Tune into WOL 1450 AM, 95.9 FM or the WOL Livestream on Thursday, August 21 at 10:30 a.m. EDT for Everything Co-op, hosted by Vernon Oakes. This week’s episode features Kasey Ventura of the Beverly-Vermont Community Land Trust and Roberto C. Garcia-Ceballos, co-founder of Fideicomiso Comunitario Tierra Libre and Community Power Collective. Together, they will discuss strategies for creating and sustaining permanently affordable housing, as well as their ongoing efforts to address housing insecurity
Kasey Ventura, a child of the Salvadoran diaspora with roots in South Central Los Angeles and Koreatown, has spent over a decade organizing and building political homes. His work has advanced public funding for youth, community ownership, and neighborhood development. Guided by the belief that people can shape dignified lives, he became one of the first staff members at Beverly-Vermont Community Land Trust (BVCLT). There, he has co-led the acquisition of new units, supported the launch of BVCLT’s second limited-equity housing cooperative, and leads member political education. Kasey holds a bachelor’s degree in Policy & Law from Cal State Long Beach, an associate degree from El Camino College, and chairs the LA Co-op Lab.
Roberto C. Garcia-Ceballos is a community and cultural organizer based in Los Angeles (Tongva Land). Born in Mexico City and raised in San Jose, CA, he has spent over 13 years advancing housing justice and community power. He began as an organizer with Springfield No One Leaves in Massachusetts, where he worked on eviction defense and bank accountability campaigns. In 2015, he joined East LA Community Corporation, leading equitable development campaigns for 100% affordable housing on vacant transit land. Roberto later co-founded Fideicomiso Comunitario Tierra Libre (2018), dedicated to decommodifying land and housing in East LA and Boyle Heights, and Community Power Collective (2020), which builds mass movements led by those most impacted by racial and economic injustice.