On April 23, SFCLT members, residents, board members, staff, and supporters gathered for our 2026 Annual General Meeting (AGM), an annual tradition that reflects one of the core principles of the community land trust model: democratic community control.
The AGM is an opportunity to reflect on the past year, celebrate accomplishments, share updates on the organization’s work, and elect members of the Board of Directors. Unlike many nonprofit organizations, SFCLT’s governance structure is designed to ensure that residents, community members, and supporters all have a voice in shaping the future of the organization.
This year’s meeting included updates on SFCLT’s newest acquisition at 3235 16th Street, our new visual identity and website, our efforts to grow the community ownership movement across the region, and ongoing campaigns to advance housing justice in San Francisco. Members also heard updates from board committees and participated in discussions about strengthening board governance and resident engagement for the years ahead.
Welcoming Our 2026 Board of Directors
We are thrilled to welcome and re-elect an extraordinary group of leaders to the SFCLT Board of Directors.
General Member Representatives
- Juan Hernandez
- Naeemah Hall
- Francesca Manning
- Shelah Moody
- Fernando Marti
Resident Member Representatives
- Beth Abdallah
- Chris Carlsson
- Kegan Marling
- Luis Zeron
- Patricia de Larios
Public Representatives
- Preston Kilgore
- Christin Evans
- Avery Yu
- Christopher Refro
- Shanti Singh
Board Officers
- Francesca Manning, President
- Shanti Singh, Vice President
- Patricia de Larios, Treasurer
- Naeemah Hall, Secretary
These board members collectively bring a wide range of experiences as residents, organizers, advocates, artists, small business owners, housing justice leaders, and community builders.
Resident Leadership Is What Makes Community Land Trusts Different
Part of what makes community land trusts unique is that the people most directly impacted by housing decisions have a formal role in making those decisions.
At SFCLT, residents are not simply beneficiaries of our work. They are leaders within the organization. They help shape policies, guide priorities, and make decisions about the future of the land trust. This structure reflects a core belief that communities are strongest when the people who live in them have meaningful power over the institutions that affect their lives.
This year, we elected the largest number of resident board members — six of the 15 board reps – in SFCLT’s history. That milestone represents years of work to deepen resident engagement and build pathways for leadership within the organization.
Resident governance is not always easy. Shared decision-making requires time, trust, dialogue, and a willingness to work through differences. But there is no doubt that SFCLT is stronger because of it. Resident leaders bring lived experience, accountability, and perspectives that cannot be replicated by outside experts alone.
As housing becomes increasingly unaffordable across the Bay Area, community land trusts offer a different model: one where residents are not treated as passive recipients of housing, but as active participants in building and governing permanently affordable communities.
Thank you to everyone who joined us for this year’s Annual General Meeting. We look forward to another year of keeping housing permanently affordable, community-controlled, and rooted in San Francisco.