“The Power of Coalition Building: a look at the Social Housing Movement in LA,” short talk with Cynthia Bourjac, ACT-LA at GEO's 2024 National Conference on May 21, 2024.

Coalition building is a powerful tool to bridge ideas and communities towards a shared vision. Organizations and allies can come together to build the power and strategy needed for transformative realities. In Los Angeles, the ACT-LA coalition is working to build Social Housing: an alternative model of permanently affordable housing that won funding through Measure ULA. As we face a housing crisis that continues to disproportionately displace historically disinvested low wage and working class Black and Indigenous and people of color, we face a call to action to envision new possibilities and collectively work towards housing for all. This talk will explore how working in deep intentional alliances is needed to build a future where our communities can move beyond the fear of displacement and into cultivating a genuine sense of home for ourselves and generations to come.



Cynthia Bourjac (she/her)
Capacity Building Manager, ACT-LA
Cynthia Bourjac serves as ACT-LA’s Capacity Building Manager where she deepens the scope and work of the ACT-LA coalition by expanding sources of funding, skill building, and strategy implementation. She comes with experience as a labor rights paralegal, educator, and community organizer. Cynthia grew up in the San Gabriel Valley and spent ten years in the Bay Area where she has witnessed and experienced the effects of displacement, environmental racism, and inequitable access to transportation. She is passionate about creating working class solidarity and power through political education, relationship building, and skill sharing to create thriving and equitable communities.