoi is a resident at Solano Ave in Berkeley and has lived there since June 2023 with her teenage children. She is a Bay Area native and lives and works in Berkeley. During the day she works for Truiit and White, a family run business that is a staple of the community. During her free time she is an avid home gardener and volunteer at her local animal shelter. She is proud to help represent her community and neighbors in an effort to continuously make BACLT a great place to be a part of and live in.

+ Dustin Tranberg, Lessee Representative

Dustin Tranberg is an IT professional who first experienced cooperative living in the Berkeley student co-ops. For more than two decades he has been an active resident of Brown Shingle, a self-managed housing collective in South Berkeley. He serves on Brown Shingles' maintenance and rules committees, and operates as its liaison to BACLT.

+ Michael Wharton, Lessee Representative

Michael Wharton was previously a Business Agent for Public Employees Union, Local One. He has been connected to faith-based community organizing in south Alameda County and was for some time the co-chair of the social justice committee at St. Leander Catholic Church in San Leandro. Michael helped form a local organizing committee at this intersection and has extensive experience working on housing issues in San Leandro.

+ April King, Lessee Representative

April King is a musician, educator and intuitive business consultant. Native to the Bay Area, April believes it is part of her civic duty to support long term affordable housing. She is a resident at a newer property in process of forming a co-op and is enjoying learning the process. In her first year serving on the board she looks forward to deepening her commitment to supporting housing for all and learning how to best contribute to the board and the residents in BACLT communities.

+ Aja Fasah, General Representative

Aja Fasah is a resident, 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 sits on the advisory committee for Climate Justice Alliance. Most of all Fasah is very passionate about the environment, zero waste and loves 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.

+ Bernadette Okereke, General Representative

Bernadette Okereke is an Independent Contractor and long time Bay Area resident who is committed to justice, equity and access. She has decades of experience advocating for and providing needed resources including food, basic hygiene products, healthcare access, housing and education to the historically underserved. Bernadette is especially passionate about bridging the gap for the disabled, elderly, unhoused, and BIPOC in our community. As such, she plans to amplify the voices and concerns of everyone involved in the BACLT community to ensure that its principles, mission and vision are embodied, as it expands and evolves.

+ Beth Youhn, General Representative

Beth Youhn, Executive Director of Tradeswomen Inc., began her career over 25 years ago as a crane and heavy equipment operator with Operating Engineers Local 3 in the San Francisco Bay Area. Since her retirement from construction in 1999, Beth has worked extensively to promote construction careers to women and men, including positions with Laney Community College and the City and Port of Oakland, where she developed a local hire recruiting program to place women and minorities on the Port’s $1.2 billion expansion and other major public works projects.

+ Mary Lucas McDonald, Vice President & General Representative

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 recently began their work in the club's non-profit board of directors as the outreach director.

+ Jasmine Sozi, President

Jasmine Sozi is dedicated to working alongside organizations striving to address systemic issues and allocate resources to people in need. As the Project Manager of the Community Economic Justice Clinic (CEJ) at the East Bay Community Law Center (EBCLC), Jasmine passionately advocates for the preservation of affordable housing, community ownership of the land, land stewardship, and directing resources to organizations actively involved in furthering these causes, such as community land trusts and cooperatives.

+ Kori Saika Chen, Public Representative & Treasurer

Kori Saika Chen is the Co-Owner of Alkali Rye - Oakland's Beverage Shop, a retail small business that sells delicious drinks and aims to promote Black, Indigenous, People of Color, Women, LGTBQ+, and progressive artisans. He was born in Berkeley, raised in Oakland, and of the firm belief that housing is a human right.

+ Vacant, Public Representative

+ Stephen Barton, Public Representative

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.

+ Jocelyn Zorn, Alternate Lessee Member

Jocelyn is the most recent member of Brown Shingle Collective, coming from 5 years of living and organizing with Fairmount House, both BACLT properties. She is a new mother, committed partner, backyard birder, butterfly enthusiast and climate justice advocate. Jocelyn works for the city of Oakland in the Parks and Recreation Department for Lake Merritt.

Jocelyn believes that community and affordable housing are crucial to building a just world. She has helped develop financial processes at both co-ops and is (surprisingly) passionate about bookkeeping. She is a truth-teller and advocate for her community. It's important for her to uplift the voices of those whose stories help build a better world, this expands beyond people to include the natural world. Jocelyn believes in reciprocity and the value of balance in nature. She is honored to have been selected for a Board Member position and hopes to be a part of developing a stronger and more supportive Land Trust.

