Episode 208: Inclusionary Zoning
L. Joy shares with us tools we can use to follow budget money and elections in our local areas. And she brings Lauren Bealore of Prosperity Now to the front of the class to discuss The Zoning In report on inclusionary zoning and how policy may help with the housing crisis which is leaving many people unable to find decent and safe housing they can afford.
Homework:
Vote for #SundayCivics which nominated for an NAACP Image Award in the Outstanding News and Information Podcast category. It takes less than a minute and you can vote in the other categories too! #NAACPImageAwards http://naacpimagewards.net/.
Find out about elections happening in your area this year and put them on your calendar. Ballotpedia can help with that information https://ballotpedia.org/Main_Page
Budget decisions are happening. Follow the budget money in your area. Check out the State Scape website https://www.statescape.com/
Read Prosperity Now’s report Zoning In: How Inclusionary Zoning Increases Affordable Housing for Communities of Color to Build Wealth
Our Guest:
Lauren Bealore’s experience in the fields of policy and advocacy has allotted her a career that spans across the areas of political strategy, policy implementation and civic engagement. Lauren graduated from Michigan State University in 2011 with a Bachelor of Arts in Social Relations and Policy from James Madison College and decided to utilize her degree to further pursue a Master of Arts in Public Policy from The New England College.
Lauren began her career in the Finance Department of political campaigns, beginning on the Congressional Campaign of the 14th District of Michigan for a Democratic nominee as Assistant Finance Director and then on to being the Finance Director for a Democratic nominee for the 39th District for the Michigan House of Representatives.
Throughout the continuation of Lauren’s career, she has made strides in leadership in democracy policy, environmental policy, and economic policy; being one of few Black women to have worked statewide and nationally in multiple policy areas of expertise. Lauren has provided political strategy, policy implementation and helped to bridge the gap between government affairs and advocacy for some of the strongest voices within the political landscape on key issue areas including voting rights, redistricting, reproductive rights, environmental justice, minimum wage increase, paid sick leave and criminal justice reform.
Further using her voice for change agency, in 2020 Lauren was appointed as a State Advisory Board Member alongside several state and national leaders including Stacey Abrams and former Secretary John Kerry for Climate Power to push for a new accountability era around climate action and environmental justice.
Currently, Lauren is the Associate Director of State and Local Policy for Prosperity Now in Washington DC, where she leads the national work of advancing Prosperity Now’s policy development at the state and local level to support championing economic opportunity, innovating outside of and beyond existing systems to build power for all communities. In this role, Lauren has specific policy expertise that includes financial security, businesses & entrepreneurship, housing, and tax policy. Lauren’s voice has been included in over 100 media features including CNBC, Forbes, POLITICO, NBC News, Comcast Newsmakers, News One, NowThis, and Newsweek to name a few.
