Brown Bag Training: Making State Oversight More Equitable

Recently, cities across Northern California have incorporated the state mandate to Affirmatively Further Fair Housing (AFFH) into their housing elements. First passed in 2018, California state AFFH law requires cities to promote access to opportunity, integration, transformation of underinvested communities, and compliance with fair housing law.

In some ways, the AFFH mandate transformed the nature of the housing element, causing cities to implement a suite of production, preservations, and protection policies that previously would have never been on the table. In other ways, AFFH rules failed to hold cities accountable, leaving some of their most exclusionary practices in place.

This workshop brings together local advocates from across our region to discuss the promise of AFFH and opportunities to further increase its impact.

Alison Cingolani, Policy Manager, SV@Home

Alison is SV@Home’s Policy Manager, and helps to shape and support the implementation of SV@Home’s policy and land use engagement, advocacy strategies, local and regional campaigns, and educational strategies. She is proud to support advocacy efforts and cities’ accountability for effective housing elements throughout the county, creating robust long-range plans that will deliver abundant affordable housing and respond to the needs of marginalized communities. Before joining SV@Home, Alison worked in business leadership, housing research, and community outreach. Alison holds a Master of Public Administration and a graduate certificate in Community Development & Affordable Housing Finance from San Jose State University, and a Bachelor of Social Work from the University of Central Florida. In her free time, Alison enjoys experiencing a great local adventure with her family, learning something new, kayaking or hiking with friends, or curling up with a great book.

Seema Patel, Global Guest & Digital Experience Lead, Google

Seema Patel leads experience design for Real Estate & Workplace Services at Google. Prior to joining Google Seema was the CEO and co-founder of Interbots, a robotics startup that developed mobile apps and robotic toys for children with autism, as well as high-end animatronics for science centers and children’s museums. She has served on the San Mateo Planning Commission since 2021 and served on the General Plan Subcommittee from 2022-2023, where she helped draft the city’s new housing element. She previously served on a Regional Board of Advisors for YIMBY Action and was the 2022 recipient of the Housing Leadership Council of San Mateo County’s Housing Leader Award.

Alex Contreras, Housing & Transportation Policy Analyst

Alex Contreras has an extensive background in housing and transportation advocacy. From working at the Department of Housing and Community Development to sitting on the Interagency Transportation Equity Advisory Committee, they ensure that the intersection of housing and transportation are made clearly and concisely in all of their work. In their free time, Alex can be found biking throughout Oakland with their cat Void in tow.

Jeremy Levine, Policy Manager, Housing Leadership Council

Jeremy has worked as HLC’s Policy Manager since March 2022, helping the organization track housing laws across San Mateo County. He has reviewed and commented on every housing element released by all 21 San Mateo County jurisdictions. He has also partnered with state legislators and staff at the department of Housing and Community Development to promote fair housing in housing element law.