Dawn Phillips

Co-Director of Programs | Causa Justa :: Just Cause

Dawn Phillips has been an organizer engaged in a range of social, economic and environmental justice organizations and fights in the Bay Area and nationally for almost 25 years. He is currently the Co-Director of Programs at Causa Justa :: Just Cause, a Bay Area membership organization focused on community development, housing and immigrant justice issues. Dawn is also Executive Director of the Right to the City Alliance, a formation of over 50 community organizations based in 33 cities around the country.

Presentations from Facing Race 2016

Building Community and Civic Power for Equitable Development

This workshop will focus on strategies for addressing racial equity in community development to address issues such as displacement and gentrification in communities of color with an emphasis on building power for systemic influence. Presenters include Dawn Phillips, Program Co-Director at Causa Justa :: Just Cause in Oakland, and Nathaniel Smith, Founder and Chief Equity Officer at the Partnership for Southern Equity. The moderator is Dwayne S. Marsh of the Government Alliance on Race and Equity.

Speakers: Dawn Phillips, Nathaniel Smith, Dwayne Marsh

Presentations from Facing Race 2014

Organizing for Equitable Development and Housing Justice in Working Class Communities of Color

Working class communities of color in urban centers are in desperate need housing and development. But, too often, "development" is a code word for gentrification and displacement of our communities and meeting the need for "housing" is immediately associated with building more affordable housing . Is development without displacement possible? Are there changes we need to make to the way affordable housing is maintained and produced? What kind of development do our communities envision, and how does organizing get us there? This session will explore grassroots strategies that engage working class, communities of color in organizing fights to address gentrification and the housing crisis. We are building a new kind of urban politics that asserts that everyone, particularly the disenfranchised, not only has a right to the city, but as inhabitants, have a right to shape it, design it, and operationalize an urban human rights agenda.

Speakers: Rachel Laforest, Dawn Phillips, Demetria McCain