A special Affordable Housing Month edition of SV@Home’s ongoing Policy In Action (PIA) Series. Spanish translation will be available for this event. Traducción en español va a ser disponible en este evento.
ADUs can provide much-needed additional homes in our communities, as well as an important source of revenue for lower-income homeowners. Recent research from the Terner Center for Housing Innovation at UC Berkeley reveals racial and socioeconomic disparities in homeowners who can build ADUs, with barriers including cost, access to financing, and navigating complex local processes. Join the conversation, as we discuss the disparities and actions local jurisdictions can take to remove barriers to ADU construction for lower-income homeowners of color, along with broader recommendations to increase ADU construction overall.
Speakers
• Muhammad T. Alameldin is the Policy Associate for the Terner Center. He brings the Center’s innovative research to inform housing policy at the local, state, and federal levels.
Prior to joining the Terner Center, Muhammad was an Economic Equity Fellow for The Greenlining Institute, a public policy, research, and advocacy social justice organization. He led the economic equity team’s state legislative efforts in Mortgage Interest Deduction reform and supporting equitable housing policies, and he co-authored A Fair Financial System: Regulating Fintech and Nonbank Lenders. He is now a board member for the organization.
Prior to his work at Greenlining, Muhammad communicated housing policy ideas to the public at California YIMBY and successfully helped lobby Congress to start paying their legislative interns at Pay Our Interns.
Muhammad is a former Cal Bear. He has written for and been cited in a variety of publications, from CalMatters to The Atlantic.
• Iliana Nicholas leads the CANDO ADU program at the East Palo Alto Community Alliance and Neighborhood Development Organization (EPACANDO). The ADU program is centered on assisting East Palo Alto homeowners with accessory dwelling units and has provided support to over 85 households since its inception in 2021. Iliana earned her Master’s Degree in Urban and Regional Planning from San José State University and previously worked in environmental justice around climate resilience and adaptation planning. In her free time, she is a member of the East Palo Alto Planning Commission and the East Palo Alto Climate Change Community Team. She also volunteers her summers to the Chicano Latino Youth Leadership Project, empowering youth to pursue higher education, engage in civic participation, and become agents of social change.