About Just San Bernadino Collaborative
Just SB represents a range of organizations at various capacities involved in economic mobility, grassroots organizing and power building, community development, and racial equity work in San Bernardino and the broader Inland Empire region.
Overview
These organizations, with the help of local communities and residents, have been on the front lines of local movements for the development of education and criminal justice reform, restorative justice and policing practices, at-risk youth engagement, fighting the environmental and social impacts of the region’s logistics/warehouse industry, the development of low-income housing, the creation of job and entrepreneurship opportunities in the region, as well as working to increase accountability within public policy and leadership. These organizations also serve as critical resources for groups that have been excluded from the labor market such as the formerly incarcerated and people with limited work experience. These organizations have been an important part of the grassroots organizing within the San Bernardino community and have a track record of positive results.
The City of San Bernardino
The City of San Bernardino is the largest city in San Bernardino County, the largest county by geography in the nation. San Bernardino is also the San Bernardino County seat. As of the 2020 census, the city had a population of 222,101. It is a major city in the Inland Empire region of California, the 13th largest region in the nation, comprising San Bernardino and Riverside Counties with a population of 4,599,839.
Solutions for the City
We believe that the lessons we have learned through the people’s plan community process here set a path for a robust and powerful community engagement process. We believe that the current level of community engagement in San Bernardino is reflected in who has benefitted from this situation.
We call on the city to establish equitable planning principles in its community engagement. Without engaging deeply with highly impacted communities the needs and priorities of the most vulnerable are unlikely to be taken into consideration. Processes like door to door surveys, online engagement and community events have proven to be much more effective than the traditional tools that the city uses to engage the community.
We call on the city to take on issues holistically rather than breaking them out by department. We know that issues of economic opportunity manifest in a variety of ways in our city, as this report details. Without talking about them collectively and with all related stakeholders and departments, these problems will not be adequately understood, let alone addressed.
Finally, we ask the city to partner with organizations like those in Just SB to ensure that there are trusted community partners engaging in outreach alongside the city. As trusted and skilled community partners, we can utilize cultural and class competency to gain trust with community members who may be reluctant to engage in a process run by the city. We hope to benefit the city and its administration through such partnerships in order to create a truly representative community engagement process.
Member Organizations
The organizations that organized the People’s Plan for San Bernardino and plan to implement these solutions are the Just San Bernardino Collaborative.
The Just SB Team
The organizations that organized the People’s Plan for San Bernardino and plan to implement these solutions are the Just San Bernardino Collaborative.
Staff Bios
Miriam Nieto, Co-Director of Just SB was born in Mexico city and migrated to the United States when she was eight years old. Miriam moved to San Bernardino in 2007 and has over ten years of experience organizing and leading campaigns in the city of San Bernardino. She attended Riverside Community College and later graduated from University of California Riverside (UCR) with a B.A. in Political Science International Affairs and a B.A. in History of Latin America. While spending free time volunteering to improve her neighborhood she worked eight years as a Behavioral Analyst serving kids with special needs in the Inland Region.
Miriam was a part of a movement called San Bernardino Generation Now, where she supported the revitalization of the Garcia Center for the Arts and helped organize art walks in the downtown breezeway. Miriam is passionate about her community and she wants to see the city of San Bernardino grow with community involvement at the forefront of development.
Carolina Sanchez is a Co-Director with the Just San Bernardino collaborative. Carolina became interested in the labor movement as she witnessed the mistreatment her mother endured as an immigrant working in Los Angeles. Carolina has previously worked at the International Federation of Professional and Technical Employees Local 21, learning about the power workers held in unions to improve their conditions. She is a graduate of the University of California, Riverside and resides still in the Inland Empire.
Rocio has over 10 years of experience in community organizing in the Inland Empire, CA. She began her journey as a youth leader with Inland Congregations United for Change (ICUC) at age 15, later serving on its board from 2014-2018 and as a Researcher and Policy Director from 2019-2021. She also worked with youth as a case manager at Youth Action Project (YAP) from 2015-2017 and in the CAPS after-school program from 2018-2019. While attending San Bernardino Valley College from 2014-2017, Rocio was elected as Student Organizations Director and President. Additionally, she has been involved in several local partisan elections for positions on school boards, community college districts, city councils, and in state assembly and senate races. Rocio currently serves on the boards of the Inland Empire Prism Collective and the San Bernardino area League of Women Voters.
Michael Segura is an interdisciplinary communications professional. Born and raised in San Bernardino, California, he received his B.A. in Graphic Design from California State University, San Bernardino and his M.F.A. from the University of New Mexico. Growing up in a city heavily impacted by racial and economic inequity he found himself organizing with a local nonprofit Inland Congregations United for Change (ICUC) to advocate for youth resources and programming to fight the school to prison pipeline. Using art as a vehicle to make change he took his youth experiences and formed San Bernardino Generation Now (SBGN) with other young adults. Focusing on cultural development and civic participation in the face of the city’s 2012 bankruptcy. He currently serves the creative community at the Garcia Center for the Arts as a board member. He believes cultivating communities is critical to making positive change in your city.