Project Director & Editor Jess Clarke was the editor and art director of RP&E Journal at Urban Habitat (2005-13). He has been creating community-based media since the 1980s when he conducted workshops for the homeless, low-income immigrants, seniors, and youth at San Francisco's Tenderloin Recreation and Education Center (TREC). Clarke was a California Arts Council artist-in-residence at Media Alliance (1999-2001) and editor of their award-winning publication MediaFile (1998-2004). In 2006, he led the SOEX Youth Advisory Board’s Street Works project, which created posters featured at 16 kiosk locations around San Francisco. Clarke is also the founding editor of Freedom Voices and the principal worker-owner of Red Star Black Rose design and production.
Designer & Web Editor Christine Joy Ferrer is the the founder of Eyes Opened MVMNT, Media + Design and editor of the Eyes Opened Blog. Ferrer brings creative excellence to editorial, media, and design projects. Whether working as an writer, designer, content manager, or web publishing editor, she delivers solutions for community organizations and individuals acting for the greater good. She graduated from San Francisco State University with a Bachelor of Arts dual degree in journalism and dance. Committed to RP&E for over seven years, she has worked as a web and publishing assistant, designer, web editor and podcast producer for Race, Poverty & the Environment Journal and Radio RP&E. In addition to production work on each issue of the journal Ferrer also curated online sections such as “Oscar Grant Memorial Arts Project” and “Reflections of Activistas.”
Associate Editor Merula Furtado is a strategic communications specialist and copyeditor with a background in journalism and public communications. She has worked on the communications campaigns of various high tech and nonprofit organizations and was assiatant editor of RP&E Journal (2005-13). Furtado was involved with Narika, a South Asian Domestic Violence Helpline for 15 years, serving as a volunteer, board member, and women’s advocate—helping to grow the organization and launch its signature economic empowerment program, SEED. She also served on the board of Media Alliance.
Contributing Editor Marcy Rein brings years of engagement with social movements to her work. She provided communications and organizing support to Urban Habitat’s key coalition projects on land use and transportation justice. Previously, Rein was a writer/editor and a communications specialist with the International Longshore and Warehouse Union. She has written for women’s, queer, labor, and community publications, including RP&E Journal, and co-edited Until the Rulers Obey: Voices from Latin American Social Movements, a compilation of 67 interviews with grassroots activists and leaders from 15 countries.
Contributing Editor Preeti Shekar is a feminist researcher, journalist and communications expert. She worked on the communications team of Global Fund for Women, served on the board of Media Alliance, and was an advisory member of Women, Action and Media (WAM), a Cambridge-based group committed to increase women's positive representation in US media. Shekar is also a radio producer and works on two shows at KPFA 94.1 FM (Pacifica Radio) which lift up voices of women of color and Asian Pacific Islander communities.
Contributing Editor Bob Allen is the director of policy and advocacy campaigns at Urban Habitat. He has led the Transportation Justice Program at Urban Habitat since 2007. In 2009 Bob helped lead a successful campaign to stop the use of $70 million in federal stimulus funds for the Oakland Airport Connector project based on civil rights violations. More recently he was a key organizer supporting the successful Free MUNI for Youth campaign and regional equity campaign through the 6 Wins for Social Equity Network. His background and experience include community planning and policy work both in the United States and internationally, labor organizing, as well as organizing and advocacy with refugee and immigrant communities. He received both his Bachelor's degree in Political Science and History and his Master's in Public Policy from Rutgers University.
Contributing Editor Eric K. Arnold spent 20 years as a music journalist and documentarian before expanding his repertoire to include community-based reportage on topical issues, from energy to environment to police accountability. A contributor to RP&E since 2010, he was a New America Media Energy Reporting Fellow in 2013. Currently the Communications Director for Oakland-based urban forestry organization Urban Releaf, Eric also handles media outreach for muralist collective Community Rejuvenation Project. Additionally, his photography can be seen regularly on the Oakulture blog, of which he is the founder.
Global Solidarity Correspondent Margi Clarke is a trainer and organizational consultant with 30 years experience in diverse fields including immigrant organizing, environmental justice, climate justice, and cooperative economics. She is a world traveler along with her family, and has long standing ties with the liberation movement in El Salvador. She is also part of RoadMap, a national network of social justice consultants.