Convene - Build It Green

California Housing System Innovators Network

The California Housing System Innovators Network brings folks from across the housing system together to build collaborative relationships, generate ideas to holistically address our many housing challenges in California and partner together to work on those challenges. It creates the space for diverse folks with broad ranges of experiences working in housing to engage in peer learning, build or deepen relationships that allow for shared understanding and mutual benefit and nurture possible projects and efforts that have the potential for transformative impact.

Members include builders, designers, developers, advocates, community-based leaders, decision-makers, and more who build community and work together to shape California’s housing system to better serve to revitalize the places we call home. The Network is co-lead by a Steering Committee made up of about thirty volunteer members. The role of the Innovators Network is to:

Enable ideas to move to action by advancing co-created initiatives and make space for emergent opportunities
Build and deepen relationships to build collaboration capacity for innovation in the California Housing ecosystem

Build capabilities to level up the regenerative and equitable potential of California Housing innovators

Together we can build a housing system that’s good for California’s people, communities, and environment.

Network Gatherings

A major offering to our network is our in-person invite-only Innovator’s Network Gathering. We host this intimate event in different communities throughout California roughly every year, and they balance opportunities for deep peer learning and sharing, relationship building and open space to brainstorm, play with and project plan around shared big ideas in housing.

Past ideas have included exploring connections between ownership and governance, how to stay focused on long term aspirations while addressing current needs and love vs. crisis mindsets, transforming code to support shared goals, and many others.

Learn more about the six themes that emerged from our 2022 Gathering.
Ideas that emerged from our 2023 Gathering have coalesced into our CAT work groups. Learn more about them here.

Affinity Groups

Many spaces already exist for California developers and builders to network. No space exists for them to transform the housing system into one that is regenerative and equitable based on their role in the industry. Affinity Groups, are a place for peers with similar values working towards similar outcomes, to go deep through their professional experience. In late 2024 BIG is launching the Developer and Builder Affinity Group to cultivate the needed space in the system.