The first webinar in the Building Equitable Economies series shared with attendees how to become a part of California Forward’s movement, bringing people together across communities, regions and interests to improve government and create inclusive, sustainable growth for everyone.

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When California enacted the California Public Safety Realignment Act of 2011 (AB 109), in response to overcrowded prisons, it shifted the burden of incarceration from the state to the counties. But county jails were not created or equipped to hold the growing population and overcrowding moved from prisons to jails. This created budget problems and lawsuits surrounding the care and treatment of those in custody. As one former county administrator said, “we can’t build ourselves out of this problem.”

In 2014, CA FWD launched the Justice System Change Initiative to help California counties transform their criminal justice systems by using data-driven practices to improve interventions and wisely use resources. Jail Utilization studies were conducted to identify opportunities for system change.

Learn more about the findings from the jail utilization studies conducted in four counties (Merced, Riverside, San Bernardino and Santa Cruz) as well as best practices and lessons learned.

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The slide deck for this webinar can be found here.

Organizing communities around building homes for people at all income levels is extraordinarily difficult work, and this effort meets different forms of resistance in different communities.

If California is to achieve its full economic potential and fulfill its promise as a place of opportunity for all, the state and a broad coalition of regional stakeholders must work together to increase housing supply across income levels and support conditions that allow all residents to live affordably in communities near their jobs.

This webinar provides a plan for a “regions up” housing agenda for the state that is built from existing initiatives that have political traction and stakeholder support. Read the full report: Regions Build Together – A Housing Agenda for All California

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The slide deck for this webinar can be found here.

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California is home to one of the nation’s most diverse populations. However, too many Californians are not engaged in any of the state’s policymaking processes. Currently, Millennials are underrepresented and Gen Zers are unrepresented in the Legislature. The state’s representation does not mirror the population and lacks valuable input from the communities it is responsible for serving. In this webinar, our Young Leaders Advisory Council lead a discussion centered through a racial-equity lens on three topics: mental health, climate change and education.

This talented group of students and early professionals comes from all around the state, bringing their valuable diversity in experiences, perspectives and backgrounds. Although these young leaders have many individual differences, they share the same goal — to help move California forward.

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The slide deck for this webinar can be found here.

California’s commitment to racial justice and economic inclusion are meaningless without dramatic changes that make homeownership a possibility for marginalized racial and economic communities.

The primary mechanism for achieving this will be building more homes that are affordable by design. Currently, new homes built in California cost more than double the national average. Complex regulations create uncertainty and delays that dramatically increase the price of new housing projects. Further cities and other municipalities have become more reliant on local impact fees, pushing prices up further.

A policy brief released by CA FWD with support from the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, “Building Racial and Economic Equity Through Home Ownership,” outlines how communities of color have historically been left behind in home ownership, how it affects their everyday lives, and what can be done to make home ownership more equitable.

This webinar provides an overview of the dramatic racial wealth gap, the consequences of that gap for home ownership and current policies that might be reformed to build more homes that are affordable by design.

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The slide deck for this webinar can be found here.

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California is a world leader in responding to climate change by setting goals to curb emissions and transition to less carbon-intensive energy sources. The state has been a pioneer in advancing technologies and supporting efforts in response to climate adaptation. These efforts directly influence how we build, where we work and where we live. Recent actions, like Governor Gavin Newsom’s Executive Order requiring sales of all new passenger vehicles to be zero-emission by 2035, underscore the urgency and the need to make sure all communities have equal access to a more sustainable climate-resilient future.

Watch this webinar to learn how regional, state, and emerging leaders are integrating efforts to develop a powerful strategy for collective action to address climate change and the state’s energy needs from a triple-bottom-line perspective.

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The slide deck for this webinar can be found here.

The Equitable Economies series has focused on different aspects of inclusive sustainable development that fulfills the triple bottom line, balancing equity, environmental sustainability, and economic growth.  This webinar will focus on the efforts happening in regions throughout the state.

The framework for these efforts was developed by the California Economic Summit and is based on the initial success of the regional development efforts of Fresno’s DRIVE Initiative and the Inland Empire’s IEGO. The framework stresses interconnectivity and collaboration among its diverse and cross-sector partners and seeks to leverage a region’s assets to help address its greatest challenges whether it be in workforce, climate change, housing, transportation, education, etc. The goal is to foster economic prosperity and to promote innovative solutions. Much interest and support has grown in the North State, Kern County, Southeast Los Angeles, the Sacramento region, and in the Northern San Joaquin Valley to create a more comprehensive, strategic and inclusive priority setting process.

AB 106, legislation to create the Regions Rise Grant Program, introduced by Assemblymember Salas, will advance comprehensive regional strategies for the rebuilding of regional economies in a more equitable, inclusive and sustainable manner. The program seeks to ensure that disadvantaged communities and communities of color are fully included in decision-making processes around key issues impacting regional economic prosperity.

Watch this call to action to confront economic, racial and geographic inequities as we rebuild stronger economies.

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