Margaretta Lin

Just Cities

Oakland, CA, USA

Biography

Margaretta Lin has been a longtime leader in advancing racial and social equity in urban planning, public policy, education, community development, and law. Margaretta is currently the Executive Director of Just Cities, a platform for advancing racial and social equity initiatives. She has served as the Executive Director of the Dellums Institute for Social Justice, the City of Oakland’s Deputy City Administrator and founding Director of Strategic Initiatives, the founding Director of East Bay Community Law Center’s Community Economic Justice practice, the founding Director of Youth Together, and Staff Attorney at Public Advocates. She has been an inaugural Urban Equity Fellow at the Institute for Urban & Regional Development at UC Berkeley, Co-Instructor of Berkeley Law’s Economic Justice course, and Desegregation Specialist and Research Associate at ARC Associates. Margaretta has a JD and Masters in Asian Studies from UC Berkeley and a BA in Religious and Asian Studies from the University of Virginia.

She has led the design and development of innovative racial and social equity analyses and Housing Justice policies and programs including the following: Anti-displacement and racial equity framework for the Los Angeles Department of Transportation’s Vision Zero Community Engagement program (current project); the Oakland Housing Equity Roadmap, comprehensive housing and anti-displacement policies adopted by the Oakland City Council; and the Oakland Sustainable Neighborhoods Initiative comprehensive equitable development and transit equity plans for the International Boulevard Corridor; and the Fair Chance housing policy adopted by the Richmond City Council to remove housing barriers for formerly incarcerated residents.