Racial Equity at Planning & Building

The Oakland Planning & Building Department acknowledges the historical role that planners, building and development professionals, and other officials have played in perpetuating systemic racism and segregation in our communities. To address these harms, we are committed to prioritizing the voices and needs of Oakland’s Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) residents in shaping the development of our City.

Race and Equity Team

The Oakland Planning and Building Department (PBD) has established a Race and Equity Team (RET) in collaboration with the Department of Race and Equity (DRE). The RET’s charter was formally signed by department leadership in 2019. With guidance from DRE staff, the RET supports PBD in advancing its equity goals both within the Department and in the broader community. The RET also collaborates with Race and Equity Teams in other City departments. Learn more about the City of Oakland’s Race and Equity Change Process.

Our Mission

The Department of Planning and Building's Racial Equity Team advances the City of Oakland’s mission to transform government practices and promote racial equity. The Team develops the Department’s Racial Equity Strategic Plan and ensures that a racial equity framework and tools are applied across all departmental activities.

Our Goal

We, the Planning and Building Department want our work, the services we provide, and the policies we develop to ensure that people of color and historically marginalized groups have the same opportunities as white people and other historically privileged groups. We help the people of Oakland create and maintain communities where all residents have access to elements that support a good quality of life, such as: access to art, beauty, joy, nature and green spaces, safe and adequate housing, a vibrant economy, diverse neighborhoods, and the ability to engage in creating and shaping the world around them.
Planning & Building Race & Equity Goal

Our Work

Planning & Building and its Racial Equity Team (RET) have been working to achieve racial equity across our internal structure, external policies, services, and community outcomes. With guidance from the Department of Race and Equity (DRE), we have been reshaping our approaches and building capacity to proactively address racial inequities in the following ways:

  • Incorporating racial equity into planning and policy projects: Using racial equity analysis to guide decision-making across a variety of projects.

  • Equipping leadership: Requiring all managers and supervisors to participate in DRE's Advancing Racial Equity Academy, covering personal and implicit bias, structural and institutional racism, and strategies to dismantle inequities.

  • Inclusive hiring practices: Creating an “Inclusive Hiring Guide” and integrating implicit bias training for interviewers to ensure our staff better represent the communities we serve.

  • Staff education on racial injustice: Hosting department-wide discussions, including a book club on The Color of Law: A Forgotten History of How Our Government Segregated America, and publishing newsletters with timely racial justice resources.

  • Cross-department collaboration: Developing policies, trainings, and staff capacity to more inclusively engage the community, including helping to create City Administrative Instruction 6802: Inclusive Community Engagement.

  • Integrating equity into budgeting and performance: Collaborating between staff and management to incorporate racial equity goals into the department’s budget priorities and key performance indicators.

Today, our focus is on engaging all staff in creating a guiding document that identifies how their daily work affects racial disparities and how we can continuously improve outcomes for the most impacted communities.

Projects

With guidance from the Department of Race and Equity, PBD has begun applying a racial equity framework to all planning and policy projects. This includes using tools such as Racial Equity Impact Analysis and Inclusive Community Engagement practices. The following City of Oakland projects explicitly include racial equity in their data analysis, goals, measures of success, and community engagement strategies.

Oakland 2045 General Plan Update
Inclusive engagement with Deeply Rooted Collaborative and Racial Equity Impact Analysis

Eliminating Lead Paint Hazards in Oakland & Alameda County(PDF, 3MB)
Racial Equity Impact Analysis of lead paint hazards

2023-2031 Housing Element(PDF, 7MB)
Racial Equity Impact Analysis of Housing Element policies

Downtown Oakland Specific Plan (DOSP)
Centers racial equity in analysis, goals, policies, and measures of success

DOSP Equity Assessment(PDF, 7MB)
Equity Assessment of the Downtown Oakland Specific Plan (DOSP) Options Memo

DOSP Disparity Analysis(PDF, 7MB)
Analysis of racial disparities for the Downtown Oakland Specific Plan (DOSP)

East Oakland Neighborhoods Initiative
Partnership between the City of Oakland and 12 community-based organizations

West Oakland Truck Management Plan(PDF, 767KB)
Public engagement plan to reduce barriers to access for under-represented West Oaklanders

Learn more about how Oakland is addressing institutional and cultural change toward racial equity:

Contact us to learn more

Meet Your Team

William Gilchrist 
 Director, Planning & Building 

Albert Merid  
 Assistant Director, Planning & Building   

Aaron Lehmer 
 Technical Communications Specialist, Digital Division 

Khalilha Haynes 
 Planner III, Strategic Planning Division 

Desmona Armstong  
 Sr. Public Service Representative, Records Unit  

Luis Calderon Martinez  
 Public Service Representative, Cashiering 

Dimitrius Brown  
Specialty Combination Inspector, Building Inspections 

About

Planning & Building's Race and Equity Team (RET) includes members from every division of the Department who have completed or are completing the City's Advancing Racial Equity Academy (AREA) training and are helping reduce barriers to racial equity both inside the department and in our community-facing service and policy. Click on the button to the left to learn about all of our team members.

Banner art courtesy Favianna Rodriguez

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