Executive Summary

Founded in 2009, Planting Justice’s mission is to empower youth and adults impacted by mass incarceration and other social inequities with the skills and resources to cultivate food sovereignty, economic justice, and community healing.

PJ’s 3-acre Aquaponics Farm & Training Center at the recently-acquired historic Neishi nursery will produce upwards of 180,000 pounds of diverse organic produce PLUS over 150,000 annual nursery starts/year, utilizing 90% LESS water than in-ground production. The farm and training program will provide dozens of living-wage jobs and paid youth internships for people directly impacted by mass incarceration and other social inequities, with priority given to those connected to the immediate Sobrante Park neighborhood.

PJ’s East Oakland Nursery propagates thousands of fruit trees, many grown at our 4-acre Mother Farm in El Sobrante, and already provides 20+ living-wage local jobs with benefits, a green space for community to gather, a sacred site for the Ohlone of the Sogorea Te land trust, and a food distribution hub. Since 2016, PJ has passed an estimated over $2 million directly into the Sobrante Park neighborhood through staff salaries, benefits, paid youth internships, and community mutual aid.

PJ’s Holistic Reentry Program is led by a formerly incarcerated female community leader who coordinates wrap-around support for staff reentering the community after the trauma of incarceration.

Our Food Sovereignty Youth Leadership Program engages over 300 East Oakland youth–including 60 Sobrante Park youth–enrolled in paid youth internship programs each year, developing school gardens, distributing mutual aid produce, and preparing them for full-time work.

Organizations may provide budget and employee data based on this proposal or the organization as a whole. For more information on this proposal or organization, please email us.