Greenbelt Alliance, San Jose, CA, USA
Dates 1/6/17-6/14/17
I am completing my IPSS assignment with Greenbelt Alliance. Greenbelt Alliance works to make sure the right development happens in the right places and is the champion of the places that make the Bay Area special. This mission includes protecting natural and agricultural lands from sprawl development, working to establish effective affordable housing policies in the Bay Area, endorsing smart developments, and advocating for streets and transit systems that will get people out of their cars.
Serving as a South Bay Campaigns Intern at Greenbelt Alliance has allowed me to gain a better understanding of local government operations and land use policy making. I report to the South Bay Regional Representative, Kiyomi Honda Yamamoto, and support our advocacy campaigns in Santa Clara and San Mateo Counties in numerous ways. A large portion of my work involves tracking development proposals, land use policy updates, and relevant municipal happenings in the cities where we work. This portion of my work has taught me the importance of being proactive, polite, and persistent when it comes to obtaining information that is not always clearly shared. Adaptability has also been key, as City Councils make last minute changes and shifting political circumstances force us to modify our strategies.
In addition to information gathering, my work involves a lot of communication and programming support. I have produced written materials for blog posts, newsletters, fact sheets, policy reports, email alerts and have performed direct advocacy with elected officials, city staff, non-profit and private sector partners, and community groups. I regularly attend City Council, Planning Commission, and Board of Supervisor meetings to give public comments and have written several public comment letters. It is not just elected representatives and city officials who are the focus of our work; community members figure heavily in the grassroots organizing that Greenbelt Alliance facilitates. I have organized residents and helped them build their capacity so that they can voice support for sustainable, equitable development to their representatives. I recently worked with a resident group in Sunnyvale to plan and facilitate an educational outreach event that exceeded our attendance goal by 30%.
My coursework at MIIS has helped me on the job. I have used my policy and data analysis skills to provide affordable housing recommendations while participating in the City of Santa Clara Affordable Housing Working Group. I have used my Field Methods experience to design a survey for residents in Sunnyvale to voice their opinions on the redesign of a key transportation corridor. I have put on the hat of a program evaluator to question how to best bring about behavior change. Finally, my IPSS field project has enabled me to challenge myself academically while making a difference. I am using San Jose as a case to examine the compatibility of smart growth and housing affordability. This project draws on research I did in my Social Asset Mapping class and techniques I learned in Advanced Data Analysis. My final product will give Greenbelt Alliance a strong economic argument for smart growth and will help staff advocate for affordable housing in the locations that can have the greatest impact.
Here I am on a sunny day in San Jose with fellow Greenbelt Alliance intern Joyce Pei. We were assigned to take a transect walk in downtown San Jose. The familiarity and fondness we gained for the city allowed us to be better advocates for directing development in the underutilized downtown instead of on the greenbelt.
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