In April 2024, 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 $50 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 many of the advocacy groups for housing and homelessness, some 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,” said Edie Irons, spokesperson for All Home, a nonprofit advocate for solutions to homelessness. “It’s touching many if not all of the most 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 $198 billion fortune into CZI, which as of 2023, had assets worth $6.3 billion. Since 2018, the foundation has put nearly $200 million toward causes that build housing or advocate for solutions to California’s housing affordability crisis. They have also contributed millions of dollars to housing-related ballot measures, including a 2018 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 statement, it said: “Over the past decade, CZI has supported transformative housing solutions in California, directly contributing to the production and preservation of more than 40,000 homes and helping millions of renters find stability through financing, technical assistance, and community-driven policy changes. As we deepen our focus on biomedical research, we will wind down our statewide housing initiative by the end of 2026. Moving forward, our housing work will focus locally, with continued investments in the Bay Area.”
Multiple people familiar with CZI’s decision-making, who asked not to be identified for fear of retaliation, said the pullback is also related to its call to end funding for programs supporting diversity, equity and inclusion, also known as DEI. Many 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 government, 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 said.
One grantee was initially told they might survive the scrutiny because they did not focus as much on DEI in their work as other organizations. Later, they were told CZI attorneys reviewing their website found references to DEI, and that they would not receive future funding.
Multiple employees on CZI’s community team, including about half the housing team, have been laid off in recent months, people familiar with the organization said.
Many grantees worry that CZI’s pullback from the housing space could trigger other corporate foundations to follow. Some 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,” said 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 support people’s livelihoods. Are we going to take a stand that risks our staff members’ jobs?”
Some local nonprofits are heavily reliant on CZI. Unlike other charities, CZI made many grants to support organizations’ general operating budgets, versus project-specific grants.
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, said CZI told her recently that it would honor its current funding through February 2026, but funding would not be renewed going forward.
“Their funding has been critical to our work,” Haddix said. “I am working as diligently as possible with our board and with our members to try to find a solution so that our operations will not be impacted.”
The pro-housing group YIMBY Action said 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 growth.
“The Housing Element offers one of the best opportunities we’ve had in decades to get the housing California needs, in the communities where it’s needed most. We were thrilled that CZI saw the incredible potential of the Housing Element and joined us as an investor,” said 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 Program,” which brought together tenant advocates, market-rate housing advocates and homelessness-focused organization to unify behind a message that would build public support for improving housing affordability.
“There’s not many funders for narrative work — it’s incredibly important,” said Irons of All Home. “They had a really stellar team.”
So far, it seems that some more research-focused organizations have been spared from cuts, including the Terner Center for Housing Innovation, a spokesperson there said.
Beyond just housing programs, CZI has also cut some education programs. Last week, it announced it will close an East Palo Alto school it founded in 2016 to give low-income children a free, private-school education.
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, said it will spend an additional $15 million from its endowment to support Bay Area organizations.
“The decision of any funder in California, especially a major funder, to suddenly halt its support for housing advocacy – just as we face unprecedented federal funding cuts – is devastating,” wrote Chief Impact Officer Judith Bell in a statement. “The San Francisco Foundation – along with many of our peer funders – is holding stronger than ever to our commitment to inclusivity, social justice and racial equity.”