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"In our first three months and in response to initial tenant interest, we have coordinated volunteer-led, free yoga and are scheduling tenant-led 'lunch and learns.' "
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Bio: Amy Tobin
Amy Tobin is the executive director of The David Brower Center, a new home in Berkeley for environmental and social justice. She was the founding artistic director of The Hub at the Jewish Community Center of San Francisco, which builds community among young adults through interdisciplinary arts events and social action.
Amy was a recipient of the Joshua Venture fellowship for social entrepreneurs in 2001. Before joining the Brower Center, Amy spent three years as an independent development and program consultant to small and mid-sized nonprofit organizations in the Bay Area and New York City.
She now serves on the board of directors for the Nonprofit Centers Network and the Downtown Berkeley Association.
Amy is also a vocalist and performing artist. She has released two albums and tours nationally with The Esther Show.
Connections:
Amy Tobin, Executive Director
David Brower Center
2150 Allston Way
Berkeley, CA 94704
amy at browercenter dot org
T 510 809 0900 x112
F 510 809 0909
The Brower Center
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About The Brower Center:
One of the Bay Area’s most advanced green buildings, the nonprofit David Brower Center is an inspiring home for environmental and social action, combining both offices and program facilities in a 50,000 square-foot space.
Conceived as a vibrant community of like-minded individuals and organizations committed to a just and ecologically sustainable society, the Brower Center promises to be an invaluable asset for the region and a landmark for anyone, anywhere committed to the planet and its inhabitants.
By investing in a centrally located workspace and gathering place, the Brower Center is using real estate as an enduring progressive strategy and building a destination for activism and education. Until now, there has been no physical space in the Bay Area designed to foster collaborations between like-minded organizations and individuals, engage new people in advocacy and facilitate cross-sector communication and partnerships.
The David Brower Center provides a central address for the nonprofit community, a place to discover the connections between issues, build lasting relationships and affect real, substantive change.
The Brower Center was built adjacent to Oxford Plaza, affordable family housing with retail on the ground floor, and over a city-owned underground parking facility. The Brower Center and Oxford Plaza are independently owned, but were designed together as a mixed-use, transit-oriented development.
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'In addition to virtual spaces, we need inspiring places to interact encounter new ideas.'
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Howdy! Please interview with Amy Tobin, Executive Director of The Brower Center in Berkeley, CA by Willi Paul.
The DBC logo looks like whale? Right?!
Everyone sees something different in the Brower Center’s logo. It was actually inspired by propeller-like seed pods and the concepts of infinity and interconnection.
How do you facilitate interaction between the tenants face-to-face?
Our tenants just finished moving in this month! We have over 27 groups working from the Brower Center. As we begin to facilitate connections, we’re interested in cultivating leadership from within the tenant community.
People run into each other informally over lunch and in hallways, and we have hosted meetings to hear ideas from our tenant community. A lot of people are still settling in and very focused on their own work. At the same time, there is interest in developing new relationships. Some people are interested in social opportunities, and others would like to explore professional development and new collaborations.
In our first three months and in response to initial tenant interest, we have coordinated volunteer-led, free yoga and are scheduling tenant-led “lunch and learns.” A small group of tenants helped brainstorm how to facilitate connections through a tenant web forum. Over the next year, we will all work together to create deeper connections.
What are the top three mandates / questions from the Board?
We are still celebrating a successful launch, 100% occupancy, and great interest in our inaugural exhibition and renting the theater and meeting rooms. Now we need to keep up with demand and opportunity. The Board hopes to see the Center continue to be busy and thrive, to successfully balance multiple operations, and to maximize this asset for the progressive community.
Do you see any inconsistencies with serving alcohol at BC functions? Is wine a necessary catalyst or primer in your marketing mix?
The Brower Center does not currently host its own functions. For now, we are a home for others’ programs while we look at how best to serve the environmental and social justice communities. We have served alcohol at past events, and always offer non-alcoholic drinks as well.
Many months we discussed an online BC community feature. Any progress on this?
Many people have suggested making the Brower Center website into a mirror of the physical building in terms of being a destination, a place for dialogue, and a way to connect with the Center from a distance.
For now, we are focused on ensuring that real-time, face to face connections can be forged in the building. No matter how many virtual spaces emerge, we need inspiring places to interact and encounter new ideas. This is our primary purpose and we want to make sure we can meet that need.
“More than (the BC) restaurant — Terrain will be a destination — a place where the experience is so positive and remarkable you will return to it time and time again. “ Now that’s quite a statement, Amy! Please fill us in!
We are looking forward to seeing Terrain Restaurant open at the Brower Center this fall. The quote above isn’t mine, but I’m very excited to see another kind of gathering space within the Brower Center – one that features sustainably sourced, local, organic food. Stay tuned for more news about when you can visit Terrain.
I don’t see partnerships listed on the web site. Did I miss this? Who are they?
What kind of partnerships do you mean?
“The Brower Center and Oxford Plaza are independently owned, but were designed together as a mixed-use, transit-oriented development. “ How is the building and the site an example of sustainability?
(FYI - http://www.browercenter.org/files/DBC-GreenFactSheet.pdf)
The Brower Center and Oxford Plaza were built on a prime parcel of land that was used as a City-owned parking lot. Now, in place of a parking lot, there is a high-performance building buzzing with events, nonprofit and social enterprises, a gallery and a restaurant; as well as affordable housing, retail space, and a below-grade City-owned parking garage. This entire development is one block from more than 10 bus lines and BART, and it is across the street from the University. Many would argue that this is a much better use of land in the midst of a struggling downtown.
Downtown Berkeley still has work to do in creating a vibrant street life and economic vitality. The Brower Center and Oxford Plaza and Retail have brought new families, workers, and visitors to the downtown. And finally, the Brower Center is an innovative building that should receive a LEED Platinum certification and can be used to teach about dozens of sustainable design features.
How do you define localization?
How far do you need to go to get basic goods and services? How far must goods and services travel to get to you? How much does your immediate, physical community support itself by exchanging goods and services? Do you feel an interdependent sense of responsibility for the land and people around you?
Do you see any connection between new stories, symbols and myth and the sustainability movement?
I’m not sure I understand the question. But I’ll say this: I don’t think “sustainability” is the best word to encompass a set of values or a way of living.
There have always been cultures and people that value interdependence between people, earth, and a sense of shared responsibility. The new “movement” seems to be that increasing numbers of people are becoming aware of these values. Or, more to the point, corporations have realized that these values are marketable.
I read the piece you linked to (above). In response, I would say that these values of interdependence and responsibility are integral to many religious and spiritual disciplines. So yes, if some people don’t connect with religion today, they might gravitate toward a new “movement” that incorporates these concepts that are deep, enduring, and built into human survival.
Is Berkeley still the great beacon of the left? It looks a bit dirty and crazy these days to this Green Man.
I can’t claim to understand all of Berkeley’s challenges, but they seem to be as much about process as product. Like any city. Berkeley has problems and opportunities. It is home to a world-class university and has a downtown full of independent businesses. It has a thriving arts district full of excellent music and theater institutions. At the same time, Berkeley suffers from some racial and class segregation. It can’t quite agree on what kind of city it wants to be, so change here is slow.
Are you involved in the Slow Food or Slow Money “movements”?
Not at the moment. We’ve been hard at work opening our doors here at the Brower Center, and I look forward to working with our friends and allies more now that we’re up and running.
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