Mark Zuckerberg’s philanthropy quietly cuts funding for affordable housing, homelessness groups

In April Priscilla Chan sat on a stage during the five-year anniversary celebration for a housing initiative that she and husband Mark Zuckerberg s philanthropy had seeded with a million commitment She explained their mission To improve housing affordability for folks across the socioeconomic spectrum but especially for those who can least afford it and to promote racial equity and economic inclusion A year later the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative has made a sharp reversal on its commitment to housing CZI is quietly ending funding for a number of California housing organizations telling several of the advocacy groups for housing and homelessness certain that it has supported for years that it will not renew their grants going forward It s a blow to the housing justice movement across California noted Edie Irons spokesperson for All Home a nonprofit advocate for solutions to homelessness It s touching a great number of if not all of the the greater part effective housing advocacy organizations across the state Chan and Zuckerberg the CEO of Meta and one of the richest men in the world have poured part of their billion fortune into CZI which as of had assets worth billion Since the foundation has put nearly million toward causes that build housing or advocate for solutions to California s housing affordability situation They have also contributed millions of dollars to housing-related ballot measures including a statewide bond measure for affordable housing and a sales tax increase to fund homelessness services in Alameda County CZI declined to be interviewed for this story In a message it reported future housing investments would focus on the Bay Area But multiple people familiar with CZI s decision-making who demanded not to be identified for fear of retaliation explained the pullback is also related to its call to end funding for programs supporting diversity equity and inclusion also known as DEI Numerous of the housing organizations CZI has supported in previous years include commitments to social equity in their mission statements Leaders of impacted organizations say they feel betrayed that CZI which has historically supported progressive social causes has been so quick to change its tune as the Trump administration takes aim at DEI President Donald Trump has signed executive orders to halt spending on diversity initiatives through the federal ruling body including for federal contractors and grant recipients Pulling this funding sends a terrible message that this work is disposable one housing organization s staff member disclosed One grantee was initially explained they might survive the scrutiny because they did not focus as much on DEI in their work as other organizations Later they were advised CZI attorneys reviewing their website uncovered references to DEI and that they would not receive future funding CZI reported its move is related to the organization s shift away from advocacy as it pivots to focus more on biology and artificial intelligence Multiple employees on CZI s district company including about half the housing organization have been laid off in latest months people familiar with the organization explained Multiple grantees worry that CZI s pullback from the housing space could trigger other corporate foundations to follow Several are even weighing whether to get rid of any mentions of DEI entirely to appease corporate donors We re not going to stop DEI work we re just not going to talk about it as much publicly mentioned the leader of a housing organization who did not want their name used for fear of risking more funding None of us wants to be cowardly but we re running businesses that help people s livelihoods Are we going to take a stand that risks our staff members jobs Selected local nonprofits are heavily reliant on CZI Unlike other charities CZI made multiple grants for to assistance organizations general operating budgets versus project-specific grants function use strict window addEventListener message function a if void a records datawrapper-height var e document querySelectorAll iframe for var t in a details datawrapper-height for var r i r e i i if r contentWindow a source var d a records datawrapper-height t px r style height d The East Bay Housing Organizations an Oakland-based advocacy group for affordable housing has counted CZI as its second-largest donor Lindsay Haddix EBHO s executive director declared CZI communicated her in recent times that it would honor its current funding through February but funding would not be renewed going forward Their funding has been critical to our work Haddix declared I am working as diligently as viable with our board and with our members to try to find a method so that our operations will not be impacted The pro-housing group YIMBY Action commented that CZI has helped to fund its work holding cities to their housing elements which are plans the state requires local governments to create to plan for new housing development The Housing Element offers one of the best opportunities we ve had in decades to get the housing California demands in the communities where it s needed the bulk We were thrilled that CZI saw the incredible prospective of the Housing Element and joined us as an investor disclosed Managing Director Gillian Pressman We are disappointed that they decided not to renew funding One of the most-celebrated programs among grantees to be cut was CZI s Housing Narrative Partner Scheme which brought together tenant advocates market-rate housing advocates and homelessness-focused organization to unify behind a message that would build inhabitants assistance for improving housing affordability There s not countless funders for narrative work it s incredibly key noted Irons of All Home They had a really stellar company So far it seems that a few more research-focused organizations have been spared from cuts including the Terner Center for Housing a spokesperson there stated Related Articles California bill would give homeowners cash to fireproof their properties California home sales tumble below Great Recession low for months Housing plan involving defunct East Bay mall splits nearby residents Salary to afford a typical Bay Area home has increased since New -unit housing advance makes its way to Sunnyvale Beyond just housing programs CZI has also cut certain tuition programs Last week it informed it will close an East Palo Alto school it founded in to give low-income children a free private-school development While CZI pulls back others charities say they re stepping up to fill the gap in funding for social justice-oriented causes Last week the San Francisco Foundation which manages the Partnership for the Bay Future initiative stated it will spend an additional million from its endowment to endorsement Bay Area organizations The decision of any funder in California especially a major funder to suddenly halt its sponsorship for housing advocacy just as we face unprecedented federal funding cuts is devastating wrote Chief Impact Officer Judith Bell in a declaration The San Francisco Foundation along with multiple of our peer funders is holding stronger than ever to our commitment to inclusivity social justice and racial equity