Candice Elder, Founder/Director

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Founder and CEO/Executive Director

Candice Elder, an East Oakland native who currently resides in City of Oakland District 7, is the Founder and Executive Director of The East Oakland Collective (EOC). Candice went to Oakland public schools and for high school attended The Head Royce School. Candice has a background in law, philanthropy and nonprofit management. Candice was a legal professional for 10 years and has worked in plaintiff class action law firms in employment and antitrust law fields. Candice previously worked as the Executive Coordinator and Membership Manager for the Women's Funding Network, the largest philanthropy network of women's funds and foundations in the country.
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​Candice founded EOC in 2016 to drive racial and economic equity in East Oakland. It was the long stemming disinvestment and lack of resources in East Oakland that compiled Candice to start this grassroots membership based organization harnessing the collective power of millennials. Candice brings her wealth of experience serving on community focused committees, boards and more to her leadership role in EOC and the community. Candice served on the advisory committee for Breaking the Silence Town Hall on Women and Girls of Color in Oakland from 2015-2016, an annual town hall creating space to amplify, educate, and advocate in support of girls and women of color in Oakland. It is Candice’s passion for Black arts and culture that led her to serve as the President of the Museum of the African Diaspora (MoAD) Vanguard from 2014-2016, where she increased membership, visibility and funding. MoAD Vanguard is the young professional and membership group committed to supporting the museum through distinctive art, social, education, and philanthropic initiatives. As an influencer, she also served on the Vanguard board for five years. Candice currently serves on the Board of Directors for East Bay Permanent Real Estate Cooperative (EBPREC).
 
Candice has received numerous awards and recognition. In 2019, she was selected as one of The Root's Top 100 Most Influential African Americans. Candice is the 2018 runner up for Rotary Oakland’s Rising Star Award. She is a recipient of the 2017 Trailblazer Award from In the Spirit Awards. Candice is also a 2016 recipient of the Community Leader Award by Black Elected Officials of the East Bay. Also in 2016, Candice was named Top 6 Under 40 by the Black Women Organized for Political Action (BWOPA) HerStory Empowers Award in the arts and entertainment category. Candice has been featured in Oakland Magazine, KQED, San Francisco Chronicle, DemocracyNow! for her work in advocacy, policy and organizing with unhoused populations. Candice was a special guest on Pod Save America's live tour in San Jose.
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​Candice has a Bachelors of Arts in Political Science and a minor in African-American Studies from the University of California, Berkeley and a Masters of Science in Criminal Justice, with a concentration on reform of the criminal justice, from the University of Cincinnati.

Marquita Price, Urban & Regional Planning Officer

Director of Urban and Regional Planning 
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Marquita “Keta” Price, aka “The Hood Planner,” is a third generation East Oakland native serving as the Director of Urban and Regional Planning for The East Oakland Collective. Keta’s formal passion for urbanism came about during recreational research on how gentrification has impacted low-income Black “hoods” across the nation. As director, Keta is the lead on several East Oakland neighborhood & transportation planning projects, participates in the development of local urban and regional planning, and holds the city of Oakland accountable to equitable zoning and land use in East Oakland.
 Her early activism and care for community is rooted at Merritt College, where she served as the Vice President of The Black Student Union, President of the Kem(istry) Club, President of the Associated Students of Merritt College (ASMC), and served as a Student Trustee of the Peralta Community College School District. Keta’s initial goals were to restore the intellect and militancy of Merritt’s student government. Seeded by Chairman Bobby Seale and other former Black Panthers, ASMC focused on leveraging the institution’s resources to address the socioeconomic issues from the flatlands prohibiting students from thriving academically. Keta’s political and social goals pulled her away from studying chemistry to deeply exploring how societies, communities, and cities are planned, designed and constructed. 

As a chemistry major, Keta received an achievement award for the completion of The Center for Educational Partnerships NIH-UCB internship. During this project Keta synthesized pro-fluorophores used for live cell RNA imaging. Keta also received recognition and commendation from the California Legislature Assembly and State of California Senate and the Alameda County Board of Supervisors for her student advocacy work with the Tobacco-less Club at Merritt College. Keta has an Associates of Science in Mathematics and Natural Science. When the opportunity presents itself, Keta plans to further her education in Urban Studies, Data Analysis and Design.

Chief Strategist and Director of Contracts

​Darbi Howard, has a B.S. in Social Work from Georgia State University. Darbi is a resident of West Oakland. Darbi has decades of experience in Senior Leadership in the SF Bay Area nonprofit sector and has worked for longstanding organizations such as Rubicon and Bay Area Community Services. She has primarily worked with adults and families experiencing behavioral health crises, as well as social and environmental injustices such as lack of food, employment and inadequate housing. She has resided on a variety of boards such as Oakland Youth Choir, Oakland Community Development Block Grant (CDBG), Alameda County IHSS Registry and PEERS to name a few.
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​Prior to joining EOC in an official capacity, Darbi and her family were faithful volunteers of the Feed the Hood program.  Darbi’s personal commitment to community activism and engagement has been lifelong. She currently is raising her two adopted children in her footsteps as social justice leaders. In their free time her family loves hiking and on the river with their dog Mars and traveling to tropical beaches for ocean adventures.

Jabir Faqir, Interim Director of Development

Interim Director of Development

​Jabir Faqir, through a partnership with Ansar Partners,  joins The East Oakland Collective as Interim Development Director, accepting responsibilities for EOC's fundraising and development strategies through 2019.

Born and raised in Oakland, Jabir serves as CEO of fundraising consulting firm Ansar Partners, and has been a successful fundraising professional for a variety of social justice organizations. Over the past sixteen years, he has helped raise over $33 million for organizations active in social justice, civil rights, higher education and peace activism.

Most recently, he was the Development Manager at the Dream Corps, founded by Van Jones. He was hired by the then-interim CEO John Anner, and later joined John in founding Ansar Partners. 

Just prior to the Dream Corps, Jabir was the Senior Development Officer at Muslim Advocates, the leading civil rights organization for Muslims in America. There he managed the annual fundraising campaigns and led the development team.

Jabir played similar roles at Peace Action, the nation’s largest grassroots peace and justice lobbying organization. He also managed annual fund campaigns at the University of California, Berkeley, raising money to benefit student aid, faculty excellence, and research across the campus for the College of Engineering, School of Law (Boalt Hall), Haas School of Business, Cal Athletics and many other departments.

Jabir is a passionate community activist, dedicating his time to social justice organizing, youth mentoring, and work in Muslim communities. He spends his free time cooking, enjoying music, and at the ballpark watching the Oakland A’s.