East Bay for Everyone

East Bay for everyone is a pervasive network of voices speaking up for housing abundancy and better cities all over the East Bay. We organized YIMBYtown 2017, the world’s Yes In My Back Yard conference which brought nearly 200 organizers to experience Oakland and learn more about housing justice across the country. We’ve also organized for the approval of nearly three thousand homes across the region, received international news coverage, and helped sue Berkeley with a winning outcome for housing all over the state of California.

California Community Builders

California Community Builders seeks to close the racial wealth gap by focusing on the core issue of housing and homeownership. Taking a data-driven, outcomes-focused approach, we research and advocate for policies that promote wealth-building and tear down barriers created by redlining, exclusionary zoning, and all forms of discrimination.

Joint Center for Housing Studies of Harvard University

The Harvard Joint Center for Housing Studies strives to improve equitable access to decent, affordable homes in thriving communities. We conduct rigorous research to advance policy and practice, and we bring together diverse stakeholders to spark new ideas for addressing housing challenges. Through teaching and fellowships, we mentor and inspire the next generation of housing leaders.

Abundant Housing LA

AHLA is a grassroots nonprofit organization working to solve Southern California’s housing crisis by advocating for more housing at all levels of affordability. We are composed of community members whose primary interest is making housing more affordable.

AHLA envisions Los Angeles County as a place where every resident can find an affordable home that meets their needs in their neighborhood choice. We aspire to create sustainable and diverse communities that prioritize accessibility, minimize car dependency, and foster a healthier and more inclusive environment for all.

Housing Action Coalition

The Housing Action Coalition (HAC) is a member-supported nonprofit that advocates for building more homes at all levels of affordability to help alleviate the Bay Area and California’s housing shortage, displacement, and affordability crisis.

PALO

As the housing needs of our communities evolve, so do we. From concept through development, we build integrated housing solutions that transform the landscape for today and tomorrow. We integrate across disciplines to enrich every project with meaning and increased value, achieving balance across development, architecture, landscape and interiors. We believe that the future is created by those who build things, and the best things are built at the intersection of speed and skill. Ultimately we create with sensitivity, enduring materials and flexibility. We prioritize freethinking for a changing world and shifting desires. We refine spaces and find moments of play that open up new interpretations informed by insight and understanding.

Housing Policy Innovations 

Founded in 2020, Housing Policy Innovations empowers local governments, technology startups, and mission-driven nonprofits to effectively navigate and leverage California's progressive housing laws. Our expertise encompasses the strategic implementation of landmark housing reforms, including density bonus law updates, missing middle housing construction, and the promotion of best housing practices at the local level. Our goal is to address the housing crisis with practical, impactful solutions.

Leading the charge in policy innovation, we go beyond zoning to reimagine urban design comprehensively. We tackle state building codes, reform legal and financial frameworks to revitalize condominium development, streamline permitting processes, and much more. 

Build Casa

BuildCasa is on a mission to build 100,000 homes in existing neighborhoods. The startup helps homeowners unlock value from unused land on their properties and expands the supply of starter homes on the new infill sites. New California laws allow homeowners to split their lots, but many lack the resources to take advantage of this policy. BuildCasa handles the entire process, including financing, surveying, subdivision and permitting -- allowing homeowners to monetize their extra lot space with no cost or work.

Green Development Company

Green Development Company (GDC) is a forward-thinking real estate firm specializing in innovative, efficient, and scalable housing solutions, completing over 100 projects annually across California. We streamline permitting, advocate for policy change, and design thoughtful, high-impact developments—including a 51-unit project in Los Angeles and a 38-unit, 7-story building in Pasadena, which we fast-tracked from eight years of plan check to approval in just three months. Our portfolio also includes a 60-unit, 6-story multifamily project in Pasadena and a 126-unit development near Santa Anita Park.

As strong advocates for permit reform, we collaborate with cities to resolve violations, accelerate approvals, and hold jurisdictions accountable under state law. Our work has shown how outdated design rules—such as restrictive stairwell requirements—hinder affordability and creativity.

Single-stair reform is key to unlocking more efficient, livable, and cost-effective housing. By supporting this change, we can push boundaries in sustainable, space-efficient design.

We’re proud to sponsor this contest and champion the next wave of housing innovation in California.”

Parking Reform Network

The Parking Reform Network (PRN) is a nonprofit organization founded in 2019 to accelerate the adoption of critical parking reforms through research, coalition-building, and direct advocacy. Too often, harmful parking policies stand in the way of creating well-designed and badly needed housing, fighting climate change, promoting equity, and achieving safe and vibrant streets and communities. PRN educates the public about the far-reaching impacts of parking, and serves as an organizing hub for advocates and policy makers working to eliminate arbitrary and costly parking mandates, manage parking efficiently and reduce its oversupply.

Strong Towns

Strong Towns seek to replace America’s post-war pattern of development, the Suburban Experiment, with a pattern of development that is financially strong and resilient. They advocate for cities of all sizes to be safe, livable, and inviting. They work to elevate local government to be the highest level of collaboration for people working together in a place, not merely the lowest level in a hierarchy of governments.

Center for Building in North America

The Center for Building in North America was founded in 2022, with the goal of studying building codes and construction policy in the United States and Canada in comparative global context, and proposing avenues for reform to bring our codes in line with those in other developed countries.

The CBNA will be publishing research on the construction industry, codes, and practices, focusing first on vertical circulation – things like staircases and elevators, which make up the core of our buildings. While these elements are easy to overlook, they define how buildings are laid out, and can be the difference between apartment buildings with long, hotel-like double-loaded corridors with all luxury studio and one-bedroom apartments on the one hand, and buildings with more efficient, family-friendly layouts on the other. 

Codified Life Safety

Codified Life Safety, Ltd. is a consultancy, backed by two and a half decades of experience navigating the regulatory landscape of the built environment, which exists to help designers, owners, and contractors meet life safety and building codes. With a deep knowledge of the codes and the practices of jurisdictions that enforce them, CLS collaboratively supports clients across the U.S. through design review, code summary/study development, advice on strategic compliance approaches, and negotiation with code authorities. 

CLS actively advocates for building codes that are free from special interests, based on real science, and achieve safety goals without sacrificing quality of life.