Letter from the Executive Director
2021 was a year of “firsts” for HAC. By hiring our first-ever South Bay/Peninsula Organizer, and our first-ever Communications Associate we grew our full-time team from six to eight. That enabled us to accomplish more than ever as we introduced our first-ever statewide housing legislation and engaged our first-ever lobbying team to bolster our advocacy in Sacramento. We also achieved many new milestones as we engaged more pro-housing neighbors than ever before in our campaigns to support new housing developments and pro-housing policies.
In addition to achieving hard-fought housing policy and production wins, our success and momentum in 2021 has now made it possible to expand to Los Angeles County and launch our new political action committee – HAC PAC – to further accelerate our growth and propel our pro-housing progress in 2022 and beyond. I couldn’t be more proud of what we’ve accomplished together with our team, board, members, and partners in 2021, and excited for 2022!
Project Endorsements
Outreach and Engagement
Housing Hot Topics
- Bay Area Housing 101: What Caused our Housing Crisis and How We Can Solve it Together
- Everything You Wanted to Know About Affordable Housing
- The Latest on ADUs
- How to Implement Upzoning: Best Practices & Lessons Learned
- Converting Hotels to Housing
- How Housing Impacts Health Outcomes for Vulnerable Communities
- New Approaches for Solving the Bay Area's Homelessness Epidemic
- Innovations in Sustainable Housing
- How to Eliminate Exclusionary Zoning: Lessons from Sacramento
- Enforcing California’s Housing Laws: Q&A with California Renters Legal Advocacy and Educational Fund (CaRLA)
- How Freeways Impact Communities
Members-Only Roundtables
- San Jose Mayor Sam Liccardo
- Berkeley Mayor Jesse Arreguín
- Berkeley City Councilmember Terry Taplin
- Oakland Planning Director William Gilchrist
- Oakland Policy Director for Housing Security Darin Ranelletti
- San Francisco Supervisor Rafael Mandelman
- San Francisco Supervisor Myrna Melgar
- San Francisco Office of Economic & Workforce Development Director Anne Taupier
- San Francisco Planning Department Director Rich Hillis
With several special elections taking place on both sides of the Bay, HAC made it a priority to educate our members and the broader pro-housing community about where candidates stand on housing and housing-related issues. Our election initiatives included:
- Securing pro-housing commitments from AD-18 special election candidates through our HAC Housing Pledge.
- Convening an AD 17 Candidate Conversations series with all four candidates vying for David Chiu’s former Assembly seat.
- Supporting Courtney Welch’s successful campaign for Emeryville City Council.
- Launching HAC PAC - our new political action committee to support pro-housing candidates across California.
2021 was very much a year of firsts for HAC’s statewide legislative advocacy efforts in Sacramento, as we engaged our first-ever lobbying team, introduced our first-ever legislation, and walked the halls of the Capitol to lobby members of the legislature for the first time since 2019.
Working in close collaboration with our legislative allies, and as part of the California Home Builders Alliance, we’re especially proud to have advocated successfully for the passage of SB 8, SB 9, and SB 10, along with dozens of other pro-housing bills.
At the local level, our team mobilized pro-housing neighbors in support of forward-thinking and long-overdue policies. Our advocacy efforts included:
- Partnering with San Francisco Mayor Breed to launch her “Cars to Casas” initiative.
- Campaigning for Berkeley, Oakland, San Jose and San Francisco to eliminate exclusionary zoning and build new housing near BART stations.
- Collaborating with South Bay and Peninsula housing advocates on maximizing housing in cities’ Housing Elements and land use plans in Santa Clara, Sunnyvale, Palo Alto, and Daly City.
Spring Symposium
With the theme of Building Momentum, our 19th Annual Spring Symposium showcased the growing movement for more equitable, affordable, and inclusive housing across the Bay Area, California, and the U.S. with a series of conversations featuring SF Mayor London Breed, Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf, California Assemblymember David Chiu, HUD Senior Advisor Richard Cho, VOX Policy Reporter Jerusalem Demsas, Los Angeles Times Housing Reporter Liam Dillon, KQED Housing Reporter Molly Solomon and others.
