General roles:

Policy research: Study impact of economic crisis on human needs of Berkeley residents. Project long-term outcomes of economic/ecological trends, and develop prudent policy options to transform Berkeley and the Bay Area. Work with government staff, academic leaders, non-profits, and policy institutes.

Action research: Interview people affected by police abuses and anti-homeless laws. Produce anecdotal testimony illuminating effect of anti-poor legislation and racial profiling. Help develop community plans to advance human rights.

Community organizing: Network with community-based organizations and progressive leaders from local governments and academia. Assist city commissioners to develop integrated, inter-disciplinary solutions to social problems.

Specifiec Role, 2016: Commission 30th Anniversary.

The role of the Commission is to advise the Berkeley City Council and the Berkeley school board on all matters relating to the City of Berkeley's role in issues of peace and social justice.

The commission is planning a 30th anniversary program for shortly after the new year. We’ll look at why Berkeley saw fit to create a social justice advisory body in the 1980s, and why it included a mandate to work for world peace; what we have accomplished over the decades; and in a look ahead, what is the relevance of the commission in the 21st century.

This project will involve interviewing people who were among the initiators of the commission, and community groups which the commission has assisted over the years. We then need to do some creative thought work on questions such as:

* What is the relevance of social justice focus to local government?

* And of an international/peace with justice focus?

* Why a multi-issue commission?

* How to institute Socially Responsible Investing in a city?

* Can we cooperate regionally for social and climate justice?

* Economic justice and the transformation of Berkeley; what kind of city do we want to be?