The first community land trust was born in Albany, GA, during the Civil Rights Movement to provide economic security to tenant farmers and sharecroppers who were being forced off the land when they registered to vote. At 6,000 acres, New Communities, Inc. was the largest tract of land in the US owned by Black Americans at the time.
Over a half-century later, Aya Community Land Trust is coming to life on the site of an abandoned Rite Aid in Hilltop, Tacoma, where gentrification is driving out residents with ties to the historically Black neighborhood. Learn about the origins of this community development model in the short film Arc of Justice and hear how Hilltop residents are working to create affordable housing in a demonstration of community power and cultural conservation.
This event is offered in partnership with the Bainbridge branch of the Kitsap Regional Library and the Bainbridge Island Museum of Art.
Panelists:
Kathleen Hosfeld is the CEO and executive director of Homestead Community Land Trust, where she leads bold initiatives to expand permanently affordable homeownership and community-led development across the Puget Sound region. Since joining Homestead in 2014, Kathleen has led the organization through a period of significant growth—boosting the number of homes in trust by 30% and establishing a development pipeline of more than 250 new homes. Kathleen’s leadership is grounded in the belief that housing justice must be rooted in place, culture, and community power. She has championed Homestead’s approach to community place-making, forging deep partnerships with residents in historically Black and working-class neighborhoods, including Tacoma’s Hilltop. There, she helped facilitate the creation of Aya Community Land Trust—a community-rooted organization stewarding land and advancing generational wealth through permanently affordable homeownership, cultural space, and community-driven planning.
Her work targets neighborhoods under pressure from gentrification, with a focus on equitable development that centers the voices and vision of those most impacted. She has led Homestead’s development of two “deep green” affordable housing projects that model climate-resilient and sustainable living for future replication. Kathleen chairs the Housing Development Consortium’s Homeownership Affinity Group and has held officer roles on the board of the Northwest Community Land Trust Coalition.
Jeff “JD” Dade serves as Homestead Community Land Trust’s director of community partnerships for Pierce County, where he leads on-the-ground engagement and implementation of community-driven housing and land justice initiatives. JD joined Homestead to help catalyze the formation of Aya Community Land Trust—a powerful new vehicle for resident-led ownership and place-making in Tacoma’s Hilltop neighborhood. His work builds on generations of organizing and cultural resilience in Hilltop and channels those values into land stewardship and permanently affordable homeownership.
A lifelong advocate for economic equity, JD brings decades of experience in community economic development, nonprofit leadership, and the banking sector, with deep knowledge of commercial lending, mortgage systems, wealth management, and workforce development. He is an Accredited Financial Counselor (AFC®) and holds multiple degrees from the University of Washington, including a master’s in community planning. Raised in a military family and rooted in the values of service and accountability, JD is a proud member of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc. and is widely respected for his unwavering commitment to land-based justice and cultural preservation in Black and brown communities across Pierce and King Counties. Whether through real estate strategy, financial education, or frontline partnerships, JD’s work ensures that communities of color not only remain in place—but thrive with dignity, legacy, and power.