Zhanae Briggs

Manager of Communications

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Zhanae Briggs

Manager of Communications

Zhanae Briggs (she/her/hers) is the Communications Coordinator at The Greenlining Institute, where she supports the Communications and Policy teams in amplifying the work of the organization through publications and media. She is passionate about uplifting the voices and lived experiences of marginalized folx and bringing people together. Zhanae was born and raised in various cities across California where she has had the opportunity to live and work in a multitude of spaces. She earned a B.A. in Communication Studies at Sacramento State University, as well as an M.A. in Communication with an emphasis on intersectionality and organizational functions from San Diego State University. Prior to joining Greenlining, she worked in higher education where she taught and advocated for nontraditional students, and conducted research on the experiences of women of color in academia and the workplace.

Development & Communications Staff

At a time when our communities and our work towards equity are under attack, resistance means coming together in solidarity and continuing to build, practice, and strategize. And that’s exactly what we did on July 10 in Los Angeles, CA where The Greenlining Institute hosted Equity Lab, a solutions-oriented workshop for equity advocates, practitioners, partners, and community members. The theme for the event was Our Fair Share: Designing Impactful Community Benefit Agreements.

For over 30 years, Greenlining has advanced a future where communities of color can build wealth, live in healthy environments with abundant economic opportunity, and are equipped to face the challenges of climate change. As part of our long-standing effort to ground this work in practice with partners across our equity and justice movements we first hosted an Equity Lab at our 2023 Just Future Summit, with Inked with Intent: Crafting Meaningful MOUs for Collaborative Governance. 

“Equity Lab is an interactive session designed to encourage collective thinking and problem-solving as participants wrestle with complex equity topics.”

Morokot Uy, Greenlining’s Sr. Capacity Building Program Manager 

Equity Labs have been a crucial component of Greenlining’s work providing an impactful model for how we can come together with people from different industries and organizations to make connections, have critical conversations, and workshop how we can collaborate to make equity real for communities of color. 

Our Fair Share: Designing Impactful Community Benefit Agreements was an equity lab designed for participants across a variety of sectors and movement spaces, including, financial, banking, community advocates, Los Angeles activists, Greenlining alumni, and of course, Greenlining staff. Together, we convened at the Japanese American Cultural Community Center to collaboratively navigate the process of designing a Community Benefits Agreement that incorporates a community’s needs throughout a development project. 

“Better Communities, Same Neighbors”: A Panel on the Impact of CBAs 

While the Trump administration moves forward legislation that harms vulnerable communities and dismantles protections for climate, public health, housing, and community well-being, our movements are working together on creative solutions to ensure communities and the institutions that serve them can meet the challenges we face.

On the day of the event, we started with grounding statements from Tate Hill II, Greenlining’s Board Treasurer and Molly Tafoya, Vice President of Development and Communications, who reminded attendees of the impact we can have when we come together and ground our shared goals for a more just future in real-world tools and equity practices. It’s easy for policymakers, leaders, and decision-makers to say they hold equity as a value — but making equity real for marginalized communities on the ground requires discipline, commitment, and consistency. It requires transforming and rebuilding inequitable systems and practices with equity at the center, from start to finish. 

“If equity isn’t included at the start, it’s rarely implemented later”

Tate Hill II, The Greenlining Institute Board Treasurer 

Our Fair Share officially kicked off with a panel featuring a conversation between Dr. Cynthia Miki Strathmann, Executive Director of SAJE and Francis Janes, Senior Industry Relations and Partnerships Director for Beneficial State Foundation, moderated by Greenlining’s Director of Capacity Building, Emi Wang.

Dr. Strathmann’s work fighting for tenant rights and equitable development in South LA, and Francis Janes’ work to transform the financial sector from the inside out through a lens of justice and corporate accountability gave attendees insight into what it takes to design community development projects that actually benefit the community where they are located – not just corporate interests – as well as how the CBA process can be a tool to achieve that outcome, if wielded equitably and intentionally.  The panel focused on the obstacles and opportunities we have when developing Community Benefits Agreements, emphasizing that while CBAs are not the end all, be all, they provide a path for uplifting community priorities and ensuring the impacts of expansion and development projects honor communities in real, tangible ways. 

Following the panel and Q&A, participants kicked off the Equity Lab workshop in their table groups.

Morokot Uy, Sr. Program Manager for Capacity Building at Greenlining and a designer of the game describes Our Fair Share as “an interactive session designed to encourage collective thinking and problem-solving as participants navigate real equity challenges in a Community Benefits Agreement process.” Capacity, funding, legislative roadblocks, community input, timing, and more are all contributing factors to the success of CBAs both in the activity and in the real world. There is no singular, one size fits all solution, but Equity Lab gives participants the ability to collaboratively design hypothetical, real-life solutions with tangible outcomes. 

As the event wrapped up late afternoon, attendees and the Greenlining team reconvened in the JACCC garden to reflect on the day. There was a palpable shift in the air, fueled by a shared sense of motivation and accomplishment. In times like these — when we fear for the wellbeing of our colleagues, families, friends, and communities, and when burnout or despondency threatens to slow our momentum — the opportunity to reignite our flame alongside those who share our commitment to this work is invaluable. Just as significant is the ability to return home with new tools, insights, and resources to uplift our own communities and organizations.

Looking Toward a Just Future

As Greenlining continues our fight for a more just and equitable future for all, tools such as Equity Lab can be a pillar for collaboration, strategy, and forward thinking. Our collective future depends on what we build together, and all of our voices are essential in that vision. We see and feel the impact that events such as Our Fair Share have on our partners and community members and we are committed to continuing to offer opportunities for gathering, educating, and uplifting one another.

Stay tuned for our next Just Future Summit returning in 2026!

Thank you to our event sponsors:

Download our Equity Lab Materials!

• “Designing Impactful Community Benefits Agreements” Poster Board
• Cards
• Bargaining Chips
• “Building Strength” Handout
• “Our Fair Share: “Designing Impactful Community Benefits Agreements” Instructions Handout

Zhanae Briggs

Manager of Communications

Read Bio