Julia Duranti-Martínez
Pride Means Protecting LGBTQIA+ People, Places, and Histories
LISC’s senior program officer for Community Research and Impact, Julia Duranti-Martinez, reflects on the intersection of LGBTQIA+ liberation, land ownership and community building, and highlights forthcoming LISC research on people and groups across the country working to realize those intersections through community ownership.
The Racial Justice Implications of TOPA: Seizing Preservation Opportunities
A new research brief from LISC Community Research and Impact empirically examines the potential racial equity benefits of COPA (Community Opportunity to Purchase Act) and TOPA (Tenant Opportunity to Purchase Act) policies and housing preservation strategies.
Stable Homes and Resident Empowerment
This report from the LISC Community Research and Impact team describes COPA and TOPA policies at work and their outcomes in DC and San Francisco, implementation lessons, and evidence about the impact of these policies based on preliminary LISC analyses of housing market dynamics in New York City.
LGBTQ+ Liberation and Community Development: A Reflection
In recognition and celebration of LGBTQ+ Pride Month, LISC’s Institute for Community Power delves into the intersections between the work of community development and that of queer and trans communities across the country around housing, land use, economic mobility and much more. In the piece that follows, Julia Duranti-Martinez, senior program officer for Community Research and Impact and a member of LISC's LGBTQ+ affinity group, highlights some of the struggles and triumphs of LGBTQ+ people and communities in the context of our sector, and of our society as a whole—and points to the paths leading to progress.
Spotlight on LGBTQ+ Liberation and Community Development
LGBTQ+ people have a powerful history of organizing and cooperation to support. Yet there is little focus within community development on development without displacement by and for queer and trans communities, and the challenges and opportunities they face in scaling this work. As extremist groups and policies increasingly target LGBTQ+ people, strategies to build queer and trans community and economic power for systems change are urgently needed. This LISC Institute for Community Power Spotlight focuses on the intersections between LGBTQ+ liberation and community development.
Spotlight on Investor Ownership of Housing
Institutional investor ownership of housing is a major driver of rising housing costs and deteriorating housing quality across a wide range of contexts and housing types, from rural manufactured housing to single family homes in the Midwest and Sun Belt to multifamily apartment buildings in hot markets like the Bay Area and New York City. This LISC Institute for Community Power Spotlight gives an overview of the rise of investor ownership and its impacts on communities, and strategies tenants and their community partners are using to reclaim their homes.
Tenant & Community Opportunity to Purchase Policies
Implementation lessons and impact prospects for Tenant and Community Opportunity to Purchase Act (TOPA or COPA) policies.
Commercial Community Ownership as a Strategy for Just Development
This LISC report highlights commercial community ownership strategies and shares lessons and recommendations from groups working to preserve affordable space for small businesses and community organizations, build community wealth, and promote community-led economic development.
Spotlight on Guaranteed Income
The U.S. saw a significant expansion of government assistance during the pandemic that provided a lifeline for families and dramatically reduced child poverty rates. While temporary, these expanded benefits, together with historic mobilizations for racial justice, brought renewed attention to longstanding efforts to expand the social safety net, including through proposals for an income guarantee. This LISC Institute for Community Power Spotlight gives an overview of guaranteed income proposals, policies, and lessons learned from rapidly-expanding pilots nationwide, and how guaranteed income can advance racial, economic, and gender justice.
Spotlight on Climate Justice
Drawing on a long history of environmental justice organizing led by BIPOC, immigrant, and low-income communities, and an even longer history of Indigenous land stewardship practices grounded in relationships and reciprocity, the climate justice movement is repairing inequities and cultivating community-led solutions to the climate crisis. This LISC Institute Spotlight highlights climate justice resources for community development practitioners.