As Executive Director of Restore Oakland and co-founder and Board President of the REAL People’s Fund, Tash Nguyen has helped the East Bay ecosystem reimagine what economic sovereignty and shared power can look like in practice. At a time when marginalized communities face increased displacement, worker precarity, and widening racial wealth gaps, they’re organizing to demonstrate what becomes possible when capital is aligned with community-led governing power. Tash sees worker cooperatives and small businesses not just as economic engines—they are places where culture, leadership, belonging, and political power are fostered.
Tash was born and raised in the Bay Area as a child of refugees. For 15 years, they have brought their lived experience to their abolitionist politics as a community organizer who’s been fighting to decarcerate jails and redirect resources out of carceral budgets and into life-affirming solutions. They’re trained in restorative justice, mediation, and various conflict resolution techniques.
Tash also serves as a board member of Critical Resistance’s Building People Power project. They love noodles, backpacking to alpine lakes, and nerding out over music and poetry.