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Open Architecture Collaborative, Inc., is a 501(c)3 non-profit based in Oakland, CA. The non-profit is seeking nominees for its Board of Directors from across the US. Please complete the information below for OAC to consider your participation.

OAC is dedicated to providing professional development resources to ensure architects and designers who wish to engage in community based work have the appropriate skills and knowledge to do so. OAC provides services via two programs:

-- Chapter Network: a network of architects, planners, and designers who partner with community organizations to plan and complete architecture and construction projects. OAC is a fiscal sponsor of chapters across the US.
-- Pathways to Equity: an educational training program that teaches the principles of equitable design to individuals and architecture/design/planning firms.

OAC operates via “Circles of Practice”, where we design and tend to the circles so that they contribute to professional development of the design community to move towards and achieve an equitable approach to design. OAC Board’s Circles of Practice include:


-- WORKING BOARD: Board meetings six (6) times a year, and bi-monthly or weekly committee meetings (Committees: Strategy / Communications / Legal / Finance & Fundraising / Network Engagement). Execute on mission, vision and values of organization. Consult with organizational, budgetary and program development (3 - 4 hrs/month, 2-year commitment).
-- ADVISORY COUNCIL:  Meet 3 - 4 times a year, for past board members and leaders in the field who are champions of the organization, make funding and partner connections, and provide strategic guidance (6-8 hrs/year, 2 year commitment)
-- VOLUNTEER: Meet once a month, volunteer opportunities that address specific needs for the organization (1 - 2 hrs/month, 1-year commitment)


We do this work because we recognize that our built environment is inherently inequitable, and has unfairly impacted under-resourced communities, and that industries such as architecture, urban planning and land use development have contributed to systems of inequity. This has led us to interrogate the legacies of racism in historical context, and leverage our skills, power and privilege with the intention to minimize inequities and harm.

Please consider joining this board that is committed to further equity in design and architecture, and take a few minutes to complete the information in this application. Meetings will be held online.