Overall Clinic Description

“Never forget that justice is what love looks like in public.”

Cornel West

“To truly love we must learn to mix various ingredients - care, affection, recognition, respect, commitment, and trust, as well as honest and open communication.”

bell hooks

Launched in Fall 2023, the Dellums Clinic to Dismantle Structural Racism is a partnership between Just Cities LLC, the UC Berkeley Institute for Urban & Regional Development, the UC Berkeley College of Environmental Design, and the UC Berkeley Goldman School of Public Policy. Founded by former government racial and social justice change leaders, the Dellums Clinic seeks to develop future public policy and planning leaders to dismantle structural racism through the principles and methods of Transformative Community Planning and Structural Policy Change. Transformative Community Planning centers the principles and methods of Love, Healing, Cultural Humility, and authentic Community Partnerships. Structural Policy Change requires centering People, Place and their histories, deep listening, structural roots analysis, co-creating community-based evidence, rigorous analysis of mainstream data, understanding government systems and structures, navigating politics, and designing transformative problem definitions and policy solutions. Many Dellums Clinic students end up doing their Spring masters capstone projects on Clinic projects, using the Fall semester for community grounding and relationship building needed for co-creating impactful problem definitions required for transformative public policy change.

Who was Ronald V. Dellums

Why is the Dellums Clinic named after Ron Dellums? A beloved son of Oakland, Ron was a transformative government leader who saw his role as serving as a vehicle for community movements for peace and justice. Known for being 20 years ahead of his time and for his deep integrity, Ron was one of the first Democratic Socialists in Congress and an early champion of South Africa anti-apartheid, Japanese American reparations, nuclear disarmament, climate justice, any so many other movements for peace, justice, human rights and dignity. Learn more here. One of his last big projects before his transition in 2018 was co-envisioning a center to bring community and campus together and to support the development of future public policy and planning justice leaders grounded in the principles of love, integrity, and justice. We honor Ron Dellums' legacy through the work of the Dellums Clinic.

Click here to watch Nelson Mandela and Ron V. Dellums celebrating Nelson Mandela's freedom at the Oakland Coliseum in 1990.

The Dellums Clinic Experience @ UC Berkeley

Training the next generation of public policy & planning change leaders to dismantle structural racism

Racial Justice Theory of Change + Professional Mentors + Community Partnerships + Government Structural Change

Some Clinic folks (left to right): Andre Soucy MCP '24, Alex Pinigis, MPP '23, Dan Lindheim GSPP faculty, Jabar Watson Dellums Fellow, Keyanna Ortiz-Cedeno MCP '24, Mariel Mendoza MPP '22, Elena Serrano EastSide Arts, Margaretta Lin Director, Charisma Acey City Planning faculty, Yaa Sarkodie MPP '24, Kat Cuiffo MCP '24, Hailey Gil MPP '24, Sarah Meyerhoff MPA '24, Angie Fike Coordinator

Artwork by Favianna Rodriguez

Clinic Enrollment and Requirements (EnvDes/PubPol 297, for 3-4 units)

Priority enrollment is for second-year masters students in the College of Environmental Design and Goldman School of Public Policy. However, students in other programs who are deeply committed to community-led planning and public policy design are encouraged to also apply.
The Dellums Clinic is a year-round Clinic with priority enrollment for students interested in both Fall and Spring experiences. However, interested students have the option to only enroll in the Fall semester, without continuing into the Spring semester. Spring-only enrollment is not available as the Fall experience provides for foundational theories of change, community grounding work, and essential community building.
There are two Clinic programming components: 1) group learning time; and 2) placement in Clinic projects for applied learning, growing, and doing.
Group Learning: Clinic students and staff all meet together on Fridays from 9-11:30 for group instruction, trainings, peer-learning, and/or community guest lectures and visits.
Clinic Projects: After being accepted into the Clinic, students are given more information about specific Clinic projects (see below for summary information), select their top choices, and are placed accordingly. Students can take the Clinic for 3 units (8 hours/week Clinic work) or 4 units (9 hours/week Clinic work).
For AY24-25, the Dellums Clinic is only accepting 14 students in order to accommodate intensive hands-on learning and professional development priorities.
- Interested students should submit an application, available here, by April 30.
- Interviews with Clinic staff and current Clinic students will occur by May 3rd.
- All student applicants will be notified about their enrollment status by May 6th.
For more information, please feel free to contact Clinic Director Margaretta Lin, margarettalin@berkeley.edu.

Clinic Staff

Margaretta Lin

Director & Co-Founder

Charisma Acey

Co-Founder & Clinic Supervisor

Dan Lindheim

Co-Founder & Clinic Supervisor

Elena Serrano

Co-Founder & Clinic Supervisor

Xavier Johnson

Clinic Supervisor

Alex Pinigis

Project Liaison

Mariel Mendoza

Project Liaison

Jabar Watson

Project Liaison

Ishita Chandra

Clinic Supervisor

Mausam Jamwal

Project Liaison

Angie Fike

Clinic Coordinator

Kya Chen

Project Liaison

Community Grounding Leaders & Visits

Getting out of Campus and into the Community to Learn, Experience & Develop Meaningful Relationships

David Peters & the West Oakland Black Liberation Walking Tour

Elena Serrano & the East Oakland Cultural Justice Movement History Tour

Ms. Margaret Gordon's West Oakland Toxic Tour

Marisol Cantu's Richmond Planning Injustice & People Power Tour

Transformative Community + Government Policy & Planning Justice Projects

Transformative structural change requires government and impacted communities to share power and work together as trusted partners. However, the legacy, and sometimes continuation, of exclusionary government prevent transformative relationships and impactful public policy. The Dellums Clinic projects are California statewide or Bay Area local planning and policy justice initiatives co-led by government and grassroots community leaders committed to struggling together to advance environmental, climate, housing, mobility, land use, re-entry, and public financing justice.

Clinic partners include: the California Air Resources Board, the Bay Area Air Quality Management District, Alameda County, the Cities of Berkeley, Oakland, and Richmond, Just Cities LLC, Just Cities Institute, EastSide Arts Alliance, West Oakland Environmental Indicators Project, the Deeply Rooted Collaborative, All of Us or None, The Village, Communities for a Better Environment, the Safe Return Project, Richmond ACCE, Rising Juntos, SOS Richmond, the RYSE Center, Community Housing Development Corp, Richmond Neighborhood Housing Services.

Together, we are engaging in the essential work of transforming government systems, structures, policies, and practices to center the leadership and power of people impacted by structural racism.

Come JOIN US!