Spring Symposium Speakers
Housing Heroes Awards
In the Fall, our 19th Annual Housing Heroes Awards honored four individuals and teams who have made exceptional contributions to creating more housing at all levels of affordability, and fostering more diverse, equitable, and inclusive communities across the Bay Area and beyond. With special guest presenters California State Senators Scott Wiener and Nancy Skinner, San Jose Mayor Sam Liccardo, and Richmond City Councilmember Claudia Jiménez, we were proud to honor 2021 Housing Heroes:
2021 Housing Heroes Awardees
Leslye Corsiglia, Outgoing Executive Director of Silicon Valley at Home, for her longstanding leadership and stalwart commitment to making Silicon Valley housing more affordable, abundant, and inclusive.
"Advocates push for action. They organize, they speak up, and they don’t give up. Advocacy is critical, and here in the Bay Area and in Sacramento it’s making change."
Professor john a. powell, Director of the Othering and Belonging Institute and Professor of Law, African American, and Ethnic Studies at the University of California at Berkeley, for his visionary efforts to illuminate and dismantle structural racism in housing and advance an “opportunity-based” housing model that connects affordable housing to education, health, health care, and employment.
"Housing continues to be an elusive goal for too many people. And while the end is not in sight, and we still have a long way to go, I’m convinced that we can solve this problem. And I am pleased to be part of this effort."
The Berkeley City Council for paving the way to end exclusionary zoning and allow for multi-family homes to be built across the city.
"If we really do believe in ending systemic racism, then we have to end systemic racism in our housing and land use policies."
"I’m deeply proud of the work we’ve been able to accomplish to redress our legacy of exclusionary zoning. We have much more to do, but I’m confident that as a pro-housing community we can get it done."
"We all stand united under the concept that housing is a human right. Our legislation was hailed as a model internationally and by the White House. When Berkeley leads, others tend to follow and I’m hopeful other elected officials will act boldly."
DM Development and their CEO Mark MacDonald for their pioneering project at 300 De Haro Street, the first mixed-income development in San Francisco to leverage SB 35 and California’s state density bonus to maximize naturally affordable housing.
"We hope 300 De Haro will demonstrate how middle income housing can be delivered quickly & efficiently & how this type of housing with its affordability, community orientation & innovative design can be a model of housing to come."
East Bay
- Advocated for ending exclusionary zoning in Berkeley and Oakland.
- Waged advocacy campaigns in support of Affordable Housing Overlay, Social Housing, building BART-adjacent homes, San Pablo Corridor Specific Plan, and Objective Design Standards.
- Grew our East Bay Coalition through collaborations with East Bay YIMBY, Albany for All, Plaza for the People, and other key pro-housing groups committed to innovating regional housing solutions.
South Bay & Peninsula
- Advocated for maximizing housing in land use plans across Daly City, Palo Alto, Mountain View, Sunnyvale, Santa Clara, and San Jose.
- Championed two Project Homekey proposals that help alleviate housing shortages and displacement for people experiencing homelessness.
- Engaged with the Housing Element process to support equitable placement of housing throughout the region, pressing for housing to be built in high-resource neighborhoods, and urging cities to lower fees on new developments to ensure they reach their RHNA targets.
- Pressed for thoughtful and just SB 9 implementation in San Jose as part of the “Neighborhoods For All” coalition.
In the News
In 2021, we continued to expand and develop our team of passionate advocates by promoting Jake Price to Business Development Manager, hiring Abbie Tuning as our new Development and Operations Associate, welcoming Kat Wortham as our first-ever South Bay/Peninsula Organizer, and enlisting Miles Johnson as our first-ever Communications Associate.
From a full-time staff of three in 2018 to our current, and still-expanding, team of eight, HAC’s steady growth year after year has enabled us to set and exceed bigger and more audacious goals and accelerate our pro-housing process across Bay Area cities and the region as a whole.
Also integral to our team’s success is our internship program and we were fortunate to welcome six student interns this year. We’re incredibly grateful to Lucie Bacho, Mella Betag, James Creed, Rachel Durney, Max Gavenman, Natalie Greene, Adam Jancsek, and Carlos Melgoza for accomplishing a wide array of projects and being as delightful as they are talented.
Fun Fact: Both Adam, Carlos, and recent intern Gustvao Alvarez left their HAC internships to take full-time jobs with HAC Members Nibbi Brothers (Adam and Gustavo) and Mission Housing (Carlos)!
Staff Updates
Jake Price
Business Development Manager
Abbie Tuning
Development & Operations Associate
Kat Wortham
South Bay/Peninsula Organizer
Miles Johnson
Communications Associate
Board Updates
Jacob Adiarte
Northern California Carpenters Union
Graciela Castillo-Krings
Sacramento Advocates
Art Taylor
JobTrain
Molly Watson
Suffolk Construction