Laura Foote became a housing activist in 2014, when she became one of the key founders of the YIMBY movement. As a Founder and the Executive Director of YIMBY Action, Laura has grown the organization into a thriving grassroots political organization with tens of thousands of activists. As of 2022, YIMBY Action has nearly 40 chapters in cities across the country. Laura is widely recognized as an authority on effective housing activism in the US. Her work building the YIMBY movement has been covered in Forbes, The San Francisco Chronicle, The New York Times, the book Golden Gates, and more. She holds a B.A. in Economics from Hamilton College.—
Executive Director and Board Member
Laura Foote
Current City
San Francisco, CA
Hometown
Washington, D.C.
Pronouns
She
Housing Story
When I moved to San Francisco I worked in sales. My friends in the city all worked in retail, food service, and similar industries. We worked full time, but the cost of living was too high for us. I struggled for a while to find an apartment that I could afford on my own. Eventually, I realized that the housing crisis trapped people like myself and my loved ones because—despite the fact that we were working hard and earning money, it wasn’t enough for me to find a place to live.