+ Arianne Senten, Alternate Lessee Member

Arianne Senten and her family moved to California 6 years ago and has lived in Alameda County for the last 4 years. She has lived with family and friends up until June 2023 when her luck changed and landed her and family a place of their own at Solano Ave in Berkeley through BACLT. Arianne, as well as the rest of the Solano Ave residents, continue to work hard towards their goal of co-op partnership with BACLT at Solano Ave. Arianne is part of her buildings maintenance committee, she is the host of the monthly resident's meetings, and she recently attended the 2024 CLT conference in Los Angeles. Arianne feels that learning all she can about CLT's will help her relay important information to the other residents at Solano Ave so that they can all work together in building a strong and everlasting foundation for their co-op for current and future residents.

+ Will Adams, Alternate Lessee Member

Bio coming soon..

+ Vacant, Alternate Lessee Member

+ Tracy Parent, Organizational Director

Tracy Parent joined BACLT as its Organizational Director in March 2022. She brings more than 20 years' experience with land trusts and housing co-ops. Tracy previously served on the Board of the San Francisco Community Land Trust, and as its Organizational Director, from 2006 to 2016. Having lived in a Housing Collective in San Francisco in the 90's, she has provided education and technical assistance to numerous Co-ops and Collectives. In her spare time, Tracy enjoys traveling to anywhere near or far, including Istanbul, Turkey where her extended family lives.

+ Matt Gustafson, Director of Strategic Development

Matt and his family moved up to Berkeley from San José in 2023. He enjoys playing soccer and roasting coffee. He's spent the past five years becoming a parent, earning a Masters in Urban Planning with honors from SJSU, and organizing with SOMOS Mayfair in East San José. As a community organizer he helped lead grassroots initiatives for citywide anti-displacement policies including COPA, advance a community-designed urban village plan, and create a cooperative housing strategy. Through 15 years of nonprofit work he brings deep experience in communications, facilitation, program design & implementation, strategy, policy, and community building. Most importantly, he has seen the deep power and leadership of community members advocating their own solutions for the liberation of everyone.

+ Rick Lewis, Project Manager

Rick Lewis is a founding member of BACLT and served as Executive Director for 11 years. He has over 30 years of experience in housing and economic development, specializing in the development and support of housing cooperatives. He has over twenty years experience as a carpenter and general contractor. He has served on numerous boards, including the Berkeley Housing Advisory Commission and the San Francisco Community Land Trust board. He co-founded the housing co-op he lives in 36 years ago.

+ Rebecca Orozco, Co-op Program Manager

Rebecca Orozco (they/she/rebe) joined BACLT as a property resident in January 2020, and BACLT staff as a Co-op Program Manager July 2024. They have over a decade of experience in social justice organizing with focus areas intersecting at reproductive rights, aging in place, racial justice, abolition, food justice, gender inclusivity, and death and dying issues. An original organizing member of Roots of Labor Birth Collective, Rebe is a queer full-spectrum doula who believes strongly in working collectively to heal, learn, remember ancestral traditions, and radically revision our meanings of community. They are excited to join the BACLT team with a dual perspective, and serve as a bridge between the resident community and the organizational leadership. When not organizing, Rebe enjoys cumbia, yoga, walks with their senior dog, thrifting, camping with partner and friends, and being a community doula.

+ Noah Compo, Stewardship Manager

Noah Compo joined the BACLT team in April 2024 as its Stewardship Manager. Noah has been working with housing cooperatives since 2011, including student cooperatives in Lawrence, KS, Santa Barabara, CA, and Berkeley, CA. He is an ardent supportive of all housing models that center people over profit and empower communities in their right to self-determination. Noah has served on the board of directors for a number of community and housing nonprofit organizations, including NASCO Properties and NASCO Development Services, and has provided technical consulting and training on collective decision-making for housing and worker cooperatives. Noah is a lifelong musician, and he hopes you have a great day.

+ Yuri Sadiki-Torres, Communication Manager

Yuri was born and raised in the Bronx, NYC and currently resides in Oakland. She is a third generation Community Organizer with a BA in Public Policy/ History at Mills College and is the Goddaughter of Yuri Kochiyama. Before joining BACLT, Yuri was the Director of Policy/ Community Engagement for the Mayor Thao’s administration. She has also organized with organizations in Oakland and New York City including Faith in Action East Bay, Northern California Land Trust, Malcolm X Grassroots Movement, and created the first Youth Roundtable at the Community Service Society of New York. Throughout Yuri's 13 years of community organizing experience; she has organized around housing policies, economic equity, community safety, and environmental justice. Yuri enjoys traveling, hiking, and baking.