Millennials Igniting Change in East Oakland
Aqueila Lewis talks with Candice Elder, Laksmi Lagares and Maliha James of the
East Oakland Collective. The East Oakland Collective is a cohort of millennials (and other generations) invested in the state of deep East Oakland. Find them on the web (link above), Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.
Calendar of events.
The East Oakland Collective is a cohort of millennials invested in the state of East Oakland through actionable community work and civic engagement. Members are influencers that consist of natives, homeowners, residents and allies of the city of Oakland. Members are invested in working towards a better future for the underserved populations and communities of East Oakland.
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| Candice Elder, Founder/Executive Director |
Candice Elder is a native of Oakland and long time resident of East Oakland. She currently resides in District 7 of East Oakland. It was the looming possibility of gentrification and the daily drives through underserved neighborhoods of East Oakland that ignited Candice to form The East Oakland Collective in January 2016.
After being a legal professional for nine years, Candice made a career change to work full time in the non-profit sector as the Executive Coordinator for the Women's Funding Network---the largest philanthropy network of women's funds and foundations in the country. In addition to working full time to make a better world for women and girls, Candice served on the advisory committee for Breaking the Silence Town Hall on Women and Girls of Color in Oakland. The Breaking the Silence dynamic model and initiative is spearheaded by the African American Policy Forum under the great leadership of renowned feminist Dr. Kimberle Crenshaw.
Candice holds a Bachelors of Arts in Political Science with a minor in African-American Studies from the University of California, Berkeley; and a Masters of Science in Criminal Justice from the University of Cincinnati. Candice currently serves on the Board of Directors for the UC Berkeley Black Alumni Club. Candice enjoys hiking with her rambunctious dog, reading, exploring and engaging with the community.
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| Laksmi Lagares, Chief Strategy Officer |
Laksmi Lagares’ purpose is to help people realize they are more than their environment or conditions predispose them to be.
Laksmi is a Civic Leader, C Level Strategist, owner and Principal Consultant at Lagares Consulting. Her firm supports impact and partnership needs of private and public sector companies, schools/ universities, nonprofit and philanthropic organizations. Her career includes; 15yrs experience in all aspects of Business Development and Public Relations within: Civic Engagement, Tech, Education, Social Justice, Finance, Advertising and Marketing. She is the curator of Application versus Theory workshops, which have been featured at college campuses across the U.S. including Mills College, UC Santa Cruz and Stanford University. She is a subject matter expert in Diversity and Inclusion with an emphasis on race and equity and her communications styling, crosses cultural and socio economic divides; translating needs to create strategy supporting mutual wins. Laksmi is a Hive Global Leader, Co-Director of New Leaders Council Oakland, a key planner of Oakland’s Breaking the Silence Town Hall; an initiative of Dr. Kimberle Crenshaw and the African American Policy Forum, acknowledged by the Obama Administration; and Host Committee member of a three part workshop series facilitated by Dr. Monique Morris, author of Pushout.
Click here to listen to the entire show. 59:50 min
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