Hogan’s Alley Society (HAS) is a Black-led non-profit organization dedicated to advancing the social, political, economic, and cultural well-being of people of African descent in Metro Vancouver. Our work centers on three strategic pillars: culturally informed housing, nonprofit housing development, and community engagement. We lead in developing Afrocentric, affordable housing, particularly through our Hogan’s Alley Block initiative,  a catalyst for enrichment and belonging grounded in one of Canada’s few Black-led Community Land Trusts, to ensure long-term affordability, and prevent further displacement.

Djaka Blais is the inaugural executive director of Hogan’s Alley, a Vancouver-based non-profit focused on advancing the social, political, economic, and cultural well-being of people of African descent (Black People) through the delivery of inclusive housing, built spaces, and culturally informed programming.  With over 23 years of experience in philanthropy, government, and grassroots mobilization, her work centers on shifting power, dismantling inequities, and ensuring historically excluded communities don’t just have a seat at the table—but that they shape the table itself.

The Downtown Eastside Community Land Trust (DTES CLT) is a community-governed, non-profit organization that acquires and stewards land and housing to ensure it remains permanently affordable, community-led, and protected from speculation. By transferring privately owned properties in Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside into community ownership, we remove housing from the speculative market so that profits are reinvested into the buildings and benefits stay within the community.

Andy Bond is the Executive Director of the DTES CLT, bringing over 20 years of expertise in SRO acquisition, operation, and management. Since 1998, he has worked in the DTES, beginning as a frontline worker with the PHS Community Services Society, where he supported tenants in the first three SRO hotels purchased by BC Housing in the late 1990s. Over the years, his role expanded into senior leadership management, serving as Executive Director and Senior Director of Housing and Operations for more than five years. Andy has been instrumental in the successful transition of several privately owned SRO hotels into the non-profit and government sectors, ensuring their long-term affordability and significantly improving housing conditions for tenants.

Dr. Penny Gurstein is a Professor Emeritus, the former Director of the School of Community and Regional Planning and the founding Director of the Housing Research Collaborative at UBC. She specializes in the socio-cultural aspects of community planning with particular emphasis on those who are the most marginalized in planning processes. Dr. Gurstein was also the Principal Investigator of the Balanced Supply of Housing Node of the SSHRC-CMHC Collaborative Housing Research Network where research was conducted on CLTs, and the Co-Lead of CMHC Housing Supply Challenge’s Housing Assessment Resource Tools (HART) project.

Maggie Low is the Co-Chair of the Indigenous Community Planning (ICP) program at SCARP. She was born and raised in Sudbury, Ontario, and is a status member of Wikwemikoong Unceded Territory. Maggie is a community engaged scholar who seeks to advance a better understanding of Indigenous sovereignty as it is expressed outside the Canadian courts, and with a focus on the implications of these expressions for the well-being of Indigenous communities. She also seeks to showcase the strength and strategies of Indigenous Nations and communities as they assert authority over their territories and work towards a renewed relationship with non-Indigenous Canadians. Maggie has been fortunate enough to work with and for First Nations in British Columbia, Manitoba and Ontario.