We’re excited to share our Equity, Racial Justice, and Culture Lunch & Learn series for 2026! Each session offers tips and tools to shift organizational policies and procedures, aim to support people and organizations at all levels of their equity journey, and help align our collective toward understanding and operationalizing racial equity to benefit the people within our larger housing justice movement – from work culture to state policy.
Register for our Fall Lunch & Learn!
Monday, September 21: 11am-12:30pm, followed by Community Space @ 12:45-1:15pm
Our Equity, Racial Justice, and Culture Fall Lunch & Learn series begins with an important and unique educational opportunity to learn about the history of debt and the connection to credit barriers and the resulting inequities in homelessness, housing, and homeownership. We are proud to welcome an amazing speaker and leader, Pearl-Lynnae Smith, Equity Specialist with Northwest Justice Project to support our collective learning this month!
“The Intersection of Race and Consumer Law: Understanding the History of Debt, Credit Barriers, and the Inequities in What Happens When Money Runs Out.” with Pearl-Lynnae Smith, MA, Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) Specialist, Northwest Justice Project
This presentation studies the history of economic inequality shaping consumer law, and its impacts on our basic human needs: food, housing, and more. It will show how credit is used as a form of discrimination, creating significant barriers to renting and homeownership. This will be an interactive discussion reviewing our nation’s history of money and debt, consumer protections, legal impact studies, and inviting your experiences into the discussion. Pearl-Lynnae is an Equity specialist with a background in Global Studies: Centering Culture and Power.
Pearl-Lynnae Smith, MA, Equity Specialist, Northwest Justice Project
This is a FREE virtual event!
“Power to the People Series: Strengthening Community Organizing and Policy Advocacy by Understanding Historical Trauma and Practicing Trauma Informed Care” offered by Ma.Caroline Lopez, MSW
At the Housing Alliance we are building power with people who have been impacted by unjust, inequitable, and discriminatory housing and homelessness policies. Shoutout to RAP! (Rights! Action! Power!)
As we progress in our work to center people with lived experience/expertise, we are seeing a wide range of barriers around accessibility, funding, operations, the potential for re-traumatization, trust building, the prevalence of dominant culture norms, burnout from emotional labor, and more. It’s easy to see how historically excluded communities have been strategically barred from opportunities to build power.
This month’s Lunch & Learn builds upon our last Actionshop which included trauma informed gender-based violence services. We’ll learn how to apply trauma informed methods to our policy advocacy and community organizing work. We’ll also discuss how understanding historical and intergenerational trauma can support safer spaces of belonging, authentic relationship building, and growing our housing justice movement with the fundamental education to grasp the breadth and depth of the work ahead.
“Toward Safe and Affordable Housing for DV Survivors: Understanding Barriers and Advocating for Survivor-Centered Housing Policy”
Safe and stable housing is one of the most critical needs for gender-based violence and domestic violence (GBV/DV) survivors, yet it remains one of the hardest to access. While programs such as emergency shelters and transitional housing provide essential support, survivors often face significant barriers, including lengthy waiting lists, eligibility restrictions, and limited responsiveness to survivors with diverse racial, gender, and immigration backgrounds. Recent federal funding cuts and shifts in HUD policy have deepened these gaps. While broader housing policy discussions often address systemic and federal challenges, the specific housing needs of GBV/DV survivors, among those most severely impacted, remain underaddressed. This Actionshop will provide participants with an understanding of the current housing support landscape for GBV/DV survivors, the barriers that limit access, and the promising approaches, such as Domestic Violence Housing First. It will also explore concrete advocacy strategies to advance more equitable and survivor-centered housing policy.
Speakers:
Doris O’Neal, Associate Director of Domestic Violence Services at YWCA Seattle | King | Snohomish
Jasmine Fernandez, Community Advocate, Commercial Sexual Exploitation, Gender-Based Violence Specialized Services at YWCA Seattle | King | Snohomish
Sarah Kendall, Housing Stability Coordinator at Washington State Coalition Against Domestic Violence (WSCADV)
"Expanding Access to Homeownership in Washington: History, Solutions, and Resources”
Join leaders from across Washington to explore the historical barriers that have shaped inequities in homeownership, and the innovative solutions working to address them today. This session will highlight tools like community land trusts and the Covenant Homeownership Program, along with practical resources available to support current and future homeowners across the state.
Speakers:
Elizabeth Perez, Washington Homeownership Resource Center, Executive Director
Lisa Byers, OPAL Community Land Trust, Executive Director
Clifford Cawthon, Washington State Department of Commerce, Homeownership Policy Manager
"Housing Justice is Racial Justice: Connecting our 2026 Legislative Priorities and Racial Equity Impact” offered by Ma.Caroline Lopez, MSW
2025 has been a year of political attacks on the most vulnerable populations in our nation. Without a doubt, it has hit hardest for people at the intersections of race, gender, disability, low-no income, and more. As we approach the 2026 Legislative Session, we are offering this Actionshop as a beginner to mid-level racial equity policy analysis, to gain a clear understanding of how the bills and budget requests we are fighting for are connected to the ongoing fight for racial justice. As written in the 1977 Combahee River Collective Statement, "If Black women were free, it would mean that everyone else would have to be free since our freedom would necessitate the destruction of all the systems of oppression." - (The Combahee River Collective was a Black feminist, lesbian, socialist organization active in Boston, Massachusetts, active from 1974 to 1980.)
Series Archive
Watch this space and sign up for the Housing Alliance email list to be notified of upcoming Lunch & Learn actionshops!
Ma.Caroline Lopez, MSW, Director of Equity, Racial Justice, and Culture
Thank you to our sponsors
