2019 Annual Report

Letter from Catherine Bracy, our Executive Director

One dark winter night two years ago, I was sitting in a conference room at Google’s San Francisco office with a handful of TechEquity’s earliest members. We were trying to puzzle out why there weren’t many policy ideas that would strengthen tenant protections without potentially stunting new housing production.

The status quo obviously wasn’t working, and the only proposal that had any traction—to repeal the state’s ban on expanded local rent control ordinances—not only wouldn’t extend any immediate protections to renters, it seemed dead on arrival. How was it possible that in the middle of a displacement and homelessness crisis there wasn’t a wealth of ideas? Was there a way for us to help?

That conversation lead us to a partnership with the Terner Center for Housing Innovation at UC Berkeley, where we helped flesh out an idea that later morphed into the Tenant Protection Act of 2019. We ultimately co-sponsored that bill, alongside long-time tenant advocates and experts at PolicyLink, ACCE, Public Advocates, PICO California and the Western Center on Law and Poverty. We brought tech to the table to help get the bill passed, and when Governor Newsom signed it in October it became the most meaningful tenant protection legislation in American history.

In 2019, more than two years after that initial meeting, our community of tech workers built the Tenant Protections Tool to provide resources so California renters can find out whether the new law applies to them and access legal resources they can use to enforce their rights.

2019 was a story of proving the model that tech workers (and their employers) will show up if we give them concrete opportunities to participate. Now, 2020 is a year for us to double down on that work.

The story of our work on the Tenant Protection Act encapsulates what I hoped TechEquity would become when I founded it in 2017. I wanted to create a vehicle to advance and implement equitable public policy faster by bringing tech to the table, and by doing so, meaningfully connect the tech community to our neighbors in order to heal the “us versus them” civic dynamic that dominated the Bay Area.

2019 was a story of proving the model that tech workers (and their employers) will show up if we give them concrete opportunities to participate. Now, 2020 is a year for us to double down on that work.

2020 won’t just be a big year for the country and for California, it will be a milestone year for TechEquity as well. We’re on the front lines of the biggest ballot fight in California in a generation, to reform Prop 13 and recoup $12 billion each year for our communities; we’re taking on even more statewide housing legislation; we’re ramping up our workforce & labor agenda with our responsible contracting and System Reset initiatives; and we’re expanding our corporate partnership program so tech companies can come to the table too.

If you believe that the tech community can be a force for good in this place we call home, we hope you’ll join us.

WHAT WE DO

We believe a more engaged tech sector is a more ethical tech sector, and that immersing tech workers in the most critical issues where they live results in a healthier economy for everyone.

EDUCATION

We brought together more than 1,400 tech workers and community members across more than 50 events this year.
Tech workers joined us in person at panel discussions, tuned into informational webinars, put their heads together at member meetups, and connected with like-minded workers and community members at social functions.

TechEquity has helped make me more aware of both the root causes of the inequality issues plaguing the Bay Area (e.g., Prop 13), as well as current legislative efforts to improve the situation. The events I’ve been to are non-partisan and educational, so I don’t feel judged for not being as deep in my understanding of policy.”
As a result, I’m probably better informed on local and state issues now than I ever was before, which is especially important with an election coming up next year.

– Steven Liu, Tech Worker and TechEquity Member

ACTIVATION

CONNECTION

CORPORATE PARTNERSHIPS

WHAT’S ON TAP FOR 2020

Thank you for being with us in 2019; we really couldn’t do it without you.
To support our efforts in 2020 and beyond, please become a member or donate here.